| The Jay Leno Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Jay Leno |
| Presented by | Jay Leno |
| Starring | Kevin Eubanks (as bandleader) The Primetime Band |
| Narrated by | Wally Wingert |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 95 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Production locations | NBC Studios Burbank, California |
| Running time | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
| Production companies | Big Dog Productions Universal Media Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 14, 2009 – February 9, 2010 |
| Related | |
| The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Jay Leno Show is an American prime time talk show hosted by Jay Leno that was broadcast by NBC from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010. The series was a spiritual successor to his previous late-night talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and used a similar format consisting of a comedic monologue, followed by celebrity interviews and other comedy segments.
The program was the result of a compromise by NBC Universal's then-CEO Jeff Zucker to keep Leno with the network following his retirement from The Tonight Show and succession by Conan O'Brien. NBC hoped to attract Leno's existing fans, as well as a larger prime time audience: the network believed that The Jay Leno Show would not necessarily require high viewership to be profitable, due to its lower production costs in comparison to scripted dramas.
The Jay Leno Show was met with mixed reception from critics, who felt that the series had little differentiation from Leno's Tonight Show. Others were critical of NBC's decision to give up an hour of its weeknight lineup to Leno, due to the network's past success with dramas airing in the 10:00 p.m. ET/PT time slot. One NBC affiliate (WHDH in Boston owned by Sunbeam Television, now independent) notably planned not to air the show at all, although this decision was retracted due to complaints by the network. Although viewership of The Jay Leno Show was initially on par with NBC's projections, by November, the program's ratings began to fall significantly. NBC's affiliates complained that the declining viewership of The Jay Leno Show also had a ripple effect on the viewership of their late local newscasts.
In an effort to address the concerns, NBC announced in January 2010 that it would, following the 2010 Winter Olympics, shorten The Jay Leno Show to a half-hour, and move it to 11:35 p.m—the timeslot that had been occupied by The Tonight Show for nearly 60 years, and bump Tonight to 12:05 a.m. The decision resulted in a major public conflict between the network and Conan O'Brien, who asserted that the move would damage the highly respected Tonight Show franchise, and that he would not participate in the program if it were moved to 12:05.[1] Despite much support for O'Brien from both the public[2] and media professionals[3][4] alike, NBC maintained its plan to move Leno to 11:35.
On January 21, 2010, NBC reached a $45 million settlement with O'Brien in order to end his contract. The Jay Leno Show ended on February 9, 2010, after being on the air for only four months, with Entertainment Weekly calling the program television's "Biggest Bomb of All Time."[5] Leno resumed his duties as host of The Tonight Show on March 1, 2010, for a second and final tenure that lasted until his February 2014 succession by Jimmy Fallon.[6]
- ^ O'Brien, Conan (January 12, 2010). "Conan releases statement on late-night situation". CNN.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
- ^ New York Times article: "On the Web, a Wave of Support for Conan O'Brien Archived January 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine".
- ^ Twitter post by Roger Ebert: "I agree: A touching statement from Conan. Archived October 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine"
- ^ Porter, Rick (January 14, 2010). "Rosie O'Donnell is on Team Conan". Zap2it. Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ^ The Jay Leno Show Was TV's "Biggest Bomb Ever" Archived January 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, USA Today, January 21, 2010
- ^ De Moraes, Lisa (December 30, 2013). "UPDATE: NBC "Taking Every Precaution" In Wake of Russian Violence Walking Up To Sochi Olympics". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2014.