On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 8:56 PM, stan <[email protected]> wrote: > What's being missed is that Jaywalking is Leno's ripoff of the Howard > Stern bit where one of Howard's producers would interview a > questionable character (homeless person, stripper, mentally > challanged, or future Tonight Show announcer), ask them general > knowledge questions, and speculate and/or wager on their answers. > Obviously, the more stupid the answer the better the comedy. However, > while Stern could be expected to 'exploit' the intellectually > challenged, Leno doesn't want to appear to be the 'bad guy' and stages > the whole thing. And who gets to appear in Leno's studio? Is it the > homeless guy, the toothless stripper, or the stutterer? No, it's the > 20-something blonde who looks like she just walked off the set of some > TV show, who will offend no one if she's the butt of a joke.
I am not a big Howard Stern fan, so I can not comment on Leno's borrowing there. But I don't think borrowing or stealing of late night comedy bits is really much of an issue - there are few things new under the sun. I just think that Leno's stamp (or perhaps "legacy") on the Tonight Show is a kind of enabling of me-too-ist, wannabee, pseudo-celebrity pandering that is qualitatively different from Carson or Allen, or Dave. It is not a matter of how "real" or genuine the performance pieces are; it is a matter of the sensibility and frankly self-respect of the show. As I have noted, the irony is that Leno does not come off that way when he is playing himself, as opposed to playing the host of the Tonight Show, which gives me at least some hope that the host of the Jay Leno Show will be a little different. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
