JayLeno-related stories
Posted Jun 30th 2009 3:25PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Law and Order, Reality-Free
Well, that's a relief. After months of speculation that NBC would be bringing
Law & Order: SVU back for the 11th season without the two stars that have anchored the show, there's good news.
Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have re-signed with
SVU. They pair agreed to stick with NBC's top-rated Neilsen drama for two more seasons.
Good news is probably an understatement. It's really great news because with
SVU moving to Wednesday, 9 p.m., the show really didn't need to shake up the cast at this point in time. Stability mattered and NBC found a way to bring the two stars into the fold, offering them both the flexibility they sought.
Continue reading Meloni & Hargitay sign on for more Law & Order: SVU
Posted Jun 16th 2009 2:01PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Late Night, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
A lot of dissecting and exploratory surgery has been done on the jokes that David Letterman made about the Palin family. Even after
Dave apologized and
Palin accepted, people still want to perform a comedy autopsy to figure out what Dave's intent was and why Palin was so vocal in her reaction to it.
The problem is it's an unnecessary surgery and it fails to attack the root of the problem while the real cancer spreads like a California wildfire. E.B. White once said about such procedures that, "
Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it." The only reason this frog hasn't died is because someone wants to keep it alive and no one has dared to touch the heart.
This is the side I will debate in the never-ending Letterman vs. Palin "Joke-gate" controversy while our very own John Scott Lewinski will offer a rebuttal later in the day that a public figure's children should always be off-limits.
Continue reading Point/Counterpoint: Letterman's joke about the Palins was just that
Posted Jun 10th 2009 1:33PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Late Night, Talk Show, Ratings
The ratings for
The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien have been slipping since he took over, which is to be expected. Possibly less expected is that while he's been dipping,
Late Show With David Letterman has seen a slow increase. So much so that last night,
David Letterman beat Conan O'Brien in the ratings. That should certainly help
Letterman's negotiations for that contract extension to 2012. The real question is how will this ratings battle settle down?
Certainly there's no reason for the
Tonight Show camp to panic yet. Letterman stomped Leno for awhile early in Leno's run, when Letterman first jumped to CBS. But Leno is a very different comedian and host than O'Brien. Perhaps too different? The concern isn't so much that O'Brien's numbers are dipping, because the curiosity factor was going to inflate his initial numbers anyway, it's that Letterman's are on the rise. That could be defectors from the Leno era making a move. But should O'Brien even want to bring them back, or should his battle be for new viewers that maybe weren't watching Letterman or Leno.
Continue reading Conan's Tonight Show ratings slip beneath Letterman's
Posted Jun 3rd 2009 3:28PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Ratings
We must really like our televisions to be filled with crap. After all, as a country we continue to support it with nice, big, juicy ratings. Take NBC's
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here debuted with 6.4 million viewers, enough for number one on the night, beating out
The Bachelorette. I didn't watch it, but our own
Jackie contributed to that number. I got enough of Sanjaya on
American Idol thank you very much. Plus, I saw Stephen Baldwin being interviewed for this on
Late Night and right there I'd had enough of the whole show.
But not America, apparently. Maybe it was all the hoopla about
Heidi and Spencer (The Hills) quitting after like 20 minutes because no one would rub their feet or whatever. Did those horrible promos featuring Sanjaya getting set upon by bees really make you want to watch? Was it the last addition of Frangelina?
Mrs. Rod Blagojevich? Or is it the car wreck lookie-loo phenomenon?
Continue reading If you keep watching crap like I'm a Celebrity they'll just make more
Posted Jun 3rd 2009 12:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Sports, Casting, Reality-Free
NBC continues to play musical chairs on
Football Night in America, the network's Sunday night blanket coverage of the NFL including a prime time game. (I'm surprised NBC hasn't added
Jay Leno to the broadcast!) The latest change is an interesting one: Super Bowl winning coach
Tony Dungy is joining the panel and former running back Jerome Bettis is out. What's interesting is that they are two completely different types.
Bettis, whose nickname is "The Bus," is well-known as the smiling winner from the 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl team. He's loud, boisterous and a larger-than-life personality. Dungy, on the other hand, was the architect and head man for the 2007 Indianapolis Colts' Super Bowl championship. He is cerebral and thoughtful and the author of a bestselling memoir,
Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life. You could say that the two men are the anti-thesis of each other, which is likely why NBC has made the switch.
Continue reading Dungy in, Bettis Out at NBC's Football Night in America
Posted Jun 1st 2009 7:31PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Celebrities, What To Watch Tonight, Predictions and Trends, News and Gossip
Here comes the response to
Mr. Zaino's prediction that Conan O'Brien Irish eyes will smile for a long time to come on NBC's
The Tonight Show. It's possible the whole deal could turn into a lament.
My argument:
- It seems more like The Tonight Show isn't the best marriage for Conan O'Brien, rather than the host being wrong for the show. From SNL to The Simpsons to his own Late Night, O'Brien was a driving force in some of the most cutting edge network comedy of the last 15 years. But, The Tonight Show isn't about "cutting edge." It's about something mildly entertaining to watch before folks tuck into bed. It's a waste of O'Brien's chops -- though you can't blame the guy for knocking down the paycheck.
- Due to lazy NBC programming ideas, O'Brien's popularity could be damaged by his predecessor. No, Jay Leno is in no way out to sabotage his protege. But Leno's upcoming prime time, pre-news lead-in to The Tonight Show seems like overkill. Will audiences want to watch "Leno's old Tonight Show" followed by "O'Brien's new Tonight Show?"
Continue reading Point/Counterpoint: The Tonight Show will fail Conan O'Brien
Posted Jun 1st 2009 3:31PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Late Night, OpEd, Reality-Free
Today is the day Conan O'Brien takes up the mantle of one of the most beloved shows in TV history -
The Tonight Show. And since feelings about O'Brien on some of my previous posts have been so strong, I thought it might be a good idea to do a point/counterpoint on the question, "Will Conan O'Brien succeed on
The Tonight Show?"
I will be taking the position that he will be successful, and my formidable opponent will be John Scott Lewinski, who will take the position that
O'Brien will not be successful.
My argument:
Continue reading Point/Counterpoint: Conan O'Brien will succeed on The Tonight Show
Posted May 31st 2009 8:33AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Ratings, Reality-Free
Coming as no surprise to anybody, the final performance of Jay Leno on
The Tonight Show absolutely
slaughtered the ratings of the rerun of
The Late Show with David Letterman. Given the enormity of the event, it's a good thing Dave just decided to hang it up and show a rerun that night in the first place.
I've made no secret of the fact that I've always preferred Letterman to Leno, but even I can see how Leno's laid-back, straight-forward presentation style seems more palatable with mainstream America than Dave's snark and wit. But then, I've never had anything resembling mainstream tastes.
Jay now moves to 10 P.M. and Conan takes his place as Letterman's direct competitor. Leno's style does suit the more family-friendly hour he's been placed at. Starting Monday we'll learn whether it was the man or the name-brand built by Leno and those before him that kept people watching
The Tonight Show.
Posted May 27th 2009 1:08PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Late Night, Interviews, Celebrities, Reality-Free
The world's armchair TV executives proudly proclaimed that the only way Conan O'Brien's cavalcade of foul-mouthed puppets and surreal pop culture mechanes could work every night at 11:30 p.m. is with a potent injection of Ritalin (
present executive included).
O'Brien noted, however, that television has broken the time barrier.
"I think especially now, people don't watch an episode of
Lost when they are supposed to watch it," he said during a recent conference call. "DVRs changed everything. The Internet has changed everything. People are getting it off Hulu and watching shows on their iPhone. What's most important to me with
The Tonight Show is it needs to be funny so people can experience it at 11:30 or watch it the next morning while they're eating their oatmeal."
Continue reading Conan talks to reporters about "feeding the dragon" on the new Tonight Show
Posted May 19th 2009 9:55AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, OpEd
Last week, I wrote about Jay Leno's last week on
The Tonight Show and his
announcement that Conan O'Brien will be his last guest. Judging by the response, a lot of TV Squad readers have strong opinions about the change. A large share of the comments bashed O'Brien. Some people said they didn't find him funny and would watch Letterman. Some said they'd watch Leno's new show and go to bed early.
Some got nasty, criticizing O'Brien's looks, some (who may need to take a break from TV for a while) said they thought the emergence of O'Brien was a harbinger of the downfall of civilization. And a small subset called him a "nerd" (to those people, your copy of Vision Quest is surely in the mail by now, you can skip late night TV altogether).
Continue reading Conan fans, stand up!
Posted May 14th 2009 6:29PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Late Night, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Talk Show, Documentary, Reality-Free
James Taylor can be the guest referee. I like how now that Jay Leno is getting his own prime time talk/variety/whatever show on NBC, and he'll still be coming on before Conan O'Brien on
The Tonight Show, there's no more hard feelings? Or maybe that was all tabloid crap. The rags have been known to spin stories from belly button lint and stray paperclips before.
It's a nice transitional nod for
Conan to be Leno's last guest on The Tonight Show, as Nick reported, but I don't even think they should talk. Conan walks onto the set. Jay says, "You want
The Tonight Show, you're gonna have to fight me for it!" And then it's on!
Continue reading I want Leno vs. O'Brien in a bare knuckle drag-down brawl
Posted May 14th 2009 1:55PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Talk Show, Reality-Free
On a conference call with reporters today, Jay Leno announced that his final guest on
The Tonight Show will be the man who will replace him as host, Conan O'Brien. He also mentioned James Taylor will be on the show (coincidentally making it an all-Boston panel).
Leno praised O'Brien as a solid performer and someone who has always written great material, and said he expects the handoff to be pretty straightforward. "I'm glad that it's going to Conan, it couldn't go to a better person," he said. "He's the guy, we're friends, and it's a really smooth transition."
Continue reading Leno announces Conan will be his last guest
Posted May 3rd 2009 2:23PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, Chuck, Reality-Free
To me, this should be a no-brainer. NBC should renew
Chuck for a third season, even if it only commits to 12 episodes, it should bring the show back. However, I'm not one of the geniuses in
Jeff Zucker's world; you know, those mental giants that have committed five hours of prime time to Jay Leno starting next fall and recently signed up for more
Donald Trump celebrity/reality BS. No, I'm just a loyal
Chuck viewer who has seen a show improve from week to week culminating with a superb final two episodes in 2009.
Well, there were rumors that on Monday at NBC's "infront" -- a preview for the "upfront" -- that
Chuck would get a pick up.
TV Guide says that's not the case. On Friday,
Chuck star Zachary Levi told a reporter that Josh Schwartz, the
Chuck exec producer, had emailed him that
NBC's decision about Chuck was on hold. The pick up, if it comes, won't be for a couple of weeks.
Continue reading Renewal for Chuck? Not just yet...
Posted Apr 21st 2009 2:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
For those who couldn't figure it out, I'm referring to Jay Leno and not TV Squad's own stand-up comic,
Jay Black (as if Jay Black would work for free. He needs at least a beverage for his effort).
But going back to the story: Jay Leno
is doing another free show. This time it's in Ohio for those who have been laid off. When I
criticized Leno's free show the last time (in which I stated that anybody could claim to be unemployed and get access to the free show and Jay isn't that funny to begin with), it was interpreted in some of the comments as a "bad thing". Taking that into account and after careful reconsideration, I stand by my opinions from the previous article.
On Jay Leno as a person, he's a stand-up guy (pun intended). He gives a lot of his time to various charities, including a comedy tour to soldiers in the Gulf. I have nothing bad to say about Jay as a person. As a comedian, that's another story. But, on behalf of myself, thanks for all your efforts to help, Jay.
Posted Apr 14th 2009 10:19AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
I recall a scene from the movie
To Be Or Not To Be, in which Mel Brooks tells the Nazis they aren't backing down from continuing an anti-Nazi sketch. He quite adamantly trumpets "We are not backing down!". The Nazis then in retaliation threaten to close his theater, to which he responds "We're backing down."
The same thing just happened in Boston to that NBC affiliate that
wanted to replace the 10 PM Leno slot with a local news broadcast.
WHDH has relented to the network after being threatened with the loss of their NBC affiliation. Obviously, this is a sign of concern at the local level that a 10 PM Leno show would lose advertising dollars. Or perhaps the owner just doesn't find Leno to be that funny.
I can see this as an HBO movie in the future. It would be called something like "Lenogate" and have the subtitle: "Thou shalt honor thy parent company." If this does end up on HBO, be sure to give me proper credit.
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