JamesG
09-12-2009, 08:51 PM
After saying goodbye to The Tonight Show in May after 17 years, Jay Leno will re-emerge on Monday, Sept. 14, as the star of his own nightly prime-time show on NBC. The Jay Leno Show promises such familiar fare as Jaywalking and Headlines along with several new bits -- and of course plenty of celebrity guests to go around.
AOL TV caught up with the comedian during a conference call to talk about prime-time jitters, Conan O'Brien's floundering ratings and what it feels like to be labeled "the future of television."
Are you surprised by the dip in the Tonight Show ratings since Conan O'Brien took over?
That's not my problem. I mean, I went through this when I took over from Johnny. You go through the 6-8 weeks of "you stink, you suck, we hate you." You know, people are loyal to whoever the last person was. And you either whine and complain about it or you put your nose to the grindstone, you write the jokes and you do it.
I think Conan has handled it great. He doesn't complain. He does what he has to do and puts on a good show every night. And now it's up to people to either pick up on it or not. He'll be fine.
It's the same thing I went through. You know, someone sent me an article from 1969 that said, "When is Jack Paar coming back? This Johnny Carson with these sex jokes, it's rude, it's this, it's that." And Johnny had been on for seven years, and they're still asking when Paar's coming back?
But eventually you work hard and you make it your own.
Is that viewer loyalty why you decided not to shake things up too much on this new show?
Well, we're not having the same format as The Tonight Show, we're keeping elements of The Tonight Show that people seemed to like and seemed to work well. Don't forget, we're doing a show every day and the [old] elements, there are maybe seven or eight of them. So we have to add a lot of new stuff.
We're not throwing the whole thing out. We're keeping the stuff that works and getting rid of the stuff that doesn't work.
Are you nervous about making the leap to prime time?
I'm hopefully optimistic. Like I say, NBC is in fourth place, so you can't do any worse. [Laughs] I'm still pretty laid back. I mean, this is not as nerve-wracking as taking over from Johnny, because then I was sort of an unknown entity; at this point people kind of know what I do.
They either like it or they don't, and you kind of keep doing what you always did but maybe with new energy and new excitement and some new bits, and you see how people like it. I mean all you can do is give it your best shot, you know?
You've said that 10 o'clock is the new 11:30. What do you mean?
When I was a kid -- a kid? When I was in my 20s and 30s, I always stayed up until two o'clock in the morning watching the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder and so did most of my friends.
Nowadays I find people go to bed at 12, 12:30 at the latest. They don't stay up that late, whether it's because people are carpooling or working two jobs or they've just go more responsibility or whatever it might be.
And one thing I seem to get from people is, "Oh, I like your monologue but, god, I only get about halfway through." Either I'm putting them to sleep, which is a very real possibility, or it's just too late.
What's your response to the Time magazine headline that you're "the future of television"?
Well, that is hilarious. That shows you the trouble we are in. I mean, if you read the article it's just telling you, I think, that television has to change. The advertising dollars are not there anymore. The numbers that get you to No. 1 now are numbers that would have gotten you canceled 20 years ago.
I mean I never thought I'd see the day when prime-time shows would be in single digits in the ratings. I can remember when Nancy Kerrigan hosted Saturday Night Live and only got a 14 rating and everybody went, "Oh, we thought it'd be higher than that." Well, 14, that would make you the biggest hit in the history of NBC these days.
So, you know, it's a different model. It's a changing thing.
http://insidetv.aol.com/2009/09/11/jay-leno-show-conan-obrien-the-future-of-tv/
AOL TV caught up with the comedian during a conference call to talk about prime-time jitters, Conan O'Brien's floundering ratings and what it feels like to be labeled "the future of television."
Are you surprised by the dip in the Tonight Show ratings since Conan O'Brien took over?
That's not my problem. I mean, I went through this when I took over from Johnny. You go through the 6-8 weeks of "you stink, you suck, we hate you." You know, people are loyal to whoever the last person was. And you either whine and complain about it or you put your nose to the grindstone, you write the jokes and you do it.
I think Conan has handled it great. He doesn't complain. He does what he has to do and puts on a good show every night. And now it's up to people to either pick up on it or not. He'll be fine.
It's the same thing I went through. You know, someone sent me an article from 1969 that said, "When is Jack Paar coming back? This Johnny Carson with these sex jokes, it's rude, it's this, it's that." And Johnny had been on for seven years, and they're still asking when Paar's coming back?
But eventually you work hard and you make it your own.
Is that viewer loyalty why you decided not to shake things up too much on this new show?
Well, we're not having the same format as The Tonight Show, we're keeping elements of The Tonight Show that people seemed to like and seemed to work well. Don't forget, we're doing a show every day and the [old] elements, there are maybe seven or eight of them. So we have to add a lot of new stuff.
We're not throwing the whole thing out. We're keeping the stuff that works and getting rid of the stuff that doesn't work.
Are you nervous about making the leap to prime time?
I'm hopefully optimistic. Like I say, NBC is in fourth place, so you can't do any worse. [Laughs] I'm still pretty laid back. I mean, this is not as nerve-wracking as taking over from Johnny, because then I was sort of an unknown entity; at this point people kind of know what I do.
They either like it or they don't, and you kind of keep doing what you always did but maybe with new energy and new excitement and some new bits, and you see how people like it. I mean all you can do is give it your best shot, you know?
You've said that 10 o'clock is the new 11:30. What do you mean?
When I was a kid -- a kid? When I was in my 20s and 30s, I always stayed up until two o'clock in the morning watching the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder and so did most of my friends.
Nowadays I find people go to bed at 12, 12:30 at the latest. They don't stay up that late, whether it's because people are carpooling or working two jobs or they've just go more responsibility or whatever it might be.
And one thing I seem to get from people is, "Oh, I like your monologue but, god, I only get about halfway through." Either I'm putting them to sleep, which is a very real possibility, or it's just too late.
What's your response to the Time magazine headline that you're "the future of television"?
Well, that is hilarious. That shows you the trouble we are in. I mean, if you read the article it's just telling you, I think, that television has to change. The advertising dollars are not there anymore. The numbers that get you to No. 1 now are numbers that would have gotten you canceled 20 years ago.
I mean I never thought I'd see the day when prime-time shows would be in single digits in the ratings. I can remember when Nancy Kerrigan hosted Saturday Night Live and only got a 14 rating and everybody went, "Oh, we thought it'd be higher than that." Well, 14, that would make you the biggest hit in the history of NBC these days.
So, you know, it's a different model. It's a changing thing.
http://insidetv.aol.com/2009/09/11/jay-leno-show-conan-obrien-the-future-of-tv/