The Jay Leno Show

:

Season 1
  • Network: NBC
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 14, 2009
User Score
3.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 60
  3. Negative: 38 out of 60

Review this tv show

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling

User Reviews

view
per page
  1. DonSmith
    Jan 19, 2010
    10
    Jay is a great entertainer and comedian and cannot be replaced by Conan. I have submitted material for Jay to use as he saw fit. Jay still belongs on the team and any attempt to replace him is an effort in futility. The best simply cannot be replaced and I will rest my case there at this point.
  2. SamG
    Oct 20, 2009
    10
    Two things I like about Jay: 1)He's not a show boat monopolizing all of the laughs. I can enjoy a variety of comedy coming from guests to scripted skits without the host cannibalizing all of the humor. 2)He
  3. ZachD.
    Oct 20, 2009
    10
    I laugh my ass off 5 hours a week thanks to this. I bet you all 20 bucks this show will be on for the next 5 year if Jay can do it.
  4. MikeyF
    Sep 16, 2009
    6
    The set is boring - And I like Jay behind a desk.
  5. MartinS
    Sep 20, 2009
    4
    Jay Leno is a great standup comedian. Unfortunately he was never much of a talk show host. The comedy skits (much like his days on the tonight show) are lame and poorly delivered and his interviewing style is soft. I would watch his HBO comedy special in a minute but not his talk show.
  6. LesM.
    Sep 24, 2009
    9
    Excellent to have him back. Funny stuff and a relaxed look to the interviews. Better than the other talk shows.
  7. PatS
    Oct 21, 2009
    2
    Too much degradation of women. Is Jay trying to pull in a male audience between 13-Stupid years old?
  8. ScubyDo
    Oct 2, 2009
    3
    It's the same old show with the addition that whoever runs the audio board is doing a crappy job. The levels are all over the place. To hear Jay speak I have to turn up the volume and to keep from going more deaf, have to turn down the volume from the alleged laughing.
  9. Kyle
    Oct 24, 2009
    1
    Bizarre/absurd humor for the 65-80 demographic! Jay Leno is horribly unfunny... So glad NBC is reaping what it sewed.
  10. MikeR
    Dec 7, 2009
    2
    Equal doses of bland, trite, and irritating. I'm not sure why exactly Jay is back (not that he ever left) with the same tired, faux-inoffensive comedy that he's always dished out. Move on Jay, please move on.
  11. GerryK.
    Oct 5, 2009
    8
    It's still The Tonight Show With Jay Leno but that's a good thing. I can tivo it and watch it instead of the dreadful Conan or the spiteful Dave.
  12. bobp.
    Sep 15, 2009
    0
    Not funny or interesting.
  13. BrianF.
    Sep 15, 2009
    3
    Same boring Jay, same boring material. His standup is above average, but his interviewing skills are the worst on TV.
  14. B.D
    Sep 16, 2009
    9
    I wonder why critics think this is just a rehash of The Tonight Show. This is very different from your standard late night talk show. This is Jay Leno's show, and he seems to make that clear by changing things up and not doing things like everyone else. Nevertheless, I have always liked Jay Leno and his new show is truly a fantastic breath of fresh air from the usual late night format.
  15. RickB
    Sep 16, 2009
    3
    Watched the last 2 nights...unfortunately it's not very impressive. Choppy format without a comfortable flow to the program. Hate the seating arrangement. The "10 at 10" segment was marginally funny. Jay, you can do better!
  16. JohnV
    Sep 16, 2009
    4
    Tonight Show moves to a new time slot....oh wait that was The Jay Leno Show....sorry my bad.
  17. KenS
    Sep 18, 2009
    8
    The premier was a bit stilted but the show seemed to get more fluid as the week wore on. I think it will be a solid performer for NBC and a great pilot for the business model.
  18. SallyB
    Sep 19, 2009
    3
    I didn't like the format of equal time spots to every segment, and most of his pretaped segments were less than funny. Jay has to stop yelling at his audience after every segment about who and what is coming up next. He sounds like an infomercial guy selling his product.
  19. Fantasy
    Dec 15, 2009
    2
    I love Jay but this reworked show is simply awful. He doesn't stand a chance. The King of Late Night TV has been reduced to a 2nd stringer at a time and place where the show does not belong. I feel sorry for Jay.
  20. GaryG.
    Sep 15, 2009
    4
    Nothing new, just rehash of late show only earlier.
  21. JordamJ
    Sep 15, 2009
    2
    His jokes are all the same, take a current event compare it or relate it to a item that was recently in the news. But even though he's talentless he's fair to his guests.
  22. JasonS
    Sep 15, 2009
    7
    Not the perfect prime time variety show, but Jay Leno still manages to keep us laughing with his feel-good humor. I'm sure that over time the seires will distance itself from The Tonight Show somehow.
  23. MasJ.
    Sep 17, 2009
    8
    I like this show if for nothing more than to be amazed that their writers can come up with an hour of material every day, although watching it so early seems odd. An early evening show is in the style of the 1950's shows where the whole family watched together and maybe it is a good formula that no other show is trying.
  24. TomM.
    Sep 24, 2009
    3
    Ok so we get Leno on earlier and even more tame than he was on the Tonight Show. This is awful television. I find myself listening to the radio more and more since pablum like this and reality shows have taken over the networks.
  25. PaulP.
    Sep 28, 2009
    7
    Leno is too conservative in his approach - he's always the guy who wants to be liked - but why would critics expect him to be different? He had excellent ratings against tough competition while Conan could barely hold off Craig Ferguson. And NBCs the worst of the 4 major networks. It's not like they've had a lot of great ideas, anyway. Yes, the skits with Eubanks are lame, Leno is too conservative in his approach - he's always the guy who wants to be liked - but why would critics expect him to be different? He had excellent ratings against tough competition while Conan could barely hold off Craig Ferguson. And NBCs the worst of the 4 major networks. It's not like they've had a lot of great ideas, anyway. Yes, the skits with Eubanks are lame, but I want to tune in at night and have someone take shots at all the bloated politicians and entertainment frauds and that's Jay, whose always been the only one who took monologues seriously. So, if you're a critic and want something different - who cares! You watch something different and I'll watch Jay.… Expand
  26. Beats
    Aug 16, 2010
    5
    This was really awkward for me..especially being a Conan fan.. to watch this show. not my favourite comedian of all time but the show worked great. Got a free autograph out of it too
  27. YoursTruly
    Apr 18, 2014
    0
    He's just so unfunny. He is just so unbelievably unfunny. Why is he on television? This show gets a zero. Not a one...a zero. It has zero quality. Its is refuse.
  28. Stahl
    Mar 28, 2014
    0
    Don't invite Jay to a party, he obviously doesn't know when to pack it in and leave. Conan's helming of the Tonight Show never made it off shore due to Leno's abysmal lead-in...

Awards & Rankings

92
#92 Best TV Season of 2009
42
#42 Most Discussed TV Season of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
48

Mixed or average reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    50
    The boilerplate talk format was reminiscent not only of Leno’s “Tonight Show,’’ but of almost every other late-night talker on the air right now.
    Read full review
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Mary McNamara
    40
    [This] is why this strange, shallow puddle of comedy is so difficult to accept. With all eyes on Leno, this is the best he, and his writers, and the struggling network could come up with?
    Read full review
  3. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    50
    That's a lot of pressure, even for Iron Jay, and maybe why Night One felt like a work in progress--terribly rough in spots, not bad in others.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »