AS SEEN ON: Late-night mayhem
By Alex Duckles, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Jay Leno’s new series is an unfunny, diluted and family-friendly version of his old show, according to Alex Duckles.
As busy college students, it’s understandable that we might find it hard to fit a daily TV commitment at 11 p.m. into our schedules. But we’re missing out. These past few weeks have offered up quite a bit of late-night drama, and both the highs and lows are worthy of recognition.
Although the 2008-2009 season marked the end of Jay Leno’s tenure on “The Tonight Show” — a decision that was announced four years ago — Leno had intimated in the last few years that he had changed his mind and was not ready to end his long career in television just yet.
NBC was suddenly at risk of losing the late-night ratings king to a rival network.
With the network’s position in the overall ratings stuck in fourth place and still plunging, NBC made the unprecedented move of giving Leno his own hour-long primetime show every night at 10 p.m.
Since the show eats up a full five hours from NBC’s weekly primetime block, the creative community was up in arms at the announcement of “The Jay Leno Show.”
Most people were, however, willing to forgive Leno if he came out with a truly original and quality show.
The verdict is in, and unfortunately NBC’s controversial gamble did not pay off. Leno’s new series is an unfunny, diluted and family-friendly version of his old show, and it is apparent that Leno has worn out his welcome on late-night TV.
As one host whithers away, another shines in his place.
“Tonight Show” successor Conan O’Brien appeals to a younger generation of viewers, and his humor and antics consistently liven up the late-night television scene.
Last week, however, drama struck “The Tonight Show,” too, when O’Brien suffered a freak accident while taping a sketch with guest Teri Hatcher.
Show producers became worried when O’Brien began slurring words and exhibiting memory loss immediately after he fell and hit his head on the ground.
O’Brien was rushed to a local hospital and diagnosed with a concussion. Luckily, a few days later, a fully-recovered O’Brien was back to work and joking about the incident on the air.
The most recent late-night drama involves CBS’ “Late Show,” as last week, host David Letterman revealed that he was the victim of a $2 million extortion scheme threatening to reveal his sexual relationships with female staffers.
Instead of letting the media report on rumors, Lettermen explained the situation himself on air last Thursday.
It is jarring to see serious issues and controversy surround lightweight comedy programming, but at least these shows are still delivering laughs.
That is, as long as you don’t tune into “The Jay Leno Show.”