Jay Leno came to the River Rock Show Theatre for two shows on a Saturday night. The word went out from his manager in Los Angeles that there would be no media event, no questions from the press and no media folks invited. This blackout was due to the continuing story of shifts at NBC. The Jay Leno Show is a ratings loser and Conan O’Brien has lost 2 million of Jay’s Tonight Show audience since taking the host chair. Add to this the fact that NBC is a big loser overall.
There are several scenarios on how this problem will be corrected but the first move was to inform Jay that his 10 pm prime time slot and show have been cancelled. The first repair job sees Jay on at 11:35, followed by Conan at 12:05 and by Jimmy Fallon at 1:05. In my mind’s eye this is too nutty for words. Late Tuesday (1/11) Conan insisted that he would not move the Tonight Show. The jury is out. It was pleasant seeing Jay again and as usual he is a great human being with no pretense. We all wish him luck in the coming months as this scene sorts itself out.