America needs Jay Leno. I'm not going to go into who was wronged by NBC (it's my opinion that Leno and O'Brien both were). And I'm not going to go into who the Tonight Show rightfully belongs to. O'Brien is a talented guy, and honestly, he's done better on Tonight than I thought he'd do. He's been great at tailoring his comedy to not only appeal to the college age audience he was popular with on Late Night. That being said, he's having trouble in his current spot because the older crowd the Tonight Show was popular with probably won't ever accept him...because they won't ever even give him a chance. They just stopped watching after Jay's last show.
I wish O'Brien all the best and hope he can find a spot where he will be fully appreciated. I also hope Jay Leno will come out with his own show, on some network. Maybe NBC isn't the best place for either of them (man, that would teach the network a lesson!). But, wherever he goes, we need Jay.
Leno is an old fashioned comedian, like Bob Hope (I know I'm not the first to make that comparison, but I'll use it because it is accurate); he sort of appeals to everyone. His comedy is not mean spirited, and not particularly offensive. He makes fun of the Right, but he also makes fun of the Left. He's a truly bipartisan entertainer, and that's the way it should be. He doesn't push an agenda, except laughter. Sure, not all of his jokes work, but even Hope had misfires. But who else is there to be "America's Comedian?" Dave Letterman is talented (although he seems to be slipping, in my opinion), but the Late Show has become essentially "DNC TV." His whole monologues seem to be spent (still) making fun of G.W. and Dick Cheney. Hey Dave, they're not in office. Get over it. Obama is a comedy gold mine, but he completely ignores him, except when he's gushing over him. Plus, with Letterman's recent moral shortcomings exposed...well, no one's perfect...but I won't elaborate. Let's just say I don't see him appealing to everyone the way Leno seems to.
Jon Stewart is the same way-extremely partisan! Jimmy Kimmel can be funny, but again, not really appealing to the mainstream. Craig Ferguson, in my opinion, is very sharp witted and often hilarious, and I only hope he replaces Letterman when Dave finally retires. But, again, he doesn't have the "everyman" quality Leno does.
So, that's why I hope Jay Leno sticks around. We need someone who can just make us laugh, and not take sides. Maybe Leno's what Obama lied about being; someone who's above politics and party bickering. Some critics claim Leno is "too safe" and not "edgy" enough. But, as is the case so many times, critics can be grossly out of touch with normal, mainstream America. We don't always want someone controversial. We don't want someone who's constantly in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. A comedian like Jay, who seems to have integrity and morals, even being married to the same lady for twenty plus years (there's a rare one in Hollywood), is what many of us want! Safe is just fine, as far as I'm concerned. So, here's hoping Jay has many more monologues to come.
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