I'm dreading the fall 10 PM ET/PT time slot on NBC. Oh, I know there's still a lot of time between now and then. But I figure I need to plan ahead. Sure, I realize I'm a Letterman fan who never took to Leno. However, I don't think I'd enjoy seeing Letterman each weeknight in a primetime slot, either. Sigh. If you've been living under a rock, you might not realize that Jay Leno will be hosting his show every night during the 10 PM hour while Conan O'Brien hosts The Tonight Show at 11:30. I don't like this, not at all.
So I have to get a contingency plan in place. I've been trying to think of what I'll do for my TV fix at that hour.
Let's see ... I could:
- Plan a nightly bubble bath with a glass of wine and classical music wafting in. Of course, that's not quite television, but it's better than Jay Leno in my living room! Or, even worse, Jay Leno in my bedroom. Ew!
- Rewatch my DVDs of The Wire including all the commentary extras for an hour each night at 10 PM. I know that wouldn't last all that long, as the series was only on for five years. But it would remind me that well-written dramas with clever humor are possible.
- Watch the local FOXNY news so I can be up on all the local murders, sports, and weather. You never know. There may be a pop quiz at work about current events.
- Crank classic rock on my stereo so my neighbors will call the cops and I might get a cameo appearance on Cops.
- Light a candle each night mourning the death of the NBC 10 PM primetime hour.
- Get hooked on the Animal Precinct and Animal Cops shows on Animal Planet at 10 PM.
- Read a book during Leno, thus snubbing his existence on my television.
- Go to bed early. But then I'd have to get up to watch Letterman.
- Give TNT and TBS a lot more of my attention at 10 PM. I'd say CBS, but CSI: Miami has David Caruso whose talents I enjoy about as much as I do Leno's. Blech.
If we have to have a "variety" show on every weeknight at 10 PM, I'd rather they show old shows which you never see aired anywhere, like:
- Ed Sullivan -- I loved that mouse!
- The Smothers Brothers
- Heck, even Laugh-In















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-07-2009 @ 10:30AM
GigG said...
First, it's not like anybody is watching NBC during the last hour of Prime Time anyway. But that is the wonderfulness that is TiVo. You watch what you want when you want and you don't even know what else is on.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 10:33AM
Wii60 said...
It's an interesting experiment. Talk shows are best prepped for this time-shifted internet based television medium we're moving into. Putting one at 10pm will test how effective they are in primetime as they will be important to the initial shift.
I don't really like Leno, so I won't be tuning in, but I expect this new show will stick around longer than people think. It'll be fairly inexpensive, so it'll profit easily, and it keeps Leno from jumping networks.
Personally, I don't like it, but I'm not watching NBC at 10pm now anyways, so why not?
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 10:34AM
Jimmy said...
That headline should go into the TVSquad Hall of Fame. Truer words have never been written!
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 10:42AM
charles melrose III said...
Get cable. Get satellite. Lots of choices. Sheesh!
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 10:55AM
Ryan said...
I don't really watch NBC at 10pm anyways so this isn't going to massively change my schedule.
Most days I use the 10pm hour to either catch up on my previous recordings or watch my Netflix.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 11:04AM
clinton said...
This piece wasn't even close to being clever. With NBC's highest profile tryout for "Kings" drawing a dismal 3.8 million Sunday, they have nothing to lose at all.
We are now in a tv world where 6 - 7 million watchers allow people to claim a show as a "hit". "The office" and "30 rock" still don't grab the big numbers compared to successful shows in the past.
Lowered expectations will help. Let's have learned something from the Katy Couric deal.
I think its a drastic and bold move that may or may not pay off for NBC, but it's one of the final nails in the coffin of network TV programing.
No one will try harder than Jay Leno and if anyone can take an old format and do something new with it he can.
After the heat he has/is taking from the writer's guild for his monologues during the strike, and the woeful treatment of him with the Conan swap out, I think Jay deserves whatever Jay wants. He's a good guy in sea of greedy, spineless liars.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 11:25AM
Jimmy said...
My take on this is people will tune in and Leno may even get some good, or even great, ratings at first but I don't think it will last. Leno's tonight show averages around 5.5 million viewers on a good week and had been as low as 4 million. Even for NBC those are low numbers regardless of whether or not NBC is choosing not care about ratings. What it will boil down to is money. The tonight show is very profitable for NBC and if Leno can bring that same profitability to the 10PM hours then ratings really don't matter.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 11:29AM
Joe said...
I do wish Jay would just fade away quietly the way that Johnny did when it was time to hang it up. I know Jay is younger than Johnny was, but he said he was going to retire, so he should. The longer he just hangs around the more he will hurt is legacy.
http://www.joeonthetube.com
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 11:40AM
Cincinnati Mike said...
I predict a further proliferation of the already-popular 10pm cable dramas, like Rescue Me, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, etc.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 11:58AM
Rebecca said...
The only thing I watched regularly at 10 on network tv was Life on Mars, the rest of the time I watch cable shows or netflix. So nothing has changed. The thought of watching a talk show night in primetime after night is depressing to think about. My dad (who is 84) might enjoy it though.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 12:18PM
MacGuffin said...
I don't watch Leno at 11:35 . . . why would I want to watch at 10:00?
This a harbinger of the future dumbing down to the lowest common denominator viewer, rather than must see TV that NBC was once famous for.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 12:38PM
HD said...
I miss when the netowks ran four half hour sitcoms in a row than a drama. It worked for almost 50 years.
Bring back theme songs, bring back the 2 minute long network promos ( Randy Newmans "I love it ABC" and "NBC lets all be there" ) bring back "battle of the Network Stars"
Give us a reason to watch - instead netwoks have just added a bunch of cheap, easy to produce reality shows as filler.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 12:42PM
D said...
This is all about one thing:How much the same and/or different will this Leno show be to the old one?
If it's The Earlier Than Before Tonight Show...it dies quickly.If it's something different then it has a chance.
For me this show is "watch depending on what else is on".
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 12:45PM
ladytex said...
I prefer to watch dramas at that time, so I'll be hunting good ones to watch. I guess I'll be watching more TNT. I'm not crazy about Leno, so this doesn't even make me curious to watch him.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 1:05PM
Katie said...
I'm from Boston, and proud that my local NBC station said "no" to the 10 pm Leno hour. I'd rather watch news, cable, hell, I'd rather watch paint dry than watch Leno.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 1:18PM
Midnight13 said...
I just don't see this show lasting beyond one year. I think NBC have too much confindance that "The Tonight Show" is a hit because of Leno and not the fact that its "The Tonight Show." A show that's been around since the 60's. "The Tonight Show" is like "The Price is Right" it will always be there, no matter who the host is.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 3:32PM
MarcDom7 said...
Save LIFE and CHUCK. Destroy Leno and this scheduling debacle.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 4:00PM
Joyce N. said...
I like Jay Leno. Granted, he's not as funny as he once was (IMO), but I always preferred him over Letterman's wit. Watching him at 10pm, however, will only be on occasions when nothing else of interest is on. I'd prefer to watch Johnny Carson's Tonight Show reruns over either of these guys.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 4:11PM
David Holtzinger said...
I like Leno over Letterman. That being said, I watch Leno maybe once every fortnight depending on the guest(s) he has on. I currently tivo a number of shows and seldom watch any show "live". I'll likely just keep watching my dvred dramas and ignore Leno completely. Hopefully ABC and CBS will counter program some decent dramas. We can only pray for the cancellation of CSI:Miami, David Caruso is abysmal.
Reply
4-07-2009 @ 4:15PM
Henmei said...
You. could. turn. it. off.
Reply