![Jay Leno: UnlimitedBack in 1992, NBC offered David Letterman his own prime time show in an effort to keep the star after bestowing The Tonight Show upon Jay Leno. It could’ve been The David Letterman Show, weeknights at 10 p.m. 17 years ago. But Letterman didn’t want prime time, he wanted Johnny’s time. He wanted 11:30. So when Dave cracks on Jay’s new TV Guide grid box nowadays, he’s cracking on Jay’s dubious commitment to the tradition of late night television. It’s a joke, but he’s seriously disappointed. Around the same time NBC big wigs tried to give Dave his own 10 o’clock show in the early ’90s, a network affiliate in Waterloo, Iowa wanted to give Jay his own prime time spot thanks to promising early Tonight Show ratings. But the Iowa bumpkin wasn’t even factoring in Letterman—he just wanted to run Jay’s Tonight Show twice each night to save some cash. And that’s the difference, isn’t it? When NBC attempted to bump Letterman up, they wanted to save money, sure—but they also wanted to keep a genius in the ranks. When the Waterloo station manager suggested putting Jay on during peak hours and at 11:30, he was just being lazy. The Jay Leno Show makes sense if you’re trying to suck cash out of an uncertain medium. Still, it’s a white flag and it’s tremendously disheartening for anyone who still has hope in late night talk shows. That many couches in a row, five nights a week is too much. It’s self-cannibalizing, diluting. It’s a quick fix for a genre that’s all about longevity. Nobody expects Ben Silverman to think ahead. Jay Leno, though? Has he learned nothing? Leno is a striver. For pretty much every comedian on earth, hosting The Tonight Show would be good enough. Not Jay. He’s a worker who mistakes tenacity for excellence; he’s never the best but, boy, can you see the sweat on his brow. Granted, he’s led in the ratings for 14 years now, but a legacy isn’t defined by a couple tenths lead in the 18-49’s. Letterman’s got the legacy down, especially if he can make it to Johnny’s 30 year mark. Leno’s got little legacy to speak of, so this seems like a desperate move to define something—to be somebody. Ultimately: pitiful. Carson-era Tonight Show producer Peter Lassally once described Leno as a “limited talent.” That assessment still holds true in 2009. Limited act; unlimited space.
[Further reading: “How Leno Won. Again.” The Daily Beast, “Leno Discusses His Prime Time Plans,” The New York Times]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/L8H9zWHTii9393js4uXFWYBXo1_500.jpg)
Jay Leno: Unlimited
Back in 1992, NBC offered David Letterman his own prime time show in an effort to keep the star after bestowing The Tonight Show upon Jay Leno. It could’ve been The David Letterman Show, weeknights at 10 p.m. 17 years ago. But Letterman didn’t want prime time, he wanted Johnny’s time. He wanted 11:30. So when Dave cracks on Jay’s new TV Guide grid box nowadays, he’s cracking on Jay’s dubious commitment to the tradition of late night television. It’s a joke, but he’s seriously disappointed.
Around the same time NBC big wigs tried to give Dave his own 10 o’clock show in the early ’90s, a network affiliate in Waterloo, Iowa wanted to give Jay his own prime time spot thanks to promising early Tonight Show ratings. But the Iowa bumpkin wasn’t even factoring in Letterman—he just wanted to run Jay’s Tonight Show twice each night to save some cash. And that’s the difference, isn’t it? When NBC attempted to bump Letterman up, they wanted to save money, sure—but they also wanted to keep a genius in the ranks. When the Waterloo station manager suggested putting Jay on during peak hours and at 11:30, he was just being lazy. The Jay Leno Show makes sense if you’re trying to suck cash out of an uncertain medium. Still, it’s a white flag and it’s tremendously disheartening for anyone who still has hope in late night talk shows. That many couches in a row, five nights a week is too much. It’s self-cannibalizing, diluting. It’s a quick fix for a genre that’s all about longevity. Nobody expects Ben Silverman to think ahead. Jay Leno, though? Has he learned nothing?
Leno is a striver. For pretty much every comedian on earth, hosting The Tonight Show would be good enough. Not Jay. He’s a worker who mistakes tenacity for excellence; he’s never the best but, boy, can you see the sweat on his brow. Granted, he’s led in the ratings for 14 years now, but a legacy isn’t defined by a couple tenths lead in the 18-49’s. Letterman’s got the legacy down, especially if he can make it to Johnny’s 30 year mark. Leno’s got little legacy to speak of, so this seems like a desperate move to define something—to be somebody. Ultimately: pitiful. Carson-era Tonight Show producer Peter Lassally once described Leno as a “limited talent.” That assessment still holds true in 2009. Limited act; unlimited space.
[Further reading: “How Leno Won. Again.” The Daily Beast, “Leno Discusses His Prime Time Plans,” The New York Times]
