Jay Leno rips NBC executives, ratings in opening monologues: Big deal?
Is there any late-night host that is actually happy with NBC? For most other networks, they are frequently the butt of jokes left and right about the way in which they handled David Letterman and Conan O’Brien over the years, and this is without even mentioning what happened to Ann Curry in the morning.
However, one of the men who was at the center of both previous late-night controversies has now taken to his own talk show, amid rumors that the network has asked him to tone down the jokes at his employer’s expense, only to do a little bit more of the same thing. On Monday night’s installment of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” Jay included the following burn at NBC brass while also talking about the recent celebration of St. Patrick’s Day:
“You know the whole legend of St. Patrick, right? St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland — and then they came to the United States and became NBC executives. It’s a fascinating story.”
Then, Leno followed this up on Tuesday by taking a jab at the network’s low primetime ratings so far this year (which Leno has even beat at times despite airing after local news):
“Did you hear about this? A 28-year-old woman from Serbia has a rare brain condition where she sees everything upside down … The good news? She’s now been given a job at the White House as President Obama’s economic adviser.
“Isn’t that crazy? It’s unbelievable. She sees everything upside down. In fact, she thinks NBC is at the top of the ratings.”
While we didn’t see the original joke as too much of a big deal, we can’t really say the same thing now that this has happened for two days in a row. If you want to find a way off your network fast, repeatedly bashing them is a way to do it.
Could these jokes be happening as a result of the rumors that NBC is looking to phase Leno out in order to give the reigns to Jimmy Fallon an hour earlier? Regardless, this will have to be something that we watch intently in the weeks ahead. Right now, it’s a murmur, but it could soon turn into a quake.
Do you think that Leno’s NBC jokes are a big deal, or par for the course? We want to hear some more of your thoughts on the subject below!
Photo: NBC