Last night, I eagerly (well, sort of) awaited the much talked about return of Jay Leno with his new show. I suppose I expected it to have the same big bang effect as when Conan O’brien moved to his new timeslot. Since it was supposed to be a new show, complete with a new title, you would, of course, expect a new format and new materials. But I suppose that was too much to expect.


Except for the new stage set up, the new title  and Jay Leno’ s hairdo, nothing much has changed. In fact, NBC might have saved more money if they’ve just announced that the Late Night with Jay Leno show was moving to an earlier timeslot. The show had the same lame jokes, salvaged only by the applause sign, and the same lifeless banter between Jay and Kevin Eubanks. There’s also the same segment “Headlines” although they’ve also changed the name. I expect, by next week, they’ll have “Jay Walking” and at the end of the month, “Battle of the Jay Walking All Stars.”

But then again, I’ve never been much of a Jay Leno fan. To tell the truth, I think he’s only slightly funny. David Letterman does a better job at cracking me up. And Jay can’t even compare to Conan’s sense of humor…or even his show. But I suppose choosing hosts for a fun late night show is hit and miss most of the time. I mean, look at the guy who picked Conan O’brien to host the Late Night Show (his name escapes me, darn it!). He’s the same person who chose Jimmy Fallon to replace Conan. They couldn’t be as opposite as night and day. For one thing, Conan’s funny. Jimmy Fallon, on the other hand, not so much. Don’t get me wrong, I love his performance at SNL and his movies. But he just doesn’t quite cut it at the Late Night Show. But I’ve already digressed.

I don’t have anything against Jay Leno. But he just not funny enough to keep the viewers and the ratings hooked. And that’s the bottomline.