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Jay Leno 1992 vs. Jay Leno 2007
What a difference 15 years makes.
I have to hand it to Leno and NBC. It's a great idea to air older episodes of Leno's show during this strike. I've been saying for a couple of years that the late night shows should run repeats from years ago when they have repeat weeks instead of an episode we saw just a week or two ago. Leno's doing it, though I wonder if it's more of an NBC decision and not one that Leno made.
Last night he aired an episode from June, 1992, which was only one month after Johnny Carson retired and Leno took over the show (with the controversial Helen Kushnick still producing the show). It's interesting to note the differences between Leno 1992 and Leno 2007.
The most obvious difference is the opening. The 1992 show had the more classic, calm Tonight Show opening, with various curtains opening and the list of guests for the night. Compare that with the opening we have now, since Leno changed the set to more of a nightclub look and feel. It's louder, it's obnoxious, it uses hand-held cameras, and we have John "Stuttering John" Melendez announcing (instead of Edd Hall from the old days). Someone once said that hiring Melendez was a typically "tone deaf" Leno move, and I couldn't agree more.
What I do like about Leno 1992 is that he approaches the show and the monologue in a way he doesn't now. You can tell he comes from a stand-up background, as the monologue is just jokes, with no mugging with the band or doing lame ass comedy bits with the audience or outside. And last night's show was a good example for other late night shows who are worried that the jokes will be "dated" in they ran older episodes. The jokes last night were about everything from Daryl Gates to not being able to catch Saddam to the S& L crisis to maybe Hillary Clinton should run for President instead of baking cookies for a magazine. I think audiences are smart enough to know the shows are older.
Even Headlines, which I didn't even realize he had been doing since the early days, is better. He approaches this too like a comic instead of the way he does now, hammering each joke in such a forced, over the top way he almost ruins the segment. I think that's the thing that stands out the most to me, the calmness. The show is quieter, more classic, but I guess that TV and entertainment in general are different now.
Oh, and Branford Marsalis! I had completely forgotten that the jazz great was the first band leader. When Leno introduced the band after his monologue, I think I actually smiled to myself.
It's great to see these older Leno shows during this strike. And while I can't see Conan running his early shows (I don't think they want anyone to remember how shaky his first year was), I hope that Letterman and CBS can see the entertainment value his older shows would have and air some of those. I haven't watched Letterman since the strike began, but I would definitely watch the older shows if CBS runs them.
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