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AmericanMasters
Jay Leno and the missed opportunity
by Allison Waldman, posted Jan 18th 2010 1:15PM
It's been quite an amazing time at NBC the past ten days. The Jay Leno exit from prime time. The proposed 11:35-12:05-1:05 juggle. Conan's manifesto to the people of the earth. NBC executives lashing out and labeling Conan a failure and chicken-hearted. Jeff Zucker threatening Conan and his intellectual properties. And then the subsiding tide that will have The Tonight Show regressing, possibly becoming less an American television institution and more an American artifact of a time gone by.Lost amid all this wrangling and back and forth is one fact that is undeniable. When NBC came up with the idea of all-Leno, all the time at 10 p.m. prime time, the network was giving him a precious gift. Jay Leno had been given Aladdin's lamp. NBC handed him an hour -- five hours -- of prime time television with an open invitation to create a new show. Imagine if that offer were made to another performer.
What's On Tonight: Harry Potter, Rescue Me, Code Monkeys, Top Chef
by Bob Sassone, posted Jul 11th 2007 5:00PM
At 8, ABC has a new The Next Best Thing, then new episodes of American Inventor and Traveler. - FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance at 8, followed by the premiere of Don't Forget The Lyrics!
- At 9, NBC has a new America's Got Talent, then a new Last Comic Standing.
- There's a new American Masters on PBS at 9, on Les Paul.
- Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, talks to Larry King on CNN at 9. Should be surreal.
- Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters at 9, followed by a new Destination Truth.
- VH-1 has The World Series of Pop Culture at 9.
- There's a new Footballer's Wives at 9 on BBC America.
- More stuff at 9: G4 has two new episodes of Code Monkeys.
- At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me.
- Discovery has two new episodes of Cash Cab at 10.
- Also at 10: Bravo has a new Top Chef.
Check your local TV listings for more.
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