The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

If it's one thing Jay Leno does better than any of the late night comics I've seen it's that he is the best at recovering from a bad joke. His everyman's style is very appealing, relatable and funny. I also love the shows variety, its not uncommon for him to pull the rug out from under feet and make things funny out of weird and unusual situations. I love Jay's correspondence and both Jay and Kevin are good for bouncing off each other. Oh yes, and I also love the Headlines.

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.

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

People underrate this show too much. I think its hilarious. Jay Leno may not write his jokes but hes damn good at telling them. His comedy is real subtle and in-your-face. Conan 'O Brian is just as funny, but his comedy is much different from Lenos, his is more childish (which is funny just the same) while Leno's is more sophisticated. Please people, don't underrate this show.

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno is great. I have a couple of favourite US Late Night shows and Jay Leno is definitely one of my favourites and as I watch his show more and more, I begin to like to him more. His jokes are great and he's just one funny talk show host. I don't like that Kevin Eubanks though.