Leno: It Is To Laugh (Not!)

Enough w/ politics; people who prostitute themselves & their talents or art (You know, whores!) are everywhere. A national example of this (We may be stretching the concept of art when we apply it to Leno, but hey.) is given in Tina Brown's Daily Beast.

No mention in The Beast that the aging squares who might enjoy Jay's mainstream "idiot pandering" comedy stylings probably can't stay awake until 2335 (2235 Central) because their early bird turkey loaf dinner has them keeling over right after Matlock reruns on the Hallmark Movie Channel.

Here's the (lamely obvious) funny:

Now, however, there's fresh blood in the water. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno has lost 21 percent in overall audience compared with 2008, and 25 percent of its viewers aged 18 to 49, according to Nielsen. This comes after the show's ratings hit historic lows last summer. Among 18-to-49 year-olds, advertisers' preferred demographic, Leno is attracting even fewer viewers than O'Brien did during his brief stint as host—those same ratings spelled doom for the Conan Tonight.

Cue the schadenfreude.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" comedian Andy Kindler said in response to news of Leno's ratings. "You reap what you sow."

Kindler, a well-known critic of Leno, is not the only one taking some bitter satisfaction in Leno's latest ratings. Comics on both coasts are quietly taking note that what they suspected all along is finally coming to pass. "Jay wanted The Tonight Show back in the worst way," says comedy writer and standup Dana Gould. "And he got his wish."

[...]

Comedian Patton Oswalt was the first notable comedian to go public with his resentment of Leno back in January, calling the talk-show host "Nixonian" and "passively aggressively mean."

"Comedians that don't like Jay Leno now—and I'm one of them—we're not like, 'Oh, Jay Leno sucks!'" Oswalt said on the Jan. 8 edition of Comedy Death Ray Radio. "It's that we're so hurt and disappointed that one of the best comedians of our generation willfully shut that switch off and was like, 'No more for you guys!'"

Back in the 1980s, Leno was a comic's comic. He was a regular guest on NBC's Late Night With David Letterman, known for having the most cutting one-liners on any news event and for calling out other comedians who pandered to the masses. Then in 1992, he took over The Tonight Show, toned down his material and championed comedians whose acts went counter to his early persona.

"The first person that he got behind on The Tonight Show and made a star was Carrot Top," says Gould. "He immediately went against what he preached to other comedians. It left everybody scratching their heads."

Best bet on network telebision after the late news: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Fergie as Limey Prince Charlie. That's funny.

Hand puppets, too!