Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2010 > January > 10 > Entry
Leno’s prime time exit might mean an early return for ‘Friday Night Lights’
As reported by a ton of television writers attending the Spring Television Critics Association gathering in Los Angeles, NBC President Jeff Gaspin announced what everybody has more or less known for much of the past week: “I can confirm, starting Feb. 12, The Jay Leno Show will no longer air at 10 p.m.,” he said.
“While [Leno] was performing at acceptable levels for the network, it did not meet our affiliates’ needs, and we realized we had to make a change.”
In early December, Austin NBC affiliate KXAN’s general manager Eric Lassberg acknowledged Leno’s poor ratings and weak lead-in to his station’s late-night newscast, but said he hoped the network would give the concept time to catch on.
“Some of the greatest programs in the history of television wouldn’t have made it if we only evaluated them over a two-month period — ‘Cheers’ and ‘Seinfeld’ would be two examples,” Lassberg said then. “So I get that it’s not doing what we want it to and that we’re at a disadvantage. But at the same time I think that … it’s a little bit premature.”
Gaspin said he’s spoken to Leno, “Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien and “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon about a scheduling shuffle that would land Leno in an abbreviated, half-hour segment at 10:35 CT (the “Tonight Show’s” current slot); push Conan to an 11:05 start (will they still be able to call it “The Tonight Show” when it will literally be starting “tomorrow” in the eastern time zone?) and kick Fallon to a post-midnight , 12:05 start.
Gaspin said that he has yet to have reached a consensus among the hosts. “The talks are ongoing,” he said. “[But] I hope and expect, before the Olympics begin, we will have everything set.”
O’Brien addressed the rumors in Friday’s “Tonight Show” monologue, saying, “We’ve got a great show for you tonight. I have no idea what time it will air — but it’s going to be a great show.” He joked about the network tossing him and Leno into a pit with sharpened sticks and seeing which of them would crawl out.
So what happens to prime-time? Well, perhaps in anticipation of Leno’s failure, NBC green-lit an unusually ambitious slate of new programming for the fall. In the meantime, it looks as though the network will plug in a couple of new hours of drama, expand “Dateline” and toss in some reality programming to fill the void.
The good news (besides, you know, Leno’s awful show going away) is that the shake-up might herald an early return for “Friday Night Lights.” The current season has been airing on DirecTV since last Fall and NBC was holding network broadcast for Summer, 2010. It seems like a great, scripted series such as “FNL,” in the midst of a terrific season and with so many episodes in the can just waiting to run would be a natural choice.
We’ll keep you posted.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Entertainment, Fall TV, Friday Night Lights, Ratings
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.