Take two
NBC has made sure people know about Jay Leno’s return to late-night television. After a huge promotional push during the 2010 Winter Olympics, A-list stars like Jamie Foxx, Sarah Palin, Olympic stars Shaun White and Apolo Ohno, the cast of ‘Jersey Shore,’ Oscar nominees Christoph Waltz and Morgan Freeman, and ‘American Idol’ judge Simon Cowell are set to grace Leno’s stage during his first week back.
But the ultimate question is whether viewers will return. NBC is hoping audiences will have buried the memory of Conan O’Brien sitting in Leno’s seat.
Has the damage been done to NBC’s legendary ‘Tonight Show’ franchise? Will NBC and Jay Leno live through the embarrassment of the public relations disaster they caused by forcing O’Brien out of the hosting job he’d been promised since 2004? Will viewers forget about the primetime disaster that was ‘The Jay Leno Show’ and follow Leno back to the time slot of 11:35 p.m. that he held for 17 years? The answer will come tonight as Jay Leno takes back his ‘Tonight Show’ throne to see if he can reclaim the title of ‘The King of Late Night.’
Leno has many hurdles to face in the coming weeks. The biggest hurdle is the image he acquired during the time slot conflict that went on earlier this year among Conan, NBC and himself. After Leno bombed during his primetime program ‘The Jay Leno Show,’ a plan was needed to get Leno back into is old, 11:35 p.m. time slot. NBC assumed things would be easy since O’Brien’s transition from ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ to ‘The Tonight Show’ wasn’t going well either, losing as much of Jay’s audience and surrendering ‘The Tonight Show’s’ long-standing No. 1 ratings streak.
During the conflict, the media billed Leno as a ‘bully’ and ‘classless’ for taking the job from a longtime colleague. Many celebrities were vocal about NBC’s decision to rip Conan from his hosting duties on ‘The Tonight Show,’ which he only held for seven months, and place Leno back behind the desk. Celebrities, such as Rosie O’Donnell and Howard Stern, vehemently opposed Leno’s return.
Nevertheless, Leno had support from friends Jerry Seinfeld and Oprah Winfrey. Unfortunately, though, many Americans didn’t agree with NBC’s decision for Leno to take the seat that he formally promised to Conan back in 2004. A College Candy poll asking viewers if they are on Team Conan or Team Jay reveals overwhelming results favoring O’Brien.
Many insiders weren’t surprised that Leno weaseled his way back into the ‘Tonight Show’ seat after he handed it off to Conan. If we look back in the history books, a similar debacle happened almost 18 years ago when Johnny Carson was retiring and a new host was needed. The front-runner, previous ‘Late Night’ host David Letterman, was poised to take over Carson’s seat – that was, until Leno stated that he’d like to be in the running for the job, too. Leno won that battle as well, and a quiet feud has bubbled between Leno and Letterman ever since.
But the show must go on. Whether or not Leno can draw back the audience he once had and reclaim his post as ‘King of Late Night,’ only time will tell.
Published on March 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm
