The Jay Leno Show is an American prime time talk show hosted by Jay Leno that was broadcast by NBC from September 14, 2009, to February 9, 2010. The series was a spiritual successor to his previous late-night talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and used a similar format consisting of a comedic monologue, followed by celebrity interviews and other comedy segments.
The program was the result of a compromise by NBC Universal's then-CEO Jeff Zucker to keep Leno with the network following his retirement from The Tonight Show and succession by Conan O'Brien. NBC hoped to attract Leno's existing fans, as well as a larger prime time audience: the network believed that The Jay Leno Show would not necessarily require high viewership to be profitable, due to its lower production costs in comparison to scripted dramas.
The Jay Leno Show was met with mixed reception from critics, who felt that the series had little differentiation from Leno's Tonight Show. Others were critical of NBC's decision to give up an hour of its weeknight lineup to Leno, due to the network's past success with dramas airing in the 10:00 p.m. ET/PT time slot. One NBC affiliate (WHDH in Boston owned by Sunbeam Television, now independent) notably planned not to air the show at all, although this decision was retracted due to complaints by the network. Although viewership of The Jay Leno Show was initially on par with NBC's projections, by November, the program's ratings began to fall significantly. NBC's affiliates complained that the declining viewership of The Jay Leno Show also had a ripple effect on the viewership of their late local newscasts.
In an effort to address the concerns, NBC announced in January 2010 that it would, following the 2010 Winter Olympics, shorten The Jay Leno Show to a half-hour, and move it to 11:35 p.m—the timeslot that had been occupied by The Tonight Show for nearly 60 years, and bump Tonight to 12:05 a.m. The decision resulted in a major public conflict between the network and Conan O'Brien, who asserted that the move would damage the highly respected Tonight Show franchise, and that he would not participate in the program if it were moved to 12:05. Despite much support for O'Brien from both the publicNew York Times article: "On the Web, a Wave of Support for Conan O'Brien ". and media professionalsTwitter post by Roger Ebert: "I agree: A touching statement from Conan. " alike, NBC maintained its plan to move Leno to 11:35.
On January 21, 2010, NBC reached a $45 million settlement with O'Brien in order to end his contract. The Jay Leno Show ended on February 9, 2010, after being on the air for only four months, with Entertainment Weekly calling the program television's "Biggest Bomb of All Time."The Jay Leno Show Was TV's "Biggest Bomb Ever" , USA Today, January 21, 2010 Leno resumed his duties as host of The Tonight Show on March 1, 2010, for a second and final tenure that lasted until his February 2014 succession by Jimmy Fallon.
History NBC announced in 2004 that Jay Leno would leave The Tonight Show in 2009, with Conan O'Brien as his replacement. Leno—who wanted to avoid a repeat of the acrimonious transition when he inherited Tonight from Johnny Carson—said at the announcement, "You can do these things until they carry you out on a stretcher, or you can get out when you're still doing good." He began to regret his decision to retire in 2007, and several networks and studios including ABC, Fox, Sony, and TribunePursell, Chris and Jon Lafayette. "Tribune Plans Safety Net for Stations " TV Week, 2008-06-15. expressed interest in his services after leaving Tonight.
Jeff Zucker, then-President and CEO of NBCUniversal, sought to keep Leno from defecting to a competitor. Leno rejected several NBC offers for broadcast network daytime slots or subscription TV slots, a series of recurring specials, and a half-hour show at 8 pm five nights a week featuring Leno's Tonight monologue. The network had in 1981 considered moving The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to 10 pm; Zucker, who in 2007 offered Oprah Winfrey an hour five nights a week at 8 pm,Lafayette, Jon. "NBC Went to Oprah Before Leno for Prime Time " TV Week, 2009-05-19. now offered Leno an hour five nights a week at 10 pm.Hirschberg, Lynn. "Heeeeere's . . . Conan " The New York Times Magazine, 2009-05-20. Leno was announced on December 9, 2008.
At least one station, then-affiliate WHDH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, stated that it would not carry the program, claiming that Leno would be detrimental to the station's 11 pm news and that it would instead launch a local news program in the time slot. NBC said that such plans would amount to a flagrant violation of the network contract—a claim which WHDH disputed—and said that it would immediately remove its programming from WHDH if the station followed through with the plan. WHDH backed down on April 13, 2009, and announced that it would air Leno instead of the proposed program.
Though Leno was the first to move the entire five-day-a-week late night talk show to prime time, he was not the first Tonight alumnus to move from late night to a prime time talk show. Steve Allen hosted Tonight Starring Steve Allen from 1954 to 1957; while still hosting that show, he began hosting the prime-time The Steve Allen Show in 1956 on NBC, and the latter show would run until 1960. Jack Paar, who hosted Tonight from 1957 to 1962, next hosted a weekly talk show known as The Jack Paar Program that ran until 1965, also on NBC."Paar, Jack ". The Museum of Broadcast Communications.
In January 2010, several news outlets reported that The Jay Leno Show would be shortened to 30 minutes and begin airing weeknights at 11:35 pm ET, with Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon's shows following it beginning at 12:05 am. The scheduling change would have been implemented on February 28 after the 2010 Winter Olympics (which preempted much of NBC's primetime and late-night lineup). Leno himself commented on the rumors during his January 7 monologue, joking that NBC stands for "Never Believe your Contract."Los Angeles Times article: "Jay Leno may regain 'Tonight Show' perch (Updated) " According to Broadcasting & Cable, "most [NBC affiliates] are hopeful Jay—and Conan—sticks with NBC, and most, if not all, desperately want to see a change in terms of the lead-in they're getting to their lucrative late news; the affiliates "remain fiercely loyal to Leno and were quick to say the rookie program's struggles don't reflect the funnyman's work ethic or comedic chops. 'This isn't about Jay's popularity,' says WJAR Providence VP/General Manager Lisa Churchville. 'This is about having that kind of show at 10 p.m.'"
NBC announced plans to move Leno to 11:35 pm and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to 12:05 am. O'Brien refused to participate in the move and, on January 21, 2010, reached an agreement with NBC allowing him to leave the network.After Failed Leno Experiment, a Redefining Moment at NBC , USA Today, January 11, 2010 Lenos final episode aired on February 9, 2010NBC Sets February 9 Date for "The Jay Leno Show" , Inside TV, January 26, 2010 and Leno returned to Tonight as host on March 1, 2010.
Content The Jay Leno Show aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT (9:00 p.m. CT/MT) from Studio 11 of the NBC Studios in Burbank, California with the following format: After brief opening credits, a monologue of eight to 12 minutes.Serjeant, Jill. "Jay Leno says new comedy show is "a lot more work" " Reuters, 2009-08-19. One celebrity guest, two at the most. The "car-themed" setCollins, Scott. "Jay Leno's new show is surrounded by drama " Los Angeles Times, 2009-09-14. adjusted to allow guests to get off the couch and participate in antics. Musical segments appeared only twice a week, in the middle of the show,Sepinwall, Alan. "TCA: Jay Leno meets the press... again " The Star-Ledger, 2009-08-05. and sometimes featured multiple acts performing together. Comedy segments were reserved for the last 15 minutesLevine, Stuart. "Leno pulls wraps off his primetime show " Variety, 2009-08-05. of the show, the only portion of the show where Leno sometimes used a desk. Toward the end of the four-month run certain comedy segments such as "Headlines" were moved up to airing right after Jay's monologue, as opposed to being reserved for the end of the show. They include: "Headlines" and "Jaywalking", both from Tonight. The "advertiser-friendly 'Green Car Challenge'". Two to three times each week, celebrities drove an electric Ford Focus and tried to set records on a 1,100-foot dedicated outdoor track. The segment was based on the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment on the British automotive series Top Gear, which Leno had previously appeared on. "Ten at Ten", "in which celebs and other newsmakers . . . answer a rapid-fire series of ten 'ridiculous, celebrity-based questions.' The ten at ten guest would not be in the studio, but would instead appear via satellite from some other location. When the off-site location was in the Central or Mountain Time Zones, the skit would be changed to 9 at 9 (since these time zones have all programming one hour earlier in their local time than the coastal time zones), which was the same except there would only be nine questions." Comic "correspondents" such as D. L. Hughley, Dan Finnerty, Mikey Day,Gay, Verne. "Leno's new show has many elements of the old 'Tonight' " Newsday, 2009-08-05. Rachael Harris, and Jim Norton did pretaped segments.
One planned segment, "Stories Not Good Enough for the NBC Nightly News" (which would have featured then-NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams), was dropped from the show before it made it to air.
In addition to reserving comedy segments for the end, the network aired no commercials after the show and "urged local affiliates to do the same" so local news could start immediately, retaining as many Leno viewers as possible.
Recurring segments "Headlines" (Monday): Humorous print items sent in by viewers. These real-life headlines are usually headlines with typographical errors, or unintentionally inappropriate items. The segment usually starts out with a fake, humorous headline during the introduction for the segment. "Jaywalking": A pre-taped segment, "Jaywalking" is a play on the host's name and the illegal practice of jaywalking. Leno asks people questions about current news and other topics in public areas around Los Angeles (usually Hollywood Boulevard, Melrose Avenue or Universal Studios). Most responses are outrageously incorrect; for example, one person believed that Abraham Lincoln was the first president, and another could not identify a picture of Hillary Clinton. Sometimes the questions are of the "What color is the White House?" level, such as asking in what country the Panama Canal is located. Up to 15 people are interviewed in an hour or less for each segment, with about nine interviews used on the air.The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 2009-05-29. A similar format was used for the game show Street Smarts. JMZ: A parody of TMZ, a segment in which they report on fake celebrity news with such guest stars as Chuck Liddell. Ten@Ten: Jay interviews a celebrity via satellite by asking them 10 questions. Some editions have only used 9 questions, calling it the "Nine@Nine" as a reference to the central or mountain time zone. Green Car Challenge: A segment in which celebrities go in a car and try to be the fastest in a track with obstacles. Tim Allen had the best record time; Rush Limbaugh had the record worst time (though he did so on purpose), and Leno never tried. Photo Booth: A pre-taped segment in which someone goes in a Photo Booth and something is amiss. Stuff We Found on eBay: Leno brought up some of the oddest stuff that he and members of the studio audience had supposedly found while searching on eBay.