Reviews & Ratings for
"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" More at IMDbPro »

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25 out of 38 people found the following review useful:
He's back but doesn't deserve it, 4 March 2010

Author: djroomba from Australia

Jay Leno does not deserve to come back to the coveted Tonight Show spot. Conan is the guy who earned the spot that he truly wanted ever since he saw Johnny's show as a kid by doing 16 years of truly influential, groundbreaking and critically applauded comedy. The level of quality and quantity of material that Conan turned out every night on Late Night was truly outstanding and in the opinion of this reviewer has not been matched by many other comedy shows and certainly not any other talk show host in history. Conan's gratitude and adulation when he finally received his dream job did not go unheard and he specifically thanked Jay Leno on no more than three significant situations: On his Late Night farewell, as a guest on Jay Leno's last show and on his first Tonight Show.

In extreme contrast, when Jay Leno unashamedly began his return to the 11.30 slot, just like in 1992, Leno had absolutely no words, positive or otherwise, to say about the person who had just left the chair. Instead Jay Leno continued doing the very same easily digestible, hardly strenuous material he had been doing for 18 years. Anyone who had any hope that Leno might evolve to somehow warrant his un-relinquishing need to hang on to the show has been proved wrong by his March 1st premiere.

After a typical monologue(making almost no mention of Jay's premiere) spliced randomly with unfunny new sight-gag 'segments' like "The World's Tightest Pants" Jay did a taped piece involving him looking for a new desk. This was the cue for another unfunny segment where C list celebrities like Randy Jackson and Adam Corolla invaded people's homes while Jay sat at their various desks. That was the limit of the punchline. Jay then revealed his desk as if it was some momentous occasion and interviewed a hyper Jamie Foxx whose attempts to get the crowd to cheer along Leno were humorously futile. Same unfunny business as usual for Jay Leno...

25 out of 38 people found the following review useful:
Leno is cornball, 21 January 2010
Author: rileyentertainment from Toronto

Jay Leno and his version of THE TONIGHT SHOW are simply not funny. His style of humour is cornball. His lame jokes do not elicit laughs from the audience but groans. His voice is irritating. His regular features like JAYWALKING are stupid and not original. Wearing a denim shirt with jeans looks ridiculous. What he has just done to Conan O'Brien is unforgivable. My bet is that many people in Leno's committed audience (retirement home patrons) have either forgotten him or died and won't be back. I say his ratings will be flat and within one year he will be yanked from NBC for good. Bets?? Many people in the entertainment business will boycott his show. He will never woo the younger audience NBC very much needs. Hot bands will refuse come in his show. Jay, please go away.

11 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
STILL UNBELIEVABLY BAD, 18 March 2004
Author: LILES22 from CHICAGO

This show is still horrible. Easily is the lamest and unfunny talk show ever to be on the air. Jay Leno is one of the worst stand up comedians I've ever seen. He has no comic timing, he is not well spoken, he doesn't write good material and he repeats punchlines. The one liners that he makes during interviews with guests never make any sense whatsoever and are never funny. Kevin Eubanks is completely annoying and lame and him and Jay have ZERO chemistry. They are both total idiots. The bits they do on the show are also completely idiotic and never funny. I've never laughed at Leno's monologue. Its like watching someone drown every night. Dude, if you can't come up with even 30 seconds of good material, why are you trying to do 10-15 minutes every night?? TIP: Quality, NOT quantity!!! It's an absolute crime that Jay is getting paid millions of dollars, meanwhile there are so many struggling comics that are a hundred times better than Jay could ever hope to be. He's unfunny, he's boring and he's a corporate bend-over. He's a disgrace to comics everywhere. The only reason NBC didn't hire Letterman (not that I'm a huge Letterman fan) is because they knew Dave wouldn't be a puppet and let himself be ruled by a bunch of corporate suits. I predict that the Jimmy Kimmel show will kick Jay's but in the ratings and he'll be off the air soon.

11 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Nowhere near as good as Letterman or O'brien, 23 July 2000
Author: T1000-6 from Bendigo, Victoria

Of the 3 late night talk shows,Leno's is definitely the worst.The problem is,he rarely comes up with any jokes himself,unlike Letterman and O'brien,who have the rare gift of being able to think of things to add to their material on the spot eg-the monologues and it actually be funnier than their given lines.Leno,however simply does not have this ability,and it is the writers you admire and not the host,which shouldn't be the case,as the most important thing is to love the host.

Another thing the show suffers from is that it feels more like a comedy show than a talk show.There are far too many unfunny comedy sketches and obviously set up occurences for it to have the unpredictable feel of Letterman,which thrives on its spontinaity.It tries much too hard for laughs.A very annoying and unnecesarry part of the show is the black band member(I can't remember his name)that is really only there to let out huge and put on sounding laughs at everything Jay says and to be the butt of a lot of Jay's jokes.

I don't hate the show,I mean if there's nothing else on,I'll watch it but it comes nowhere near its two competing talk shows.

33 out of 62 people found the following review useful:
Above all He's ANIMATED!, 17 November 2002

Author: BatStarIndyFreak from UT, USA

For all who say that Dave is better, I have to say he's a STIFF! Every time I've looked at Dave while Jay has been doing reruns all I see is that he stands there like his feet are glued to the stage, and gives a monologue that doesn't even last as long as Jay's do. I find Jay to be much more animated, using spunk to give us some added flavor to the jokes. Dave smiles, Jay smirks. Dave's BORING! I think I've seen 3 top ten's I've enjoyed out of about fifteen total I've seen. I find Jay to be a very professional interviewer, having a blast with each guest. Headlines rock! Jaywalking rocks! Sidewalking rocks! I find GREAT chemistry between Jay and Kev. It will ALWAYS be Jay, NOT Dave.

5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Definitely not my favorite..., 28 June 2003
Author: maXSepult from Quebec, Canada

I must say out of all late night shows, he's my least favorite. I guess what I hate the most, and I know many will agree, is when he tells a joke in the monologue and goes on for about 5 minutes about the same damn subject. Also I find his humour to sometimes be too patriotic. Although he does often have excellent guests, it doesn't make it a much better show...

8 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Jay Leno makes this show what it is, 3 October 2007
Author: Atreyu_II from The world of artists

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" is a great television program/show (whatever you wanna call it). It is one of those American shows good to watch especially at night.

This is a type of program which isn't intended to be a great production, ambitious, brilliant or artistic. It is made for pure fun and entertainment, ingredients which are very well combined. And all of this with Jay Leno's humor, which is funny and not dirty. Jay Leno is such a talented, cool and funny guy. He's perfect for this night show and he makes it a pleasant television experience. In fact, I think that this wouldn't be the same without him.

I wonder if there's any celebrity that hasn't gone to Jay Leno's show yet. It is above all things a program where famous people go and talk to Jay Leno, with full audiences watching the show. In fact, the number of celebrities that already went to this show is countless.

Conan O'Brien's show is an alternative to this one. Basically it is exactly the same thing (sceneries are equal and everything else). However, I personally prefer Jay Leno, so I recommend his show more than the show of Conan O'Brien.

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Normally well worth a watch..., 18 January 2004
Author: Stu (lespike) from Bournemouth, England

Obviously being in the UK I might not see this show in the same light as it's seen in the US, but I discovered the show in April-ish 2003 when it started broadcasting on the little known UK channel Ftn (also broadcasts on CNBC Europe, although only a couple of episodes a week)...

Soon grew to love the show's topical humour (we've normally heard of the particular subject in the UK) as we don't really have a show that broadcasts on the same level for the whole year. The guests are also obviously well known to us, so pretty much the whole programme makes sense and is always worth a watch!

Only when it comes to the musical performances do I get a little stuck as not all the bands have much (or if any) UK exposure.

Stu

5 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
This show is horrible., 5 October 2005
Author: Mel B from Australia

Jay Leno is seriously not funny. His jokes (which most of the time aren't even his) are dull and even when they could be funny, the way he says them ruins the jokes. He should learn a thing or two from Conan, now he is hilarious and he has the ability to make up jokes on the spot that are actually funny, yet Leno can't. Yes, Leno does have good guests some of the time, but he has no clue how to interview them. He just sits there most of the time while they talk, instead of interacting with the guest. Some of the things Leno says to the guests sound perverted and creepy. It also looks like he's sometimes making the guest feel uncomfortable.

5 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Jay has no idea what to do with his guests, 15 September 2002
Author: gromreaper from Dubbo, Australia

It's true. The majority of his guests are hilarious, but Jay hasn't a clue what to do when they're being hilarious. Just recently, I saw Robin Williams on there promoting "One Hour Photo". He was talking about his son now in college when he was 16. Leno just sat in his chair, completely clueless.

As many others have said, he needs to get some improv. lessons from Conan, and, if it's possible, a speech modification.

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