Jay Leno has no regrets on new show but later time slot would have been preferable
Posted on November 3rd, 2009 by Austin
Having been forcibly evicted from his well-tended pedestal of 17 years, Jay Leno’s rough landing at 10pm is now gaining ground – and making money. But the 59-year old host has some concerns.
The Daily News reports that while Jay accepts some of the blame for his new show’s poor ratings, the timeslot was forced on him by NBC’s suits, “Would I have preferred to stay at 11:30?” he asks the reporters, “Sure!”
Last Monday, Jay’s new show scored its worst ratings so far – just 4.6 million viewers. That’s 406,00 less than the “C.S.I. Miami” re-run that was on CBS. But Jay loves a challenge.
“I think it’s too soon to say whether I regret anything,” he admits. “I did ‘The Tonight Show’ for 17 years, and they can’t take that away from you. So now you try this and see what happens.”
Since making his TV debut on “The Mike Douglas Show” in 1977, Jay has achieved a level of success and public affection that’s can be seen in the fact that Forbes Magazine placed his earnings for 2007 at $32 million. So he’s got some time.
And things could be far worse. Married to often-mentioned wife, Mavis since November, 1980, Jay knows some of his peers have a far rougher time, “I wouldn’t trade places with Dave [Letterman] now for anything!” Jay says Leno. “I don’t think he’s getting a free pass.”
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