-By Warner Todd Huston
Host of the The Tonight Show, Jay Leno, has come under fire from NBC executives for making jokes about the network’s recent slide in the ratings during his monologues.
Reports suggest that Robert Greenblat, Chairman of Entertainment, fired off a series of emails slamming the late night comedian for daring to lampoon the ratings slide. Leno gave back as good as he got, insiders say, and bristled against the PC, company line criticism.
What offended Greenblat? On February 28, for instance, Leno kicked off his NBC ratings segment saying, “For the first time in history NBC is going to finish fifth in the ratings period. We are behind the Spanish-language network Univision — or as we call it here in Los Angeles: Cinco de Ratings.”
He went on to joke that, “It’s so bad, ‘The Biggest Loser’ isn’t just a TV show anymore; it’s our new motto.” And: “It’s so bad, NBC called Manti Te’o and asked him to bring in some imaginary viewers.”
Those familiar with the email exchange say that Leno returned a strongly worded reply to NBC execs saying that there is a long tradition of late night comedians taking pot shots at “their masters.”
Leno has been on again, off again as the host of the venerable late night comedy/interview show made famous by Jack Parr and Johnny Carson. Recent rumors have boiled that Leno is under the microscope and about to be replaced by entertainer Jimmy Fallon, host of Late Night.
But even as NBC execs slam Leno for picking the ratings scab, Leno’s own ratings have been strong. Unlike the rest of the network, Leon has consistently won his time slot and done strongly with key age demographics.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, RightPundits.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.
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