Same old Leno, new time slot

There were few surprises in The Jay Leno Show on Monday night as NBC began its experiment of programming a late-night talk show in prime time five nights a week.

"It's the same comfortable Jay Leno," said Associated Press critic Frank Lazier. "Typical Jay Leno, just on a plusher scale. Pleasant. Affable. Even funny."

The show, which aired at 10 p.m. ET — an hour and a half earlier than Leno's former slot — began with the usual monologue and a pre-taped skit by comic Dan Finnerty.

Jerry Seinfeld was a guest, joking that he also was getting a prime-time talk show, and the big draw was musical guest Kanye West, who made an apology about his behaviour at the MTV awards. He also performed with Jay-Z and Rihanna.

The show ended with Leno's usual collection of amusing headlines.

Variety reviewer Brian Lowry said many of the skits felt "padded," as if the program "was working a little too hard to prove that this is really a "comedy show" instead of simply The Tonight Show at an earlier hour.

Yet the Seinfeld segment seemed just like the non-interviews Leno did as Tonight Show host, Lowry said.

Robert Bianco of USA Today was even less of a fan, calling the show "cut-rate, snooze-inducing, rehashed bore."

Audiences were curious about the experiment and 17.7 million viewers tuned in for the heavily publicized debut. Leno may have benefited from the minor scandal around West's MTV awards-show blow-up.

In the longer term, most observers don't expect as many viewers for a chat and comedy show as for a prime-time drama, which would traditionally play at 10 p.m.

The show is not even expected to dominate its time slot.

But NBC can make The Jay Leno Show for much less than a drama. Hour-long dramas meant for prime time can cost $3 million US an episode — about the cost of a week of Leno.

It marks a new approach to prime time, in which the networks, which have been losing viewers to cable and the internet, try to cut costs instead of drawing big audiences.

"The idea was always, you get the biggest audience you could possibly get, and the profits followed," Lowry said in an interview with CBC News. "Now, it's can we make more money if we make the program cheaper?"

Many in Hollywood's creative community are hoping the experiment fails. Prime-time drama has already had to give way to reality TV, and more chat shows could mean it disappears on network TV.

"There's a big contingent within Hollywood, as much as they may like Leno personally, they're rooting against this show.…They want the show to fail," Lowry said.