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 stories change?), and they had to ship "Medium" off to CBS. And that's not even considering the new shows they will never develop because there's no room.
Poniewozik points out that since the new show will be so much cheaper to produce than a scripted show, Leno's success won't be measured by ratings, but by any increase in NBC's profit margin. He also points out that since NBC has performed so badly in the past few years, almost any amount of success by Leno will be considered a grand slam.
So, after this fall season, expect other networks to do a cost-benefit analysis of Leno's ratings and make similar decisions. Expect entire nights of nothing but reality shows and talkshows on network TV. And expect to keep going to cable (AMC, FX, USA, Lifetime, HBO, Showtime) for quality comedies and dramas.
Brooke Cain isn't always proud of the number of hours she logs in front of the TV, but her loss of brain cells can be your gain. From reality shows to sitcoms to the more serious stuff, Brooke keeps her DVR smoking so that she can help keep you in the know. Brooke also tweets for Happiness is a Warm TV (you can follow
Comments
How will this be profitable?
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 15:32 — RonBThe demo Leno attracts -- late 40s and up -- is a tough sell to advertisers. They aren't going to start buying anything they aren't already because they saw an ad after yet another Jaywalking segment.
That crowd doesn't know how to set the time on a VCR, let alone work a DVR device, so they will watch the commercials, assuming they haven't fallen asleep yet.
The future of TV is probably closer to "Ow, My Balls" than Mr. Leno. This is just a stop gap measure till some even-cheaper form of "entertainment" comes along. It is sad that Deal or No Deal will start filling in holes from 8-10 when the remaining "underperforming" quality shows get axed.
Fewer jobs
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 15:58 — brookecain (author)It just doesn't cost NEARLY as much to put on a talk show as it does a scripted show. So even if the ratings are much lower than their competitors, and even if they don't have the coveted 18-to-whatever demographic, they will probably make money. Let's hope they don't make money, or else everyone will start doing this.
Johnny Carson......he's not
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 14:21 — mayberry_lady1nor will he ever be. Leno was a step down from Carson and from what little I could stand to watch him, there's been no improvement with age. Leno's form of humor escapes me....I always assumed it took someone younger than me to appreciate it. (Of course that also means the audience would be too young to remember any of the great comics of early TV.) It won't change my tv watching habits since I gave up the big three long ago. Leno won't bring me back.
I agree, I doubt i'll tune
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 13:34 — AtnorI agree, I doubt i'll tune in much, if at all. Leno's not really on my radar. But, I find myself rarely being drawn to much network TV anymore. Quality shows are more and more on the cable channels.
yeah..
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 13:33 — bradwesleyI'm with you Brooke. He'll definitely lose it on people that annoy him. That night in Jasper, he broke a pool cue over some dude's back because they dude played a song on the jukebox that Jay didn't particularly like. I mean, the guy likes to party. What else can you say?
I heard
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 15:51 — brookecain (author)I heard he shot a man in Reno. You know the rest...
It's no secret
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 13:23 — brookecain (author)It's no secret that I'm no fan of Leno. I don't think he's funny at all. Maybe my grandfather would think he was funny, if he was still alive. And I want to say, "But I'm sure he's a nice person," except a friend's father saw him many years ago (maybe 10) performing at a corporate function, and apparently, Jay cursed out some guy in the audience for taking pictures. Really just lost his @#$! with the guy. My friend's father, who is a sweet man, said it totally changed how he felt about Leno, and he'll never like him. But mostly I'm just irritated that he's screwing up scripted network TV for all of us. I guess I should blame NBC for that, though...
awesome
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 12:28 — bradwesleyI partied with Leno one night in Jasper. That dude is a legend. He is the funnist human being in history.
Ugh.
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 10:57 — Jen1978I hope his show crashes and burns. He's so lame and not funny at all.
And you'll appreciate this: This morning, some friends and I were listing our top five most hated celebrities, and Jay Leno appeared on almost everyone's list. It's not just us!