It's not quite his tenth anniversary but NBC is celebrating ten years of Jay Leno hosting The Tonight Show this week. I happen to be a major fan of both him and Mr. Letterman and have never quite understood why folks who prefer one show over the other can't just watch and enjoy it without praying for the demise of the competition. The whole "Late Night Wars" thing, after all, really came down to a battle over which of two already-successful men would get paid millions of dollars for hosting a talk show at 11:35 on NBC and which one would have to settle for getting paid millions for hosting a talk show at 11:35 on CBS. (Yes, there's a secondary, ongoing "war" over which one dominates the ratings but, unless you're involved in one program's advertising revenues, I can't imagine why you should care who's #1. Neither show is going off until its host quits or dies.) Was being able to say your show was a tenuous extension of Johnny's really worth all that fuss and sending agents out to try and destroy others? Apparently so…but, with a decade's hindsight, it all looks pretty silly, especially the one-time assertion that the choice of Jay over Dave was the greatest mistake in TV history.
Sure doesn't look that way now, does it? The two of them probably have the two most secure jobs in the entire television business. Matter of fact, a friend of mine at one of the networks — formerly, a major Leno detractor — recently called to say he wants to pay off on our bet. It involved lunch at the restaurant of the winner's choice that Jay would or wouldn't make ten years. I remember no such bet but, hey, if he's buying…
None of this is to suggest that I like everything about both shows. Many nights, I find myself fast-forwarding through the "Act Two" comedy bits, especially when it's predicated — as too many are — on the theory that it's hilarious to put non-professionals on camera in situations that will allow us to laugh at how stupid and/or awkward they are. A little comedy writing in that slot would be nice. There are also times when Jay's a bit too merry and Dave's a bit too cranky for me to believe I'm not just watching an act. Of course, I have my chronic complaint that both shows are too scripted where they should be spontaneous…and I guess my complaint about the "Act Two" spots is that they should be scripted when they try to be spontaneous. So if they could just reverse the two, I'd be an even happier late night TV consumer.