Jay Leno comes back like a nasty STD

Posted by Dan December 9th, 2008 at 12:39pm In General

Jay Leno.

Are you ready for this?  Because I don’t think you are.

Just when we thought Jay Leno had finally bowed out of the small screen, it looks like he’s bouncing back five times as strong. Because reports indicate that even though Conan O’Brien is taking over The Tonight Show, NBC is giving Leno a talk show that will air at 10 p.m. FIVE NIGHTS A WEEK.

It’s crazy.

Now, this is the equivalent of settling into a loveless arranged marriage — settling for the tedious, unchallenging devil-you-know instead of trying new things. It’s as if NBC has said,”Well, I can always count on consistent, reliable mediocrity. At least I don’t have to try anymore.”  Believe me — we all want to nestle in the bosom of safety and comfort. But Jay Leno will just lull us into complacency and extinguish any hopes for real programming that could fill in that time slot.

Admittedly, the fall season was incredibly disappointing.  But shouldn’t NBC’s job be to create quality original programming?  Or at least try to?

What’s astonishing, though, is the fact that NBC keeping Leno is considered a coup.  Because he leads in the late night ratings, he’s perceived as a hot commodity. Rather than simply the guy people are used to watching.

This is just further proof that the interesting stuff is going to continue to appear on basic cable.  I can only hope this fails a spectacularly as it should (by all rights).