Jay Leno Debacle Reversed by NBC
We all knew it was a crappy idea. At least those of us who didn't have the highest corner office in NBC's headquarters.
That's right the Great Jay Leno Primetime Experiment of 2009 is over. NBC has announced that Leno's show will return to late night, moving back to its former 11:35 home. To add insult to Jay's injury, the show has also been cut to half an hour. That means Conan O'Brien's show which follows Leno will now be on at 12:05.
See, the guys over at NBC who made the original boneheaded decision to move Leno to primetime have finally caved to the understandable pressure from their affiliates. Leno's yawn worthy ratings at 10PM sent the carryover audience of the affiliates' local 11 o'clock news shows into the toilet. This at a time when local TV station's are suffering an economy induced exodus of advertisers.
Members of the Writers Guild however are dancing around their laptops now that they've reclaimed five hours of NBC's primetime schedule.
On the Conan front, many critics are upset that O'Brien's seemingly getting the shaft. But see, I would only consider he was getting the shaft if I thought his show was funny enough for me to care.
And Jimmy Fallon? Pretty much an afterthought.
The Boston Globe's website, Inside Track has some interesting quotes from Leno friend and fellow comedian Richard Lewis about this whole late night do-si-do. While you're reading them, just remind yourself how much better you'll sleep now knowing the late night TV world is back to normal.
Or is it?
