Well, okay. There's Leno on 60 Minutes saying he's not going to do another late night show. That's news to a lot of folks, including at least a couple who figured into possible future plans that now do not seem possible. I'm still kinda curious if Jay has something lined-up in the way of television or if he actually intends to just do his stand-up act and pop up in occasional guest shots. Wonder if NBC, which still has him under contract 'til September, can or would block him from going on with Letterman.
I see before me a drastic change in my late night viewing. I'll try Mr. Fallon on Tonight but my reaction to his 12:35 program has generally been, "Gee, I like that guy but I have no interest in watching him on that show." I've been catching Letterman and Ferguson when they have a guest on I want to see…which doesn't happen all that often. Either Craig Ferguson has changed a lot in the last three years or I have because I now find him trying way too hard to do silly stuff to amuse his audience…dancing, making faces, etc. Letterman remains Letterman…a cranky guy who occasionally reminds you how good he used to be.
I remain inexplicably uninterested in watching Conan or Arsenio, and explicably uninterested in Jimmy Kimmel. I've tried him a few times and while the show seems to be well-written, I just find the host way too arrogant and mean-spirited. Folks who work on the show tell me he's a great guy but I sure haven't seen that on-camera.
Getting back to Leno: The 60 Minutes piece was the first time I've seen anything in the media that didn't make him out to be the Master Villain in the whole do-si-do with Conan O'Brien. As I've written here, I think Jay got a raw deal, P.R.-wise, in that whole mess. I don't feel sorry for him because, after all, he did wind up with The Tonight Show and a certain vindication by its ratings, to say nothing of the income. But I think people always bought into the idea that he wholeheartedly agreed with giving the show over to O'Brien and then later reneged. I was surprised to see 60 Minutes underscore that that was not the way it went down.
I have a couple of e-mails here asking me questions about Leno and the comedy business. I'll try to answer them here in the next few days.