Warm TV readers know that for us, watching "The Jay Leno Show" is cruel and unsual punishment.
So we missed it last night when Leno cracked jokes about the Goldsboro, N.C. school which tried to raise money by selling grades to students. Leno called it his "Outrage of the Week."
Luckily, our friends over at Under the Dome are loyal Leno fans and caught the segment for you to check out. There's even video.
Instead of being crowded into obscurity by an overabundance of television crime shows, "Law & Order" has entered its 20th season like gangbusters, with some of its strongest episodes in years. The show is an institution, not only building and maintaining a loyal following over the past 20 years, but doing so despite innumerable cast changes that would have killed lesser shows.
Tonight the venerable crime drama takes on a topic to which it is no stranger: abortion. More specifically, the killing of doctors who perform them. But tonight, the episode (ripped from the headlines, of course) essentially becomes a moral debate which challenges the characters closest to the arrest and prosecution of the killer to reexamine their own beliefs.
We talked to the show's executive producer and head writer Rene Balcer this week about that episode and about other things, including the Lt. Van Buren cancer storyline and NBC's decision to drown viewers with reality shows and Jay Leno in prime time. Balcer, who is also the creator of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," which currently airs on the USA network, told us that tonight's episode "turns conventional wisdom on its head."
NBC renewed the John Wells cop drama "Southland" for a second season back in May, but just two weeks before the show's season two premiere, they have canceled it.
Geez, why even renew it at all?
The Los Angeles Times reports that the show may have been too dark, and with Jay Leno sucking up all the 10pm time slots, NBC has no room for dark dramas.
Instead of "Southland," NBC will air episodes of "Dateline," which is obviously much cheaper to produce than a scripted show. Sigh.
Wells ("ER," "West Wing") has been openly critical of the Leno programming, and says he will shop "Southland" to another network. "Southland" had just finished the 6th episode of their 13-run order.
Biggest Loser (8pm, NBC) - Tonight is the season premiere and three of the sixteen folks on the show are from NC (Antoine Dove, Daniel Wright, and Tracey Yukich). They'll be working to lose weight and get back on the healthy track, and we'll be recapping the show, so check back with us tomorrow!
Big Brother 11 (9pm, CBS) - It's finally over! Jordan Lloyd (right) and Kevin compete for HoH and the winner gets to evict one person from the house. Then jury members question the final two and select a winner. Of course we're hoping Jordan, from Matthews, N.C., wins it all, but even if she doesn't, she's done amazingly well. Good job, Jordan.
Shaq Vs. (9pm, ABC) - Shaq takes on Olympic swimming machine Michael Phelps. Phelps will be heavily handicapped to give Shaq a prayer.
The Jay Leno Show (10pm, NBC) - Jay has Michael Moore, Tom Cruise, and Cameron Diaz.
Flipping Out (10pm, Bravo) - Jeff falls ill and accuses Zoila of poisoning him, so Jenni has to take over for him on job sites.
The first episode of NBC's new "Jay Leno Show" wasn't exactly different from "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and it didn't exactly change my mind about Leno not being funny. But I also recognize that I am probably not his intended audience, so read this with a grain of salt.
As was anticipated in the aftermath of the Kanye West-Taylor Swift trainwreck Sunday night, the most intriguing part of Jay's whole show was when he sat down to interview Kanye, and actually made him cry by guilting him with this dead mother. But we'll get to that later.
Lincoln Heights (8pm, ABC Family) - As season 4 opens, the Sutton family must decide what to do after the earthquake. Should they stay or should they go?
One Tree Hill (8pm, CW) - Season 7 returns without series originals Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton. But what we do have is Nathan (James Lafferty, left), who is now in the NBA and facing a career-threatening accusation. Also, Brooke prepares a new fashion line, and Julian plans to produce a huge film.
Gossip Girl (9pm, CW) - Big changes for GG in season 3. The gang is now in college and Chuck and Blair are finally together. Serena returns from Europe with Carter, and Nate returns from abroad with a mysterious woman. Also, Dan befriends a classmate, played by guest star Hilary Duff, who will appear in several episodes. 
The Jay Leno Show (10pm, NBC) - Jay goes all out this week with lots of big guests, and his first night is maybe the biggest. Jerry Seinfeld is up first, then Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West are scheduled to perform. ABC and CBS have repeats tonight (and most of the week), so between that and the Kanye controversy, Jay should expect huge numbers for his first week, at least.
The latest issue of Time magazine has a cover story by TV critic James Poniewozik in which Poniewozik asserts that Jay Leno is the future of television.
He may very well be right, but God help us. Or God help me, at least.
Ever since NBC announced that Leno would be taking his bland late night antics into primetime five nights a week, I've been stewing over the subsequent loss of 5 weekly hours of scripted dramas. To make room, NBC has already had to send two of their "Law & Order" shows to earlier timeslots (will the decidedly adult themes of the . . .
Whale Wars (9pm, Animal Planet) - Capt. Watson tries to cut off the transfer of a dead whale between Japanese ships, and that leads to a full-speed collision. To see the events that lead up to this dangerous encounter, tune in for the repeat eps at 7pm and 8pm.
Monk (9pm, USA) - Daniel Stern guest stars when Monk investigates the disappearance of a young girl, which could be related to reports of a UFO sighting.
Psych (10pm, USA) - In a plot right out of "Scooby Doo," Shawn and Gus look into a series of strange occurences which are threatening to shut down an Old West tourist attraction. James Brolin guest stars.
Real Time with Bill Maher (10pm, HBO) - Jay Leno stops by "Real Time" to suck the funny out of HBO. I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I kid Jay Leno! I'm sure he'll be hilarious.
Making Over America with Trinny and Susannah (10pm, TLC) - The series debut of a new show featuring the women behind the original (aka British) version of "What Not to Wear."
No one who reads this blog regularly will be surprised to hear me say once again that I have never thought Jay Leno was funny, and that is why I pretty much stopped watching "The Tonight Show" after Johnny Carson left in 1992. (Leno's 'Dancing Itos' in 1995 sealed it for me).
Now that Conan O'Brien has taken over "The Tonight Show," I might have to cheat on Dave and tune in more often.
"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" debuted last night, and right away Conan put his own sketch-heavy stamp on the program. The show opened with Conan in his office right before the start of his first show, checking off his to-do list: build set, write jokes, brush teeth, move to LA. LA?
After 17 years behind the big desk, Jay Leno tapes his final "Tonight Show" on Friday, and his last guest will also be his successor: Conan O'Brien.
O'Brien begins hosting "The Tonight Show" on Monday, June 1, and Leno's new 10pm show will launch in September.
Leno's farewell week has been filled with some of his favorite guests over the past decade and a half, like Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Lyle Lovett, and Billy Crystal.
Tonight's show features Wanda Sykes and Prince.
