You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy!
Talk about a prophylactic with a screen door?
Executives at ABC, CBS, FOX are all doing rating cartwheels. You see they were praying this mad science experiment would fail. That’s because 5 nights of live Leno is way cheaper to produce than 5 nights of anything with a script, like CSI or Flash Forward.
The lead ins t the late local news on your NBC station are less today than this time last year. That’s how TV people judge success and failure.
According to published reports, just a few months into the Jay Leno experiment, air is starting to go out of the tires.
The Peacock network says hang in there affiliates. Don’t worry, be happy! Smoke some spleef man and let the sun shine upon your oblivious face.
The 4th place network admonishes the doom and gloomers; You’ll be happy you have Jay Walking and 10 at 10 and Headlines when the other networks are showing reruns. The idea is if you’ve seen Dr. House cranky and walking with a limp, then why would you want to see him be incredibly insensitive a 2nd time. That’s where the new and different, every night is Mardi Gras Jay Leno show is suppose to have the edge.
We shall see.
Here’s some more data from the article I read: Ratings for late newscasts at NBC affiliates in 44 of the top 56 metered markets are down this year, falling an average of 13 percent in the first four weeks of the season compared with a year ago. In 10 of the top 25 major markets, the numbers are worse, with New York down 22 percent, Philadelphia off 37 percent and Miami down 30 percent.
All I know is that I put the Jay Leno show on to light the room when the light bulb burns out. I put it on to drown out the sound of my teenagers calling each other douche bags. (when did that become ok?) I put it on when there is nothing else in the world to watch and I mean not on the cooking channel, not on the speed channel, not on the home shopping network.
When my choice is boiled down to Oprah or Jay, I start looking for the rat poison and a fork to shove in my eye.
I’m sure that is not what NBC is counting on.
But here at the Crazy Network, we wonder just how long the Country is going to keep throwing up in its collective mouth while Jay fills the prime time slot.
And that my friends is crazy?