Today's Evil Beet Gossip

Jay Leno’s New Show Completely Different — No Desk

I tuned in last night, along with more than 10 million other people, to check out Leno’s new late-night talk show that doesn’t air late-night.  It feels different to have that program format airing before the 11 o’clock news and I wanted to see how it would translate.  I’m lying — I wanted to see what Kanye had to say.  And, you know, I had a tough day yesterday.  I not only had to compliment Beyonce, I had to write about Oprah twice and watch her show yesterday.  I was really looking forward to just chilling out and escaping the stress of my day.  I never expected that Oprah’s huge cranium would be looming before me in a matter of moments, but it was.  I can’t escape that bitch.

Here’s the thing:  I was never a Leno follower, but his “new” show looks and feels almost exactly like his old show.  Jokes?  Still not funny.  Set?  Circa 1989.  Desk?  Gone.  Headlines?  At the end of the show. Don’t believe me?  You can watch the entire episode above.  Adrienne Curry Tweeted that she thought the Obama interview skit was “brilliant”.  Brilliant!

Basically, Leno just wasn’t ready to give up his show so they moved it to 10 o’clock, shuffled some furniture around, and called it “new”.  It makes me wonder — how pissed do you think Conan is?  He waited all those years for Leno to vacate the 11:30 spot as was the agreement, and now he’s still standing in the shadow of Jay Leno’s chin.

The success or failure of this show can never be determined on a premiere night.  People are curious, so they’ll watch for now.  The success of Leno won’t be known until the honeymoon is over.

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  • I only made it through about 15 minutes before I had to bail. Soooo not funny…even Jerry Seinfeld looked uncomfortable (though that might have been because he was STUFFED into that penguin suit). Jay Leno seemed to be thinking something inside his own head the entire time – he really did not seem engaged with the audience. And the singing car wash guy? wow – not funny. at all.

    • I didn’t like the “no desk – open chairs” concept. Both Leno and Seinfeld looked uncomfortable. Leno looked like he has exhausted. But I still like him.

  • i wasnt amused by any of it. seinfeld annoys me anyways, so i was over that the second he walked out. the oprah bit wasnt funny, the carwash guy was waaaaaaay not funny, jay looked bored most of the time, kanye was, ummm, interesting? im still not sure how i feel about that part. i liked leno on the tonight show, but something was missing last night.

  • I’ve never found Jay to be funny. I like Craig Ferguson. Craig admits if you’re watching late night tv, it’s because you haven’t anything better to do.

    So I couldn’t really get through much of the clip you posted. I realized one of the things Jay does that annoys me—he has to explain every joke. UGH! Annoying

  • Yeah they really hyped the show to be something completely different from the standard late night chat show. but it was EXACTLY the same as his old show except no desk! I have to admit I thought the car wash skit & obama interview were pretty funny. I do feel totally bad for Conan though. Anyone notice how he gets shit guests? Poor Coco.

  • I turned it off as soon as I saw the fake plants in the set background. They should hang the fucking set designer.

  • After watching the first of the new shows someone is missing!!
    What has happened to John Melendes? will we see/hear him again?