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The Jay Leno Show Season 1 Episode 1

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AIRED: Sep 14, 2009

7.2

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Episode Summary

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The Jay Leno Show welcomes comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West to the show to perform "Run This Town".

Fan Episode Reviews (4)

Jay's debut shows the strains of NBC's meddling into what they'd best keep their hands off of.

5.0

By jekyll, Sep 18, 2012

Jay Leno's new 10:00, every night show premiered last night, and it was not good, but not a disaster (yet). While the monologue was decent enough, but no barn-burner, the show itself just reeks of meddling by NBC to try to make it hipper and more appealing to youth. I just about turned it off 30 seconds in when I saw the stupid 'Jay slaps hands with people in a mosh pit' nonsense. The lack of a desk, which is supposed to make it more intimate and like they're in our living room, actually made me very unfomfortable watching his talk with Jerry Seinfeld. Jay even seemed to have more pancake makeup on to make him look younger. They also had Dan Finnerty singing at a car wash to a 'customer/actress', with lyrics roughly about things that would be at a car wash, though I've never seen a shoe shine in any car wash. And it went on forever. No matter how funny something is, it needs to end at some point. Sadly, the funniness could be expressed with the mathematical equation, humor = 0, so I sat there wishing for the end. If this is a sampling of what to expect from the show, NBC has made a huge mistake.moreless
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Strong debut.

7.7

By thefanof, Sep 17, 2009

The debut of the Jay Leno's new primetime yakker scored an impressive 18.4 million viewers, defying all the odds and negative criticisms. The show held up its end of the bargain as it was funny, fresh and different from The Tonight Show. Not entirely, as popular segment "Headlines", Kevin Eubanks and his band and the signature handshake with the fans all returned from 11:35 to 10:00, but the show is faster-moving and the interviews are short and concise.

There were some funny segments such as Jay interviewing Barack Obama, but it ran a bit too long for my liking. Jerry Seinfeld was funny in his interview, but I do not think people expected anything otherwise. The show also got serious, for a brief moment, with a Kanye West apology for his actions at the VMAs the previous night.

The Jay Leno Show is off to a good start, but I do not think we can expect episodes like this every night.moreless
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This is not another promo!

6.0

By whoaitsconner, Sep 16, 2009

After a few months of Jay being off the air (well, away from a stapled show, at least, not including promos), he is back to show us that comedy at the 10 o'clock spot can work. Watching the Tonight Show was always fun to do with Jay. Jay's monologues were to die for, even though, at times, he did have hard times showing his great personality on air. But, nonetheless, it was always fun to watch.

Obviously there has been very mixed reactions to the primetime show. Many say that it won't last, since it is being put up against some big hitter television shows, while others are excited to be able to watch what seems like a late-night show so soon in the evening. I am right between these two opinions. I really want to see this show succeed, and be a whole new staple, but I know it's going to be near-impossible. Especially with NBC being the number 4 network.

We opened our show with a monologue by Jay, which was refreshing, other than the fact that it almost seemed like a syndicated version of the monologue, with less jokes. It was really weird seeing all the same people of the Tonight Show in this whole new stage. The whole reality show gag wasn't as good as past Jay-on-reality jokes have been.

After the commercial break, we are with the singer at the wedding from the Hangover, who does, a, like, more than 5 minute taped segment on how to sing at a carwash. It wasn't as good as he probably hoped we'd take it to be.

Jerry Seinfeld's interview was pretty funny, and entertaining. Then, we got to Kanye West's unscheduled interview, which, while enlightening, was nothing more of a time-filler.

We then got to a musical performance by Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West which was actually very entertaining compared to other hip-hop acts. I'm actually kind of eager to buying this song when I can.

And, then, we got to headlines, which was really, really cool. It was great seeing the old back.

This night was probably one of the most mixed things I have watched for a while. While Jay's humor came through at times (i.e: Monologue, Jerry Seinfeld, Headlines) it felt like this television special, almost like "Rosie Live". It felt like this was the honeymoon: "Look at all the cool guests we have! Well, they're not gonna be like this all the time..." and the actual marriage was coming right up, and it wouldn't be pure bliss.

I guess my main complaint can be summed up in one word: "Awkward". It was a really awkward affair. The most awkward part was definitely the guest performances about the carwash entertainment thing. And, then, there was Kanye's meltdown, which was just... I don't know.

All in all, this is a show I'd love to see succeed and become a popular staple, but it's just so far from that after this episode. And, articles have captured the number 1 question: Will people, after all the honeymoon feelings are over, really watch this every night? It's just going to be hard. And the 10 PM spot is, considerably, the most important part of the prime-time staple for network television.

But, all in all, I wish Jay the best with this project.moreless
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Jay debuts in Primetime.

7.5

By marvelfan89, Sep 16, 2009

Jay hasn't missed a beat. This is Tonight Show with Jay Leno except it's at ten o'clock. I've watched Jay's show for years and never bothered to write a review because the show's format and jokes are well known like "Jaywalking" segments, "Headlines" segment, the various mock interviews with Jay (substituting himself for real interviewer) interviewing a celebrity or guest.

Anyways, what you want to know if this is as funny as Tonight Show with Jay and if there's anything changed?

Answer to that is yes. It's still funny. Why change a formula that works? Jay does a mock segment of CHEATERS (one of my favorite shows) where he and Kevin are lovers. Funny stuff. Jay and Kevin have done segments together for years. They can make anything funny given a funny script. Obviously they have a lot of writers even though it's called the Jay Leno show.

We get Leno making fun of Laura and George Bush (never gets tiring). Leno does a mock interview with Obama again funny stuff.

Leno does the Headlines skits. I am never surprised by the ads he mentions which have terrible spelling, proofreading and overall lack of any cohesion.

The guests were Jerry Seinfeld, Kanye "I made myself look like a douche to Taylor Swift" West.

Overall the guests were ok. Nothing spectacular. It's the first show, so everyone was laid back.

Anyways, this is the same formula as Tonight Show. If you love Jay, you'll watch it.moreless
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