Leno-O'Brien Rivalry Has No Winners

CLEVELAND - With the entangled mess that has been going on in late night television the past few weeks, I decided to wait until some sort of conclusion was reached in the Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien rivalry. Sad to say, us fans of late-night comedy are the ones who ultimately lose.

And that bites.

Leno, who hosted the venerable The Tonight Show for 17 years, was essentially given the ax last year in favor of O'Brien, who became the show's new host in May. Leno was inactive for a few months, until he re-emerged with The Jay Leno Show, a low-budget ripoff of The Tonight Show in an earlier time slot; the kiss-of-death 10PM position. Putting Leno in primetime was a disaster almost from the beginning, as he's had to face-off with popular crime dramas on other networks. As a result, his ratings have been awful.

O'Brien, meanwhile didn't necessarily set the world on fire in the 11:35PM slot. He consistently trailed David Letterman in the same slot, especially after Letterman's controversial extortion scandal hit in early October. Earlier this month, NBC admitted that Leno's variety show wasn't working at 10PM and that it was cancelling the show. This left Leno in limbo, and ignited the chain reaction with O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon, whose show airs at 12:35AM.

Clearly, there is loyalty to both Leno and O'Brien and both men enjoyed major support from fans and celebrities. O'Brien declared that he wouldn't stand for being bumped to 12:05AM in favor of Leno having a half-hour show at 11:35PM. That opened the door for NBC to essentially eliminate him and reinstate Leno as the host of The Tonight Show. O'Brien (who hosted his final episode of Tonight last Friday) was reportedly bought out of his contract for around $45 million, and can't sign with another network until September. Leno will return to his former perch on March 1, but in spite of that and the fact that O'Brien will likely land on his feet with his pick of suitors, the entire mess will hurt those of us who admire both men. I, for one think that Leno is often funny and occasionally hilarious, and O'Brien's frequent self-deprecation endears him and augments his stunningly brilliant comedic talents.

With months to wait for things to return to "normal" in late night, we are being robbed. Letterman has enjoyed the confusion, since he was famously involved in a similar situation in the early 1990's. I hope Leno returns to his standard of quality during his forthcoming return. I also hope that O'Brien comes back with a vengeance in the fall on his new network--whichever one that may be. Yes, in the long term, us fans of both men will probably win out. But for the in between time, we will suffer.

And that's a shame.

Leno's New Gig: Familiar, Yet Still Very Funny

CLEVELAND - I've been a fan of late night talk shows for a quarter century, so when Jay Leno ended his 17-year tenure on The Tonight Show last May, I knew a great era had ended.

Until last night.

Leno, 59 debuted his new series on his old network with a familiar template, a few subtle changes and his trademark gags still firmly in place. The effort was strong, his comedy was still highly entertaining and his guests were better than expected.

But with his challenging new 10PM time slot, I hope he can last.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld was Leno's first ever guest (on this show) and was funnier than usual. When he mentioned to Jay that in the 1990's, retiring actually meant that a person left (instead of starting a new show), it set the stage for a truly funny interview. Media maven Oprah Winfrey dropped into the conversation, via a television and actually added a little spice to Seinfeld's interview, while Leno himself played the straight man.

Gags and short sketches have long been a strength of Jay's brand, and it was no different here. His opening monologue was sharp and witty, a faux "interview" with President Obama was gut-bustingly funny at times but a car wash skit was garbage.

By the time Leno got to a previously unscheduled interview with Kanye West, (the most anticipated portion of the show just a day after his VMA meltdown), I was pretty locked into the familiar looking show. West had long been scheduled to perform with Jay-Z and Rihanna, but asked Leno for a brief sit-down to apologize further for his deplorable behavior at Sunday's award show. West, a notoriously egotistical hothead that just happens to be an awesome music producer and artist seemed contrite and was certainly at a loss for words. The incident, in which he ambushed country singer Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at MTV's Video Music Awards to proclaim that Beyonce should have won, has creating a firestorm of rage around West since it happened. This was his first public discussion about it, and he was visibly uncomfortable during the awkward sit-down that saw him apologize and apparently realize the selfishness of it.

Or maybe he was putting on a hell of an act.

Just seconds after the talking ended, West stepped onto a stage with Jay-Z and Rihanna and the trio promptly went into performing the hit single "Run This Town" from Jay-Z's brand new LP, The Blueprint 3.

Leno ended his inaugural episode with his famous "headlines" bit.

I enjoyed the "new" show and I hope it flourishes. If it fails, it won't be because of Leno; he's still funny as heck.

McMahon Was A Television Icon In His Own Right

CLEVELAND - Ed McMahon will forever be known and thought of as Johnny Carson's sidekick; a fiercely loyal second-banana and the creator of the iconic 'Heeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny' introduction on NBC's The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson for 30 years.

The truth is, he was also a legend.

McMahon died this morning at age 86 after spending most of this decade afflicted with a series of serious illnesses. The memory of the man is predictably being tethered to the legendary Carson, who died in January 2005. While it is true that McMahon excelled in his role as co-star to Carson's leading man, he should never be thought of as merely a tag along.

To me, McMahon was the quintessential team player and an unforgettable staple of late-night television. He knew, expertly so how to augment Carson's pitch-perfect comedic genius and endless array of goofy sketches. He punctuated Carson's punchlines and muggings for the camera with his signature guffaw and often offered his two cents to Carson's monologues, which in turn added spice to the entire production.

McMahon also hosted Star Search and co-hosted T.V.'s Bloopers and Practical Jokes, all the while being recognized as "Johnny's sidekick." It can be argued, especially amongst people of my generation who grew up in the 1980's and '90's, that McMahon's most famous role was that of the endorser of the American Family Publishers, often mistaken for Publisher's Clearing House. Visions of him with microphone in hand and knocking on some unsuspecting person's door and announcing,"you may have just won ten million dollars" are embedded in our memory banks.

Let's stop thinking of Ed McMahon as just a sidekick and give him the credit and recognition he truly deserves; that of a legend.

He will certainly be missed.