{"id":1756663,"date":"2022-11-30T06:30:27","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T11:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1756663"},"modified":"2022-11-30T09:20:38","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T14:20:38","slug":"we-never-appreciated-jay-lenos-late-night-reign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-never-appreciated-jay-lenos-late-night-reign\/","title":{"rendered":"We Never Appreciated Jay Leno\u2019s Late-Night Reign"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwe-never-appreciated-jay-lenos-late-night-reign%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1756663&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Jay-Leno-tonight-show-reign-2.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><strong>Jay Leno made replacing a legend look easy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Johnny Carson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biography.com\/performer\/johnny-carson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruled late-night television for 30 years<\/a> via NBC\u2019s \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d before Leno succeeded him. Carson\u2019s run that may never be repeated, and that\u2019s assuming late-night TV survives in its current form.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a big \u201cif\u201d given how Stephen Colbert and friends have turned the format into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/noah-fallon-colbert-kamala-harris\/\">wall-to-wall propaganda.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Leno recently made headlines for all the wrong reasons. <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/health\/jay-leno-suffered-third-degree-burns-from-gasoline-fire-may-need-skin-grafts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">He suffered third-degree burns<\/a> from a Nov. 14 garage fire where he stores his massive car collection. He spent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2022\/11\/21\/jay-leno-leaves-hospital-after-burns-face-neck-chest-see-photo\/10752778002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">10 days in the hospital<\/a> but shortly after his release returned to the stand-up stage and cracked wise about the accident.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jay Leno jokes about being a \u2018roast comic\u2019 in return to standup stage <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yuQzkSAnTz\">https:\/\/t.co\/yuQzkSAnTz<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CUf9wXoiRu\">pic.twitter.com\/CUf9wXoiRu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 New York Post (@nypost) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nypost\/status\/1597264809329709057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>His swift recovery is a good excuse to revisit his late-night days. Many wish he was still making us laugh five nights a week.<\/p>\n<p>Leno got his feet wet by filling in for Carson on \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d before officially taking over in 1992. Once Leno assumed the throne, he never looked back. He kept \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d at the top of the ratings heap, year in, year out.<\/p>\n<p>His secret? He didn\u2019t alienate red or blue state viewers.<\/p>\n<p>His monologues, delivered with a panache forged from years behind the mic, hit both sides of the aisle. He reserved the sharpest blows for the current Commander in Chief, no matter the party affiliation. The focus stayed on the comedy, not petty partisan points.<\/p>\n<p>That was the Carson model, and Leno stuck to the script.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/lorne-michaels-ducks-question-snl-liberal-bias\/\"><strong>RELATED: LORNE MICHAELS WON\u2019T COME CLEAN ON \u2018SNL\u2019 BIAS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Media critics never took to Leno. He wasn\u2019t as hip or edgy as his late-night frenemy, David Letterman, even though Leno regularly beat his CBS rival.<\/p>\n<p>Leno\u2019s gentle approach also won him few converts. News outlets preferred harder-edged talents like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/louis-ck-sorry-review-trans-chappelle\/\">Louis C.K.<\/a> or Dave Chappelle, at least before the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1637580991\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">woke revolution<\/a> consumed comedy.<\/p>\n<p>Leno left the late-night arena twice, both times seemingly under duress. NBC tried replacing him with Conan O\u2019Brien, a comedian with a quirkier subset of fans, in 2009. Leno moved to the 10 p.m. hour, a disastrous double switch the Peacock network eventually reversed.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Brien took the brunt of the fallout, eventually moving to TBS to lick his wounds and revive his career.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">January 22, 2010: Conan O\u2019Brien\u2019s last The Tonight Show episode after a big controversy over the Tonight Show timeslot. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/television?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#television<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uhmOjKoGsM\">pic.twitter.com\/uhmOjKoGsM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 DrPopCultureBGSU (@DrPopCultureBG) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrPopCultureBG\/status\/1484698229870637064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>NBC pushed Leno out for good in 2014, installing the younger Jimmy Fallon to age-proof the franchise. Fallon proved a snug fit, bringing musical chops and a knack for impressions with him.<\/p>\n<p>And, most importantly, Fallon kept his ratings lead on Letterman\u2019s replacement, Stephen Colbert.<\/p>\n<p>That didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump era gave late-night comedians the signal to embrace their liberal impulses. That, plus <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/borat-subsequent-moviefilm-review\/\">Trump Derangement<\/a> coarsing through Team Democrat, gave Colbert the edge over Fallon\u2019s milquetoast manner.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d alum is now a regular third or fourth-place finisher in the late-night wars. Fallon\u2019s Colbert-lite approach, ignoring jokes that paint Democrats in an unflattering light, is proving disastrous to the \u201cTonight Show\u201d mantle.<\/p>\n<p>Bet NBC is missing Leno now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FAST FACT: Leno served as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Jay-Leno\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">writer on the hit CBS sitcom \u201cGood Times\u201d<\/a> before embarking on a stand-up career.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Seen today, Leno\u2019s reign is even more remarkable. He didn\u2019t embrace fads or anger from his \u201cTonight Show\u201d perch. He stayed mostly the same, relying on his stand-up experience to power the show.<\/p>\n<p>He avoided the cutesy characters that marked the Carson era. No Aunt Blabby or Carnac the Magnificent. His best bit, Jaywalking, turned a dumbed-down generation into a punch line.<\/p>\n<p>Would Leno change his apolitical ways if he had lasted to 2022? The pressure to do so would be intense. Are there any late-night writers brave enough to tweak President Joe Biden or Rep. Nancy Pelosi?<\/p>\n<p>Could Leno coax them to try?<\/p>\n<p>Leno would likely have played along for a while but slowly looked for an exit ramp. His comic principles wouldn\u2019t mesh with today\u2019s clapter mantra. Leno told his fair share of lousy jokes over the years, but they all had good intentions.<\/p>\n<p>For Leno, peddling partisan gags wouldn\u2019t have been worth the fat paychecks. He\u2019s content to host \u201cJay Leno\u2019s Garage\u201d and perform stand-up as if he didn\u2019t have millions in the bank already.<\/p>\n<p>Colbert and co. have no such qualms, apparently.<\/p>\n<p>Leno\u2019s motto remained simple then and now. Write joke. Tell joke. Collect check. Simple. Direct. And with a hearty respect for the customer.<\/p>\n<p>That, more than any other element of Leno\u2019s legacy, is missed the most today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jay Leno made replacing a legend look easy. Johnny Carson ruled late-night television for 30 years via NBC\u2019s \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d before Leno succeeded him. Carson\u2019s run that may never<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1756666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1756663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1756663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1756663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1756666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1756663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1756663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1756663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}