The Jay Leno Show

• "Headlines" (Monday): Humorous print items sent in by viewers. These real-life headlines are usually headlines with typographical errors, or unintentionally inappropriate items. The segment usually starts out with a fake, humorous headline during the introduction for the segment.
• "Jaywalking": A pre-taped segment, "Jaywalking" is a play on the host's name and the illegal practice of jaywalking. Leno asks people questions about current news and other topics in public areas around Los Angeles (usually Hollywood Boulevard, Melrose Avenue or Universal Studios). Most responses are outrageously incorrect; for example, one person believed that Abraham Lincoln was the first president, and another could not identify a picture of Hillary Clinton. Sometimes the questions are of the "What color is the White House?" level, such as asking in what country the Panama Canal is located. Up to 15 people are interviewed in an hour or less for each segment, with about nine interviews used on the air.[32] A similar format was used for the game show Street Smarts.
• JMZ: A parody of TMZ, a segment in which they report on fake celebrity news with such guest stars as Chuck Liddell.
• Ten@Ten: Jay interviews a celebrity via satellite by asking them 10 questions. Some editions have only used 9 questions, calling it the "Nine@Nine" as a reference to the central or mountain time zone.
• Green Car Challenge: A segment in which celebrities go in a car and try to be the fastest in a track with obstacles. Tim Allen had the best record time; Rush Limbaugh had the record worst time (though he did so on purpose), and Leno never tried.
• Photo Booth: A pre-taped segment in which someone goes in a Photo Booth and something is amiss.
• Stuff We Found on eBay: Leno brought up some of the oddest stuff that he and members of the studio audience had supposedly found while searching on eBay.
• Ross the Intern: Ross Mathews, an intern for the show, is sent to participate in special events. As part of a running gag, Leno started introducing Ross as his illegitimate son.

Jerry Seinfeld was the celebrity guest on the debut episode.[33] Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West performed "Run This Town", in which all three are featured.[34] West sat down for a previously unplanned interview with Leno, discussing West's outburst at the MTV Video Music Awards the previous night. Dan Finnerty was the comic correspondent for the night, and the end of the show featured Headlines.

Reviews for the first show ranged from neutral to negative, with most critics stating that the show was, despite the changes, still very similar to Tonight. Metacritic scores it at 48 out of 100 based on 23 TV critic reviews, and viewers scoring it at a 4.0 out of 10.[35] Media Life described the show as "underwhelming" and felt that Leno "failed to rise to the occasion."[36] The Buffalo News called the show "a mess."[37] The Associated Press noted that "it's not a good sign when the Bud Light commercial is funnier than the comedy show it interrupts," and that "at least Rosie Live took some chances."[38] Jonah Krakow of IGN gave it a 5.5/10 saying that "show felt like they just picked from where they left off three months ago, and I'm not sure that's a good thing".[39]

The final Jay Leno Show aired on February 9, 2010. The guests were Ashton Kutcher, Gabourey Sidibe and Bob Costas, with unannounced visits from Donald Trump and Kurt Warner. Following the monologue, there was a brief clip reel of highlights from the show's short tenure; otherwise, little mention was made about the fact that it was the final episode of the program.[40] The last moments of the show featured the program's "10 at 10" segment, with its celebrity guest being Bob Costas. When Leno asked Costas how it felt to be the show's final guest, the sportscaster replied, "Kind of like being involved in the last game of a Clippers season, isn't it?"[40] Directly following the interview with Costas, Leno thanked him, told the audience to stay tuned for their local news, and then abruptly went off-air.[40]

Many media outlets criticized Leno's apparent lack of ceremony for the end of his program.[41][40][42][43] Variety reported that the lack of fanfare was intentional, as NBC was attempting to rehab the reputation of Leno and The Tonight Show and did not desire to bring any further attention to Leno's transition back to Tonight.[43] The Associated Press noted that the last few weeks of the program, including the final episode, were pervaded by "bad vibes."[44] The Boston Globe wrote that Leno said farewell to his short-lived show "with all the momentousness of a guy taking out the trash."[45] The episode received negative reviews from Entertainment Weekly,[46] the Los Angeles Times,[41] and The Wall Street Journal.[42] By comparison, O'Brien's final Tonight Show was treated as a finale, with guests making reference to the show ending and guest Neil Young taking an ironic tone by performing "Long May You Run".

Leno had a contract for five years[47] for the show. NBC reportedly had an option to cancel after two years, but had committed to at least one[27] or two[28] years regardless of ratings, although later chose to end the show after less than five months. He could have earned up to $30 million each year depending on ratings for Leno, compared to a $20 million annual salary during his last years at Tonight.[48]

NBC expected to benefit by offering an inexpensive comedic alternative to the procedurals[49] ("100% more comedy and 98% fewer murders!"[25]) and other one-hour dramas that typically air at 10 pm, and by offering new episodes 46 weeks each year versus 22.[11][25][50][51] While Leno was not necessarily expected to be competitive with the higher-rated scripted shows on ABC and CBS in its time slot, its projected cost of production was far lower and thus it was expected to be profitable to the network,[9] and product integration intended to make the show "as DVR-proof as you can be on television in this era".[52] Each airing of Leno cost about $350,000[53] to $400,000[48] versus up to $3 million for an hour-long drama, saving NBC $13 million each week without the network needing the show to beat its competitors.[48] Those costs include the services of 22 writers,[30][54] whom Leno called the "top 5% of the highest-paid . . . in the Guild."[22]

McDonald's became the first buying advertiser for the program; as part of a tie-in with its McDonald's Monopoly promotion, a "Million Dollar Roll" segment hosted by NBC personalities aired nightly during commercial breaks of The Jay Leno Show in October 2009.[55]

Leno did not expect his show to beat competing first-run episodes, but to do better than reruns,[22] in part because topical jokes benefit from the "immediacy" of the time slot versus 11:30 pm.[21] A television analyst predicted that Leno would finish in "a safe third place" every night.[24] NBC research before the show's debut indicated that fans of Leno would watch Leno two to three times a week.[49]

NBC saw a 1.5 rating for the show in the 18–49 demographic as "viable"[7] and a 1.8 as a "home run".[56] NBC told Leno that at a 1.5 rating, NBC makes $300 million a year.[54] Tonight at 11:30 pm earned about a 1.3[9] to 1.5;[48] the television audience at 10 pm is 40% larger than at 11:30 pm, and the network hoped Leno's audience would also grow.[51] Industry observers have cited a range of ratings, from 1.7[53] to 2,[48][57] as being necessary for the show to succeed at 10 pm. By comparison, 2.5 is generally necessary for a 10 pm drama to succeed;[56] those that earned a 1.7 or less during the 2008–2009 season were generally cancelled.[7] NBC's prime-time dramas averaged about 2 during 2008–2009.

The first episode of The Jay Leno Show earned "fast national" estimates of 17.7 million viewers, an 11 Nielsen rating (5.1 among persons 18–49) and an 18 share, significantly above both his Tonight finale and the debut of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien in all categories.[58] By the second week and competing against season premieres, the audience fell to six million viewers, still on par with or exceeding NBC projections.[59] As of November 1, 2009, The Jay Leno Show has averaged a 1.98 in the adults 18–49 ratings and 6.594 million viewers.[60] During the week before Christmas, the ratings dropped to 1.4 during the week.[61] Prior to the controversy regarding the move of the Jay Leno Show to 11:35 p.m., viewership bottomed out at 4.799 million viewers, although there was a slight bump as word of the controversy broke.[62]

Though the show itself had been meeting the network's projections, it was severely detrimental to the ratings of the late local news on NBC affiliates. As originally feared by WHDH in Boston, several stations across the country saw what was known as the "Leno Effect", where the lower audience for Leno (as compared to NBC's scripted prime time offerings) translated directly into a domino effect of severe audience drops for late local news (on the order of 25–30%) and completely stunted NBC's past successful schedule hammocking strategies,[63][64] effects that NBC had underestimated.[15]

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• US TV host Conan O'Brien rejects NBC's offer to switch his show's time slot

In early January 2010, multiple media outlets reported that, following the 2010 Winter Olympics, The Jay Leno Show would be shortened to 30 minutes and begin airing weeknights at 11:35 pm ET, with Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon's shows following it beginning at 12:05 am on March 1, 2010.[15][16][65] On January 10, NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed that The Jay Leno Show would indeed move to 11:35.[66]

Leno immediately accepted the return to 11:35 p.m., calling the move "all business."[67] He had made it known in the press in November 2009 that he wished to return to his old timeslot;[54] behind the scenes, Leno had privately indicated that he did not believe the 10:00 experiment would work.[68] On the other hand, O'Brien's contract stipulated that the network could move the show back to 12:05 a.m. without penalty, a loophole put in primarily to accommodate sports preemptions, the network's traditional nightly Wimbledon tournament highlights show, and specials such as New Year's Eve with Carson Daly.[69]

O'Brien did not seriously respond for several days after the announcement, then drafted a press release explaining why he felt it was unfair to him, his staff, Fallon, and the legacy of The Tonight Show to move the show past midnight. He concluded by saying that he "cannot participate in what I honestly believe is [The Tonight Show's] destruction."[1][70] O'Brien received an outpouring of celebrity and viewer support for rejecting the move,[71] while Leno received heavy criticism.[71][72][73] On January 21, O'Brien signed a $45 million deal allowing him to leave the network, and aired his final episode of Tonight on January 22; Leno returned as host of Tonight on March 1.

On January 19, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that O'Brien and NBC were close to signing a deal between $30 and $40 million for the host to walk away from the network.[74][75] One apparent sticking point in the negotiations was the amount his staff and crew were to be paid for leaving the program.[76][77] Reports also said that the contract could prohibit O'Brien from badmouthing NBC in any way,[78] and that he may be able to return to television as early as September 2010.[78]

On January 21, after two weeks of negotiations, it was announced that Conan O'Brien had signed a $45 million deal to leave NBC.[79] The Wall Street Journal reports that O'Brien will receive about $32 million,[80] with his staff receiving around $12 million.[81] The contract contains a clause prohibiting O'Brien from making negative remarks about NBC for a certain amount of time;[81] it does not, however, contain the previously rumored "mitigation clause," in which NBC would be able to keep some of the severance pay after O'Brien finds a new program.[81] It also stipulates that he could have returned to television as early as September 1, 2010.[79][81] The network confirmed that Leno would officially resume as host of The Tonight Show on March 1.[82] TMZ reported that NBC would rerun episodes from O'Brien's time as host until the network began airing the Olympics on February 12.[83]

O'Brien later reached a deal with cable network TBS to premiere a new late-night talk show, Conan.[84]

NBC became the first large United States network[85] to broadcast the same show every weekday during prime time since ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? marathons in 1999 and only the second since DuMont aired Captain Video and His Video Rangers from 1949 to 1955.[86] More recently, the upstart MyNetwork TV had attempted, upon its launch in 2006, to air the same telenovelas every night of the week, a programming strategy that proved to be very unsuccessful. NBC's executives called the decision "a transformational moment in the history of broadcasting" and "in effect, launching five shows."[85] An industry observer said that Leno, "in all my years, is the biggest risk a network has ever taken."[87] According to former NBC president Fred Silverman, "If the Leno Show works, it will be the most significant thing to happen in broadcast television in the last decade."[28]

Although NBC had not developed a new hit show at 10 pm in years,[28] industry executives criticized the network for abandoning a history of airing quality dramas at that hour such as Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, and ER, which made NBC "the gold standard for sophisticated programming . . . the No. 1 network for affluent and well-educated young viewers"[24] during the 1980s and 1990s.[56][88] In addition, critics predicted that the decision would hurt NBC by undermining a reputation built on successful scripted shows.[28] Other networks believed NBC's decision created an opportunity,[28] and planned their 2009–2010 schedules accordingly. For example, the show competed with The Mentalist,[56] CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, and Numb3rs, four of television's most popular series, on CBS (the first of those four series was moved to 10:00 PM to directly compete with Leno's show, and significantly improved the ratings for that timeslot compared to its predecessor).[89] Leno was also not easily sold overseas.[88]

The January 29, 2010 issue of Entertainment Weekly listed the show at the top of a list of the 50 Biggest Bombs in television history. The comment made by the network executives about "launching five shows" was ultimately transformed into the joke that its removal was like "cancelling five shows." TV Guide similarly listed the show as the biggest blunder in television history in its November 1, 2010 edition.

Rival networks ABC and CBS had discouraged "their stars" from appearing on The Jay Leno Show in its primetime slot.[54] Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine) was the first CBS actor to appear on the show, on September 29, 2009; on that episode, she said "there was a little pressure, because as you know you are now on prime time", but that "Obviously, I committed to doing your show and we’re friends".[90] This boycott did not affect The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien nor was it industry-wide. Other TV networks, like Fox, The CW, and HBO, were more encouraging.[91] Hugh Laurie from the Fox TV show House was a guest on the September 25, 2009, telecast. House is produced by Universal Media Studios, a sister company to NBC through NBC Universal,[91] and Fox does not offer any network programming in the 10 p.m. time slots, instead allowing most of its affiliates to go to local news.

In a Broadcasting & Cable interview published in early November 2009, Leno mentioned the boycott again, saying "I'm flattered; like ABC and CBS...none of their stars can appear on the show. What are you so afraid of if we're doing so terrible? It's all part of the game."[54]

John Wells, the president of the Writers Guild of America, West, and executive producer of prominent NBC shows ER and The West Wing, said, "I wish NBC and Jay Leno well; personally, he's a very nice guy, but I hope he falls flat on his face and we get five dramas back."[91]