"Pull My Finger, Coco!"
Jay Leno returned to The Tonight Show this Monday, and ratings were high. Grandmas across the country tuned in to again see their cure for insomnia. Like an old blanket that has outlived it’s usefulness (ripped, smelly and faded) many will clutch to the security that Jay provides.
McDonald’s may not be great food product, but it is consistent wherever you go. Jay is the Happy Meal of late night television.
Many say the recent late night fiasco (that not only featured Jay and Conan, but also Letterman and Kimmel and Stern,to name a few) was all about money. “It’s just business.” But if Leno felt that he was also a victim of NBC, he could have just packed up and walked away, taking the high ground and earning a lot of respect back from detractors. Instead, he’s a company man (for a crappy company: suck it Zucker!) and if his ratings decline over time, you know those suits will be thrice-guessing their decisions about Jay and Conan.
Of course, I record The Daily Show and Colbert, so I rarely catch Dave and the others anyway. But just as sure as I take comfort in the fact that Dave is out there harassing guests and being cranky, I shiver a bit when I think of the crowd politely golf-clapping at Leno’s tired monologues.
“No thanks, Leno…”
Tags: Conan, Late Night, Leno, Tonight Show