The Jay Leno Show Television Program

Baltimore may be called Charm City, but for WBAL -- the local television station that carries NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" -- there isn't much to smile about lately. Usually, WBAL is in a neck-and-neck race for viewers against arch rival WJZ. But since NBC debuted "The Jay Leno Show" in prime time five weeks ago, the station's 11 p.m. newscast -- where silver-haired Rod Daniels' 25-year run as anchor is the longest in Baltimore history -- has been shellacked in the ratings. Now WBAL is a distant second.

As far too many of us know, Jay Leno, who has been parked weeknights at 10 p.m. since September, is moving back to "The Tonight Show," the job he left at the end of May. When he returns from the canceled "The Jay Leno Show" to his former chair, after the Olympics, it will be as if the last eight months had never happened. And in other ways, it will not; certainly Conan O'Brien leaves this dispute with some new ideas about the business he's in. And though it remains to be seen whether L'Affaire Conan has seriously injured Leno's "likability," his fans -- and he does have them -- seem happy enough to regard him, as he seems to regard himself, as a victim of NBC's dithering and, indeed, of his own niceness.

It was "The Jay Leno Show's" big prime-time debut, but Kanye West unquestionably stole some of the spotlight from the host to announce he'll be taking time off to reflect on his actions after his controversial outburst over the weekend at the MTV Video Music Awards. One day after the famously outspoken artist interrupted an acceptance speech from 19-year-old country star Taylor Swift at the award show, suggesting that her prize for best female video should have gone to Beyoncé, a contrite West appeared on Leno's new NBC show to deliver an apology.

The last time Jay Leno said goodbye to America, it was in gala fashion, marked by high emotion, a cheering studio audience and tears. In ending his 17-year stretch on "The Tonight Show" last May, Leno gracefully honored his predecessor, the late Johnny Carson; figuratively passed the hosting baton to successor Conan O'Brien and then asked James Taylor to serenade viewers with "Sweet Baby James." Don't expect that kind of weepy, bittersweet send-off Tuesday when Leno signs off his failed prime-time program that was once trumpeted by NBC as a bold experiment that could reshape television.

For the past several years, NBC executives have been promising to revolutionize broadcast television. On Sunday, the network sent a different message: Never mind. In a remarkable session with reporters at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena, Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, confirmed that next month the network would end its heavily publicized experiment to replace costly scripted dramas with Jay Leno's much cheaper 10 p.m. talk show, which by delivering low ratings sparked a mutiny among NBC-affiliated stations.

For a critic, a television viewer and a human being, the reports that "The Jay Leno Show" will soon be but an unpleasant memory, with Leno returning to the 11:30 spot, are nothing short of a belated Christmas present. Any hope that NBC's experiment with putting Leno on at 10 p.m. every blessed day would re-imagine, revitalize or even mildly contribute to television was quickly dashed. Leno does one thing very well, and that is host a late-night show. The news that he will soon be safely doing just that not only opens the 10 o'clock spot for the great dramas that were once the hallmark of NBC, it also indicates that something resembling sanity has returned to the network.

The last time Jay Leno said goodbye to America, it was in gala fashion, marked by high emotion, a cheering studio audience and tears. In ending his 17-year stretch on "The Tonight Show" last May, Leno gracefully honored his predecessor, the late Johnny Carson; figuratively passed the hosting baton to successor Conan O'Brien and then asked James Taylor to serenade viewers with "Sweet Baby James." Don't expect that kind of weepy, bittersweet send-off Tuesday when Leno signs off his failed prime-time program that was once trumpeted by NBC as a bold experiment that could reshape television.

As far too many of us know, Jay Leno, who has been parked weeknights at 10 p.m. since September, is moving back to "The Tonight Show," the job he left at the end of May. When he returns from the canceled "The Jay Leno Show" to his former chair, after the Olympics, it will be as if the last eight months had never happened. And in other ways, it will not; certainly Conan O'Brien leaves this dispute with some new ideas about the business he's in. And though it remains to be seen whether L'Affaire Conan has seriously injured Leno's "likability," his fans -- and he does have them -- seem happy enough to regard him, as he seems to regard himself, as a victim of NBC's dithering and, indeed, of his own niceness.

For the past several years, NBC executives have been promising to revolutionize broadcast television. On Sunday, the network sent a different message: Never mind. In a remarkable session with reporters at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena, Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, confirmed that next month the network would end its heavily publicized experiment to replace costly scripted dramas with Jay Leno's much cheaper 10 p.m. talk show, which by delivering low ratings sparked a mutiny among NBC-affiliated stations.

For a critic, a television viewer and a human being, the reports that "The Jay Leno Show" will soon be but an unpleasant memory, with Leno returning to the 11:30 spot, are nothing short of a belated Christmas present. Any hope that NBC's experiment with putting Leno on at 10 p.m. every blessed day would re-imagine, revitalize or even mildly contribute to television was quickly dashed. Leno does one thing very well, and that is host a late-night show. The news that he will soon be safely doing just that not only opens the 10 o'clock spot for the great dramas that were once the hallmark of NBC, it also indicates that something resembling sanity has returned to the network.

Baltimore may be called Charm City, but for WBAL -- the local television station that carries NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" -- there isn't much to smile about lately. Usually, WBAL is in a neck-and-neck race for viewers against arch rival WJZ. But since NBC debuted "The Jay Leno Show" in prime time five weeks ago, the station's 11 p.m. newscast -- where silver-haired Rod Daniels' 25-year run as anchor is the longest in Baltimore history -- has been shellacked in the ratings. Now WBAL is a distant second.

It was "The Jay Leno Show's" big prime-time debut, but Kanye West unquestionably stole some of the spotlight from the host to announce he'll be taking time off to reflect on his actions after his controversial outburst over the weekend at the MTV Video Music Awards. One day after the famously outspoken artist interrupted an acceptance speech from 19-year-old country star Taylor Swift at the award show, suggesting that her prize for best female video should have gone to Beyoncé, a contrite West appeared on Leno's new NBC show to deliver an apology.