R.I.P. Jerry’s Seinfeld’s Influence

It’s the end of an era.  When “Seinfeld” went off the air in 1998 (!!) there was no bigger star in television who wielded more influence than Jerry Seinfeld.  Senior creative executives from every major studio were falling all over themselves to get the next…

Leno The King

Well, that didn’t take long.  There will be lots of “I’m With Coco” and David Letterman supporters that will say “It was expected…”, “Everyone was just curious about the switch…”, “Jay has all those Olympians on the show…” Whatever. I write this not as a…

Jay Leno and Sarah Palin

Love him or hate him, there is a reason Jay Leno has been #1 and will soon be #1 again in the late night wars. He will book anyone necessary to get ratings – as evidenced by the top guest on his second night back…

UPDATE: Jeff Zucker Still Has A Job

The Billion Dollar Question is – WHY? If I were to talk directly to Jeff Zucker’s current boss (Jeffrey Immelt) and future boss (Brian Roberts), I would quote my new hero, Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer, and say “Are you stoopid?” Even if we all…

Can Elin Woods Learn From Conan O’Brien?

As Tiger Woods slowly reemerges from hiding and Team-Tiger Damage Control goes full throttle, there is an interesting parallel to be made between the Tiger/Elin Woods drama and the NBC/Conan O’Brien drama (which cost all of us a few months out of our lives). Imagine…

Letterman vs. Leno

The Conan exit deal is done – probably the largest payout in television history for someone averaging a 2.5 rating. It is presumed he will go to Fox and get a 2.0 rating at 11:00 (my guess is reruns of The Simpsons on local affiliates…

Jay Leno and NBC: Damage Control Begins

OK.  So Conan is gone.  Jay is back at 11:35.  What’s next? Damage control. Over the next few weeks, we can expect to see NBC Universal’s ‘A Team’ of publicists begin the seemingly impossible task of resuscitating the images of Jay Leno, The Tonight Show…