Jay Leno Is Back: Giving Context To Week One Of The New Old Tonight Show

• “When it comes to going downhill, nobody is faster (than Lindsey Vonn), except NBC.” (Jay Leno – 3/1/10)

This week, Jay Leno resumed his role as host of The Tonight Show after a nine month hiatus. His return came in the wake of the very public collapse of NBC’s late night programming schedule which saw the network lose their other marquee name, Conan O’Brien. Leno has never shied away from ridiculing NBC and its mistakes. In fact, it usually creates a platform for some of his best work. This trend continued right out of the gates, as Leno was able to combine his angst against NBC with his support for Lindsey Vonn, one of his first guests. This dig seemed to be more about helping NBC milk its Olympic coverage for all it’s worth, and less about Jay taking out his frustrations on the Peacock Network. It was one of the few shots Leno took at NBC all week.

• “Welcome to The Late Show. My name is Dave Letterman. Same time, same host.” (David Letterman – 3/1/10)

Now Leno is back head-to-head with David Letterman, renewing a rivalry that dates back to 1992. Then, as in now, The Tonight Show succession struggle saw NBC lose one of their biggest names, with Jay Leno coming out on top. One would think that for Letterman, 1992’s victim now at the helm of his own late night television institution, this time the gloves would be off. Those viewers anticipating a no-holds barred verbal slugfest this week were surely disappointed. This week the late night hosts were, if nothing else, respectful of the whole situation. Letterman chose to barely address Leno’s return, let alone take any memorable shots. It seems the pressure to avoid controversy in the era of the public apology might be too great for some hosts. Tiger Woods, Mark McGwire, John Edwards and even David Letterman himself have all had to issue public apologies for one reason or another in the past six months alone. Whether it was because Letterman was trying to watch what he said or because he was trying to be the bigger man, the gloves were not just on, they were crazy glued to his hands.

• “I’m a little nervous – not because it’s my first night back, but because I know Dave and Oprah are watching.” (Jay Leno – 3/1/10)

Less than a month ago Jay Leno and David Letterman appeared together in a Super Bowl commercial alongside Oprah Winfrey. It was the talk of the town for an entire week. Had these two enemies of nearly two decades really buried the hatchet? As Jay returned to his post at The Tonight Show this week to once again faceoff with Dave for late night talk supremacy the answer to that question seemed to be a resounding – “Yes.” Jay and Dave kept it clean. A new decade in late night television has apparently come to fruition. There is a detente between two sworn enemies, and all it took was a little sofa time with Oprah Winfrey. Is there anything that lady can’t do?

•“NBC got big ratings from the Olympics. Unfortunately for NBC, they’re done and now they’re looking for ways to try to maintain that Olympic momentum…(with) a new hybrid show (the Biggest Luger).” (Jimmy Kimmel – 3/3/10)

While the spotlight this week was certainly on Jay and Dave, Jimmy Kimmel let the viewers down the most. Kimmel is a relative newcomer to late night compared to Leno and Letterman. His show even comes on half an hour later at 12:05 taking him out of direct competition with the big two. It is his outsider status that sometimes allows him to get away with a little bit more. Just when it sounded like Kimmel was setting up to open fire on Jay Leno during his monologue, he pulled back. This was the guy who, just two months ago, did his entire show in full character makeup (including prosthetic chin) in an unflattering Jay Leno impression complete with high-pitched whiny voice, lisp and purposely horrible material. This was the guy who went on Jay Leno’s show and absolutely skewered the unsuspecting Leno to his face for stealing the Tonight Show from Conan O’Brien. On this, Jay’s first week back, even the renegade Jimmy Kimmel played nice.

•“The mere mention of Jay Leno’s name makes me want to vomit.” (Howard Stern – 3/2/10)

The only person who delivered the goods this week was shock jock Howard Stern, who came out of the woodwork for a rare television appearance (only his 2nd in over two years) to discuss his longstanding and ever-increasing hatred for Jay Leno on CBS’ The Early Show. At a time when the big late night television show hosts are playing it safe, it takes a man with his own untouchable pulpit to speak his mind. Stern has been the “The King of All Media Just Radio” for decades and is pretty secure in his position. This is exactly the kind of abrasive and confrontational comment that people expected to be targeted at Leno this week, and it is Stern’s forte.

• “Welcome to ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,’ NBC’s longest running nightly comedy show. It’s our one year anniversary guys, and boy how things have changed. I remember when we started Jay Leno was still hosting ‘The Tonight Show.” (Jimmy Fallon – 3/1/10)

One year ago when Jimmy Fallon took over Late Night, some were critical from the get-go. Many were fearful that he was too timid, too fidgety. Fast forward one year, and not only is Fallon doing just fine on NBC, but he’s the only one doing just fine (with the exception of the immortal Carson Daly). He continues to get high profile guests, maintain an interactive brand of comedy, and really seems to be growing on the naysayers. In the murky, mysterious, and ever changing world of NBC late night programming, nobody could have guessed that Jimmy Fallon would become the most stalwart component. It might be too early to say, but perhaps someone should warn young Jimmy about what happens if you try to take over The Tonight Show.

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