How'd Leno Fare in His First Week?

By Tricia Romano Posted Sep 21st 2009 10:51AM

After much anticipation and speculation, Jay Leno's new show -- aptly titled 'The Jay Leno Show' -- debuted last week, and it turns out, it's almost exactly like his last show, 'The Tonight Show.' Except for the fact that it's not so hot according to lots of critics, and the end-of-week ratings were less than half of the show's premiere. Allow PopEater take a look back at how Jay did as he ventures into week number two.

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Jay Leno Snapshots

Jay Leno's first week of his new, earlier show is in the books after. Jay spanned the entertainment world with guests like Kanye West to Tom Cruise. Click to See Photos of Everything Leno-Related

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Jay Leno Snapshots

BURBANK, CA - SEPTEMBER 14: (NO SALES, NO ARCHIVE; TABLOIDS OUT) Jay Leno tapes the inaugural episode of NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" September 14, 2009 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Justin Lubin/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jay Leno

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US comedian Jay Leno walks on the stage for the debut of "The Jay Leno Show" on September 14, 2009 in Burbank, California. The program will air nightly in NBC's coveted 10:00 pm (0500 GMT) slot, the first time in US television history that a major broadcast network has run a series five nights a week in prime time. Justin Lubin/NBCU via AFP == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL ONLY / CANNOT BE ALTERED / NO ARCHIVING / NO SALES / NO TABLOIDS / GETTY OUT == (Photo credit should read Justin Lubin/AFP/Getty Images)

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Audience members wait in a holding area outside NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif., Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 to watch the premiere of the Jay Leno Show. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Fans write messages for Jay Leno while waiting in a holding area to watch the premiere of the Jay Leno Show outside NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif., Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Peggy Willison, 86, holds a sign as she and her friends enter NBC Studios to watch the premiere of the Jay Leno Show in Burbank, Calif., Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A fan holds a sign while waiting in a holding area to watch the premiere of The Jay Leno Show outside NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif., Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A fan holds a sign while waiting in a holding area to watch the premiere of "The Jay Leno Show," outside NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif., Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Audience members and Jay Leno Fan Club members Evelyn Baldock (L) and Elsie Shallenberger (R) arrive for the premiere of "The Jay Leno Showï¿½ at NBC Studios in Burbank, California, on September 14, 2009. Stepping out of 60 years of prime-time TV traditions, NBC hopes to cash in on "The Jay Leno Show,ï¿½ taking advantage of the much lower cost of producing a talk show as compared to the scripted dramas normally found in the prime-time slot. AFP PHOTO/ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Audience members and Jay Leno Fan Club members Elsie Shallenberger (2R) and Evelyn Baldock (2L) wait to enter for the premiere of "The Jay Leno Show,ï¿½ at NBC Studios in Burbank, CA on September 14, 2009. Stepping out of 60 years of prime-time TV traditions, NBC hopes to cash in on The Jay Leno Show,ï¿½ taking advantage of the much lower cost of producing a talk show as compared to the scripted dramas normally found in the prime-time slot. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

An audience member holds up his tickets as he waits to enter for the premiere of "The Jay Leno Show,ï¿½ at NBC Studios in Burbank, CA on September 14, 2009. Stepping out of 60 years of prime-time TV traditions, NBC hopes to cash in on The Jay Leno Show,ï¿½ taking advantage of the much lower cost of producing a talk show as compared to the scripted dramas normally found in the prime-time slot. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Monday: Coming off of the big news of the weekend with the Kanye West-Taylor Swift VMA debacle, Leno scored an accidental coup with Kanye as his already-planned musical guest. The awkward interview, in which Jay nearly brought Kanye to tears by asking him what the rapper's dead mother would have thought of his behavior, likely boosted the outrageously high ratings -- a stunning 18.4 million viewers.

Tuesday: By his second night, the new car scent began fading a bit. Leno's guests were Tom Cruise (in a new feature called 10 @ 10, where he interviews people via satellite), and Michael Moore plugging his latest movie. The reviews started to roll in. The Los Angeles Times review's opening line was scathing. "It's not a good sign when the Bud Light commercial is funnier than the comedy show it interrupts." No surprise then, that Jay lost seven million viewers on the second night.

Wednesday: E! Online asked, "Are Melrose Place, Leno Already Over?," citing Leno's drop in viewers. On Leno's third night, Robin Williams came on and talked. For the 10 @ 10 segment, Jay asked Miley Cyrus what time her curfew was. (Note to Hollywood producers: We would like to get paid millions of dollars to come up with questions like these. Ours will be better). Though we liked the Hamish and Andy "Ghosting" segment, that is a score for the booking agent, not Leno's writing team.

Thursday: The New York Times' Media Decoder blog post titled "A Winning Wednesday for NBC" might have jumped the gun in terms of optimism. With a lead-in from "America's Got Talent," Jay gained back three million more viewers. Still, that didn't keep The Philadephia Enquirer from dissing it: "The new Leno show, the first five-night-a-week prime-time broadcast show in TV history, seems little more than a warmed over (and not even as good) version of 'The Tonight Show.'" They might have a point: Outside of Halle Berry's revelation that she was not indeed pregnant, Leno had the scintillating Bruce Hornsby as the musical guest (though, it must be noted that Hornsby's guitarist was Eric freaking Clapton ... so bonus points there).

Friday: By Friday, the little bump Jay enjoyed on Wednesday had dissipated. On Thursday, TV By the Numbers noted that a repeat of 'The Mentalist' had beaten Jay. Not even Friday's bizarre 10 @ 10 interview with Mel Gibson could save the numbers from petering off to just under eight million. (Sample question: "What part of the body would you change: "I already got my tail removed. Maybe I'd get my brain removed.) That's more than a 50 percent ratings decrease from just four days earlier.

This week's guests? Some big-name movie stars like Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Garner, legendary but not-so-buzzworthy musicians like Smokey Robinson and some political figures. Thursday features Rush Limbaugh. Monday night's 10 @ 10 is with Barney Frank. Please, do not ask him what time his curfew is.

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PopScene: Week's Hottest Pics

Miley Cyrus attends the 2009 VH1 Divas at Brooklyn Academy of Music on September 17th in New York City.

Jeff Kravitz, FilmMagic

PopScene: Weeks Hottest Pics

Miley Cyrus attends the 2009 VH1 Divas at Brooklyn Academy of Music on September 17th in New York City.

Jeff Kravitz, FilmMagic

Nicole Richie showing off amazing post baby body less than a week after having her new baby son, Sparrow.

X17online

Judah Friedlander teams up with SpiderMan for some ping pong at SPiN New York on September 17th.

Mark Von Holden, Getty Images

Sir Ian McKellen and pop star Mika attend Mika's album launch party on September 17th in London.

Nick Harvey, WireImage

Spencer Pratt buys up all the issues of Playboy he can find with his wife Heidi Montag on the cover.

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Clive Owen attends the screening of "The Boys Are Back" on September 16th in Los Angeles.

Noel Vasquez, Getty Images

Natalie Portman is given a jacket by ET Canada host Rick Campanelli as she attends the "Love And Other Impossible Pursuits" Premiere in Toronto.

George Pimentel, WireImage

Mya arrives at her hair salon in Beverly Hills on September 16th.

Pacific Coast News

Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan are seen on the set of the upcoming film, "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps" in New York City.

Fame Pictures

Robbie Williams leaves his hotel armed with a pink light saber in Paris.

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Tags: halle berry, HalleBerry, jay leno, jay leno show, JayLeno, JayLenoShow, jennifer garner, JenniferGarner, kanye west, KanyeWest, miley cyrus, MileyCyrus, robin williams, RobinWilliams, tom cruise, TomCruise, vince vaughn, VinceVaughn

Comments

(25)

Monday 21 September

By sandy

Vote down Vote up Report this

I don't plan on watching him too often. I love Jay can't stand the station he is on. I try never to watch NBC. I wish Jay would move to another station like maybe Fox? All the rest are terrible.

By stella

screw you all, you have no taste, lol. I like it.

By robert

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

As far as talk show host go Jay is the best hands down. Letterman is a bore, Conan is a jackass, Fergison is ok and Carson is on way too late. They should have bumped Carson up to an better time. But out of all of them Leno is the best.

By boop

i like jay leno, i live in the next town where he was brought up im massachusetts. however, his new show should be called the EARLY SHOW like the LATE SHOW......as its format is the same but he should be behind the desk as usual. give him back his desk. i am still wondering how conan got jays slot. what an idiot, i wouldnt waste my time watching him. he's so not funny. put jay back on the late show and get back to normal.

By Ed Hudson

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

I watch the show online because the station in Shreveport La cannot transmit 45 miles into east Texas...We do not watch NBC for that reason. NBC has a problem in NE Texas!!!!!!

Jay's guests the first week were weak. Over half drove me to mute or fast forward!!!!

The lineup this week does not excite me! I have no interest in anything from Barney Frank except when he is going to jail for fraud!!!!

We enjoy the bits! The fact that some do not work is part of the humor!

Need to get better guests, especially musical. You need to appeal to your BASE and your BASE is not RAP and HIPHOP!!! You will not win every night because for some of us the only traditional drama programs that many of us long for are on in that time slot.

Besides, for us, we watch online. Thank you for having it online, otherwise we would not get you.

One last thing....JAY'S GARAGE ROCKS!!!!

Thanks Jay...

Ed Hudson
PS we no longer watch the Tonight Show with Conan...
If I'm Up I Find an Old Drama From The Past

Tuesday 22 September

By Taj

The Tonight Show has done much to advance the talk show career of Jay leno .He has never been a good broadcaster-he is a stand-up comic thrown into the talk show format. With this new show all bets are off. It's just Leno without the cashet of The Tonight Show behind him.
What he & his noticeably unfunny writers have yet to realize is 10 pm people are different from 11:30 pm viewers.The 10pm crowd are still expecting to be entertained. Their brains are still awake and functioning and probably still sober to some extent.
The show had an odd visual to it.Tacky,maybe can't quite put my pinky on it.Leno looked somewhat doughier/older,scruffier with long hair and his clothes seemed baggy and less than a perfect fit.(He did have a good shine on his shoes,however).The old handlers were no where of influence.

The feeling of the first show was brought down by the appearance of kanye. Not exactly the upbeat tone one wants to set for a show premier. I felt uncomfortable watching from the comfort of my home says a lot for the ewwww factor. The second program upped the ewwwww factor with the 10@10
Satellite interview with Tom Cruise. Leno asked Cruise if he had ever attended a strip bar -to which Cruise replied somewhat sheepishy"no." Leno ribbed cruise intimating he didn't believe Cruise's answer.Yuk,TC is a grown man why would that even be a question. A few seconds later JL is asking TC what song he sings to his young daughter ,suri at bedtime. Why bring the innocent kid into this mess. The question fell completely flat.JL was left looking like some kind of skeever. Nice,Jay ask about strippers and the guys baby daughter all in one breathe. Ewwwww is right.

In this first week of the Leno show there were only a few laugh-out-loud moments. Sad.

In my nsho the Leno show is Crap,top to bottom and back to front. I really don't feel as if it will last.There are just too many far superior forms of entertainment around to choose this steaming mess first.

By Bobbb

Jay ois great, as others have said especially within the realm of his competition or non-competition if you will. The new time is okay. He has tweeked the format some and he will probably to have to continue with that. At first I found myself wanting to go to bed after the show, but realized it wasn't time yet, LOL. I would not recommend that the after-the-news shows change their format but for this earlier time I like it that Jay endsd with a comedy bit instead of a musician. I also hate to say it but I would rather see more comedian than musical guests (Jay, back to your roots. And we need them, have you seen late night these days?) And finally, Jay, NO MORE LOSERS (like Kanye West). Somebody makes the news on account of their stupidity, let them go on the late night shows. Stick with the fun stuff.

By Kat

It's not "Leno" that I object to, its the time slot.
I believe that the 10 o'clock slots, should be for
more adult type of programing.

By aerofanz

I watched all week and I really loved it. I could never stay up to 11:30 so this works out great for me!! I don't get the doofus who won't watch because it is on NBC. So you claim to like Leno but are willing to punish him to prove a point to a bunch of suits who don't even know who you are...or care?

I really hope this works out for Jay because I hate all the other shows on at that hour and have seen all the 10:00 reruns of Frasier I can handle!!

By andy

I was disappointed that Jay would even have Kanye on the first night and then even more surprised that he had Michael Moore on the second night. Is Jay trying to appeal to a more liberal audience? That might be why his numbers suck.

By Shannon

Andy...

Of COURSE he HAS to appeal to a liberal audience because he is on NBC. NBC is in the Tank for Obama and they are a far left liberal station now. Owned by GE(Jeffrey Immelt CEO)) who looks to make billions of dollars on Cap and Trade if it passes and is in thick as a thief(Which he is) with the
Obama Administration. NBC sucks along with CBS AND ABC. Msnbc,CNN all going down the drain with their far left lib fellow stations.

By Katannie64

I watched all of the first nite, and some of Tuesday and Thursday's shows, but frankly, I thought he missed the mark. His monologue seems rushed, and most of the bits are surprisingly NOT funny. I can't see this formula working long term.

By Miriam

Love Jay. Fire the writers. Fire Connan (what a mistake!) Let's go back to the Tonight Show at another network, hate NBC (Sandy, you are 100% right. New set is too big and cold. Not cozy and inviting. NBC is clueless. Jay, please go to Fox!

I like Jay's new show. I see he has been tweeking the format. Not too bad. I like the comedy bits at the end. At first I was getting ready for bed at the end of the show, but it was too early. The comedy bit at the end helps. I hope the late night shows don't try that though. Jay, a couple of things. I am cool with the way you guys help introduce up-and-coming musicians and comedians, but I like the comedians better, plus stick with your roots Jay (I mean look at what we have on late night, we need some help too. Get us some good acts.) One other thing, leave the losers (like the Kanye West affair) to the late night group. Love the new show Jay.

By Nigel Collins

I've always been a Jay Leno fan. But I won't be if his new show continues like it is. The episodes so far have not only not been funny, they've been painful to watch. The very first show's very first skit was an excruciating mini-musical taking place at a car wash? Humorless nonsense. Boring. Robin Williams playing the harmonica and singing the blues? What narcissistic indulgence. Even the segment where Jay reads unintentionally funny headlines seemed lackluster. The Ghost Walker business also eluded me, and apparently millions of others as well, judging by the ratings. Let's have more Jay and less of these feeble attempts at poorly conceived skits.

By Marc

Leno's ratings will jump Thursday with Rush Limbaugh as a guest. To all you Libs out there, please don't slam me for now. If I'm wrong, slam me all you want on Friday. But for now, wait and see. There is one thing Libs and the major networks don't understand today...and that is the views of the American people. Again, wait and see.

Marc,

Can't wait to see Rush. Hope Jay is decent towards him. If not, Rush should get up and leave.

By Reena

is Jay's show supposed to be funny???
sorry, but I find his monologue BORING!
in all the years he's been on, I think he made me laugh twice.

By homecareking

Listen up NBC...... Leno is funny but he needs his desk back. They should call the show " The evening show with Jay Leno. Sounds more appealing to me.

By epjall

Leno is hilarious

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