Late Show UK

Jimmy Kimmel will appear on The Jay Leno Show tonight following his uncanny impression of Jay Leno on Tuesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. TV Guide reports Kimmel will appear on the 10 @ 10 feature on The Jay Leno Show tonight via satellite link from the Jimmy Kimmel live stage.

He’ll probably not dress up as Jay for the appearance, but anything’s possible. TV Guide says Jimmy got a call from The Jay Leno Show saying they want him on the programme “to explain myself… so, that will be comfortable”.

TV Guide – “Jimmy Kimmel to Guest on Jay Leno Show”

Talk show hosts have been reacting to the recent news about The Jay Leno Show and what effect it has on The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and Last Call With Carson Daly.

David Letterman thinks it’s best if Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien shared The Tonight Show hosting duties together at 11.35pm every night instead of having two separate shows. Jimmy Kimmel dressed up as Jay Leno for his entire Jimmy Kimmel Live show last night and did an excellent Leno impression (albeit a Leno impression with a lisp). Conan O’Brien brought out Howie Mandel from Deal Or No Deal USA to help him make decisions about what to do next.

Click here to watch the videos

Yesterday we told you about the axing of The Jay Leno Show from the 10pm slot on NBC. We also said his show may be moving to 11.35pm with The Tonight Show, Late Night and Last Call all starting 30 minutes later than they do at the moment.

USA Today say “the former Tonight Show host will return to late night on March 1, after NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics, , in a half-hour format in his old perch at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT. The Tonight Show, now hosted by Conan O’Brien, would move from the after-news slot it has occupied since the ’60s to after midnight: 12:05 a.m. ET/PT”.

However this all depends on whether Conan is still happy staying at NBC with The Tonight Show after all these changes. They’ve not treated him too well and I’m sure he’s not very happy about the proposed changes.

If Conan were to leave NBC it’s likely Leno will be offered The Tonight Show back (in its current 11.35pm timeslot).

USA Today – “After failed Leno experiment, a redefining moment at NBC”

The Jay Leno Show – which currently airs every weeknight at 10pm on NBC – is being pushed to a later timeslot soon according to The New York Times and other notable news outlets.

NBC have also now confirmed this – Digital Spy reports NBC Universal TV chairman Jeff Gaspin said “I can confirm that starting February 12, Jay Leno will no longer air at 10pm… My goal right now is to keep Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon as part of our late-night lineup. As much as I’d like to tell you we have a done deal, we know that’s not true”.

The New York Times reports NBC’s plan to win back viewers to its channel during primetime is to move The Jay Leno Show (which launched in September last year) from 10pm to 11.35pm and have The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien move from 11.35pm to 12.05am.

The Jay Leno Show would be cut to be a 30 minute programme instead of a full hour, but The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien would stay an hour long show.

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon would also be pushed back to make way for the changes – it would start at 1.05am instead of 12.35am. Last Call With Carson Daly currently follows Late Night With Jimmy Fallon but its future is now unclear because it may have to be pushed back so late that NBC might decide it isn’t worth airing it anymore.

The New York Times says “NBC executives held extensive discussions with Mr. Leno and Mr. O’Brien on Thursday about the future of the network’s late-night lineup… while NBC officially said no final decision on the plan had been made, two senior NBC executives who had talked to the top management about the moves said that under the plan being discussed, Mr. Leno would definitely shift back to 11:35 but in a half-hour format, while Mr. O’Brien would slide back his start time by a half hour and then produce an hourlong show”.

Conan addressed the news that Leno might be taking back the 11.35pm timeslot on his show this week saying “we’ve got a great show for you tonight. I have no idea what time it will air — but it’s going to be a great show”. Leno joked on The Jay Leno Show about moving to Fox but Fox seem more interested in Conan – they told The New York Times “we’ve always been interested in late night and we’re always looking to bring great new talent to Fox. While Conan would be a great fit for Fox, he’s still under contract with NBC, so we’ll just see how all of this plays out”. Fallon seems happy enough being moved slightly later – NYMag says he told The New York Times “I’ll do my show at 3 in the morning… I’m just happy I have a job”.

The New York Times reports “the revised lineup would go into effect after NBC concludes its coverage of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 28. NBC will pre-empt its prime-time and late-night lineup for more than two weeks to cover the Olympics, creating a natural break in which to put the late-night changes into effect”.

What do you think? Will Leno stay is he’s being moved back to late night? Will Conan stay with NBC if Leno takes back the Tonight Show timeslot? Will Fallon stay if he’s being shifted to a later timeslot? Leave us a comment.

Digital Spy – “NBC cancels ‘The Jay Leno Show’”
The New York Times – “Update: NBC Plan Would Move Leno Back to Late Nights”
TV Guide – “Leno Leaving 10 O’Clock Timeslot; Late-Night Changes Proposed…”
TV Guide – “NBC Reportedly Moving Leno Back to 11:35 with O’Brien Following Him”
TV Guide – “Fox Says Conan O’Brien “Would Be a Great Fit”"
NYMag – “Jimmy Fallon: ‘I’ll Do My Show at 3 in the Morning’”

The Jay Leno Show made its debut on NBC last night – 17.7 million people watched it. Leno has faced some negative reviews of the opening show though, as critics thought it was lazy of him to stay with a very similar format to The Tonight Show (for example Headlines is featured on the new show, as it was on The Tonight Show).

The Associated Press reporter Frazier Moore said “the biggest difference between Leno’s new show and his old one: With his fade-out at 11pm, the local news began”, and The Los Angeles Times said it was “a strange, shallow puddle of comedy”.

The first show did have it’s viewer draws – including Kanye West’s appearance to explain what happened at the MTV VMAs (the infamous moment when he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech) and to apologise for what he did.

In addition to Kanye West’s appearance, Jerry Seinfeld was interviewed and music came from Jay-Z and Rihanna (with Kanye performing with them).

The official website for The Jay Leno Show has now fully launched – it includes video clips (US only), full episode streaming (US only), photos, exclusives, message boards, etc.

If you saw the show, please let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment on this post.

The Associated Press – “Leno show reaches 17.7 million viewers”
The Los Angeles Times – “‘Jay Leno Show’ stays on familiar ground”

The Jay Leno show premieres on NBC tomorrow night – Monday 14th September – at 10pm. As I mentioned previously, the guests for the first show are Jerry Seinfeld, Jay-Z featuring Rihanna and Kanye West. The programme hasn’t been picked up for transmission on UK television yet, but you can watch it on our website via the live NBC stream on the Watch Online page for The Jay Leno Show – it will air on Tuesday morning because of the time difference between the UK and the US.

Speaking to CNN recently, Leno spoke about getting rid of the traditional desk setup and replacing it with a conversation area – he said “”it’s fun being able to change that up a little bit”. CNN says “much of the action takes place outside his new studio, including celebrities racing electric cars on a track built for the show”.

Late Show UK – Guest Listings – The Jay Leno Show
CNN – “Jay Leno ready for prime time”

The Jay Leno Show kicks off on Monday 14th September at 10pm on NBC.

The new show will feature celebrity guests every weeknight as The Tonight Show With Jay Leno used to, but The Jay Leno Show will focus more on comedy and other features rather than interviews. Features such as Headlines and Jaywalking from The Tonight Show also return in this new show.

Guests have been confirmed for the first week of shows: On the opening show on Monday 14th September, Jerry Seinfeld will make an appearance, and Jay-Z with Rihanna & Kanye West will provide the music. Tom Cruise will be the guest on the second show on Tuesday 15th September – Tom will take part in the new “10 at 10″ feature on the programme, where Jay makes 10pm house calls to people.

On Wednesday 16th September Robin Williams will be a guest, and Miley Cyrus will appear for the “10 at 10″ feature. Halle Berry will be the guest on Thursday 17th September with music from Eric Clapton with Bruce Hornsby. Drew Barrymore and comedian Jim Norton will close the first week on the Friday.

Keep up to date with all the latest guest listings for The Jay Leno Show – click here.

It’s been announced comedian Jerry Seinfeld will be the first guest on premiere edition of The Jay Leno Show on the 14th September. He joins the other guests already announced for that episode – musical guests Kanye West, Jay-Z and Rihanna.

Leno grabbed Seinfeld for a quick chat at the Laguna Seca Raceway ahead of his interview on The Jay Leno Show in September – click here to watch that (may not work on your UK connection).

NBC.com – “Jerry Seinfeld to be the first guest on The Jay Leno Show”
Late Show UK – Guest Listings – The Jay Leno Show