Jay Leno

Appeasing the older demographic, just a bit

But a Letterman-Leno dynamic continues between the two new hosts

Jaime J. Weinman on what the programming changes mean for late night TV

Jaime J. Weinman on the Tonight Show wars

Of course it’s easy to speculate about the future of Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon. Let’s get started …

With retirement speculation surrounding Letterman and Leno, ABC is betting big on their star

Newsmakers Feuds

Plus: Walter Mosley’s latest, a biography of the Atlantic Ocean, the father of modern taxidermy, what Boomers can expect from the rest of life, and the late night TV wars

I’ll have more to say later about Bill Carter’s The War For Late Night (aka Late Shift 2: The Shiftening), but one thing I wanted to remark on quickly is that although the book doesn’t do much to delve into the mysteries of why these people are the way they are — Carter got to talk to everybody, but the price for that is that he’s too close to provide a really hard-hitting portrayal of anybody — there are some bits that help clarify the mystery of why Jay Leno, a comedian whose talent no one doubts, has been such a creatively mediocre host. The book keeps repeating his mantra that what he wants to do is “tell jokes at 11:35 at night”; every time he talks about what he does, he says that his job is to “tell jokes.” Carter reminds us that Leno said, comparing himself and Letterman, “I’m a comedian, I’m not a talk-show host. I think Dave as a broadcaster is as good as there has ever been. I would say Dave is the better broadcaster and I am the better stand-up comedian.” That sounds about right. As I said,  the people who disrespect Leno don’t deny that he was a good stand-up — even Bill Hicks’ vicious routine about Leno’s Tonight Show was premised on the idea that Leno used to be funny and chose to stop being funny.

When Conan O’Brien took a job on basic cable, some saw it as a step down. Now it’s looking smart.

You wouldn’t want to cross either one, That’s how it’s done in Wawota, Sask. and Andy, Andy, we got us a crime wave!

Women are a big part of the audience, so why don’t hosts like Jay Leno hire any as writers?