Category: TV Reviews

2010

I've probably been one of the biggest supporters of "The Jay Leno Show," but there are nights when I find that watching it is a frustrating experience. The best shows have been when Leno steps outside his comfort zone and on those times when he doesn't, it can be a long, boring hour of television.

That description is a good fit for tonight's episode, which was bland and an example of the worst of Jay Leno. Over prepared, safe and predictable.

I expected to hear some more jokes about the goings-on at NBC, but for the most part, the monologue ignored the subject. There were a couple of pretty lame comments, then on to his typical mix of pop culture and weird story jokes.

If you watch Leno on a regular basis, you know that he often jokes about fat people and illegal aliens. And viewers got to hear both during the monologue:

"It's growing more and more likely that California will legalize Marijuana. You mean it's not already legal? Know what that means? One day in California you could be buying legalized Marijuana at a Wal-Mart from a cashier who is not even legal."

"According to Oxford University, fat rear ends are healthy. They say extra padding on your backside can protect your heart. Let me tell you something...that's when you know your ass is too big...when it's protecting your heart...it's actually coming around and protecting your heart. That's a big ass."

Even the short video bits, which have generally been funny, were nothing special tonight. A Richard Simmons joke? Really? What are we doing, playing "Hey, it's 1988 again?"

Producers have continued to play around with the mix and order of features in an attempt to build the audience going into the local affiliate's late night news. One noticeable change tonight was that the "Internet Successes and Failures" feature which used to air at the end of the show is now stuck just behind the monologue.

It's a funny enough idea, showing online video of an idea that works next to one that doesn't. For instance, video of a successful gymnastics trick back-to-back with one that shows some horrible disaster. The problem with the segment is that it really needs some sort of witty off-the-cuff commentary. And that's not really Leno's strength. Plus, tonight's segment was probably 33% too long. But I'm guessing that is the result of deciding to fill the entire segment with this feature. Which means you're then programming for time rather then content.

Jay's primary guest was Heidi Klum and she provided the only real entertainment for the hour. Much of the first part of her interview with Jeno was obviously straight off of the pre-production interview with the staff. "Oh, you just had a baby." Blah, blah, blah. This is a primary problem with Leno's show. It is often over-planned to point of wringing every slight bit of excitement out of the segments.

Luckily, Klum likes to fluster Leno, and she began asking him how he proposed to his wife. He started to answer, tried to change the subject and Klum kept bringing it up. Leno never did quite answer her question, but it was the closest thing to a natural conversation that viewers saw the entire show.

Klum then participated in the Green Car Challenge, and I've already written extensively about my problems with the core idea of the segment. Klum did manage to keep Leno off-kilter a bit, even if she did end up driving one of the slowest times ever.

One thing Leno is good at is providing a showcase for stand-up comedians. I suspect if he had to choose just one thing to do in life, it would be stand-up. So he's always been willing to bring in people to perform even when the idea has fallen out of favor on television talk shows.

Unfortunately, I didn't much care for comedian Elon Gold. His routine didn't really impress me much, although I know he's a funny guy. On the other hand, as a former stand-up, I'm a tough audience, so I don't know that I would trust my judgement on this one.

The final segment of the show as the "10 @ Ten" feature, which tonight featured Kourtney Kardashian. I've seen this segment work very well, but there are times when it seems as if the guest has been given the questions ahead of time. I don't know if that was the case with Kardashian, but she seemed to be trying to remember pre-written answers. Or perhaps she's just a really terrible actress. Regardless, the segment really just laid there and in this case, having the "Internet Successes and Failures" segment as the last feature would have worked much better.

Overall, not a great show. Which is unfortunate, considering the larger number of people probably tuning in right now.