NBC's Late Night Mess

Jay Leno's ten o'clock gig did not last long. NBC announced Sunday that Jay will be moving back to late night. Low ratings and network affiliates furious about the poor lead in for their late night newscasts had predicated this move. The writing had been on the wall for weeks and Leno had been joking about it in his monologue.

NBC is in a pickle. They have three late night hosts to try to keep happy. The most valuable one, Jay Leno can be let go but he would, in a short time, then be the competition. Fox or even ABC would certainly be interested in having him anchor their late night broadcast. Conan O'brien is said to be unhappy with the prospect of losing the 11:30 gig and correctly so. He is in a very tough spot. He has proven that his show is the remedy for David Letterman's declining ratings. Well that and a certain tabloid news story Dave got himself involved in. Conan's potential suitors would seem to have been diminished were he to end up the odd man out as he has demonstrated that he cannot carry the 11:30 slot.

Most say this was a bad idea for NBC to even try. This might well be true. But in our house the thought of Jay being on at 10 was one that intrigued us. The alphabet soup of NCIS, CSI. and the perpetual Law and Order was one we had no interest of. We watched Jay for the first couple of weeks. The problem for us was not the time slot or the competition. The issue was that the show is not very good. It was dull and bland to the extreme. Realizing that Leno's appeal has always been more to the conservative side of the country and the coasts, both east and west, have been where Dave has found most of his viewership the sharpest thing on Jay Leno's show is his chin. We hear that the opposing networks would not let their stars appear on his shows and this is not Johnny Carson's world. This may all be true but what I think is this; most of the time you get the ratings you deserve.

People stopped looking at Leno through the blurry eyes of bedtime and really saw the show. They did not like what they saw. NBC has its own quarterback controversy now. Do they go with the aging star who has put up great numbers but whose best days are behind him or do they stick with the apprentice who finally having been given his shot needs a confidence boost and a longer chance to prove himself.

Jay Leno has done nothing wrong, From everything I have read about him he is a stand up guy who does everything right.But if I am an NBC decision maker I would ask myself one question. Do you know anybody who Tivo's Jay Leno? I for one do not.