August 21st, 2010

Why I Hate Jay Leno

First, hate is too strong a word.  I don’t hate Jay Leno.  I hate the fact that between him, Conan and Letterman he’s the only one we get here and he’s my least favorite of the three.  Also, I wish we got some of the newer American  talk show  hosts.  I only know Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Kimmel through other people’s comments and the occasional video clip, but they both seem like they’re a bit funnier and cutting edge than Jay.

I’m old enough that I remember Jay when he was a young stand up comic on the Carson show.  I thought he was the funniest guy in town.  His whole routine was the newspaper headline thing which he still does as a bit on his show, and it was hysterical.  He still does that better than Conan.  But his monologue now is so lame.  Lindsay Lohan is drunk, Larry King is old, Al Gore is boring, Ryan Seacrest is gay.  Insert name, tell joke.  The jokes are predictable and his timing is off.  He’s just old.

Also, he’s kind of condescending.  I’m sick and tired of that “Let me guess…single man, are ya?” joke.  Jaywalking stopped being funny a long time ago.  My favorite moment on his show in recent years was a couple of years ago when Pete Rose said “You touch me one more time and I’m going to punch you,” and he clearly meant it.

Of course, there’s also the fact that I don’t like his politics.  He may say he’s not a Republican, but I’m not buying it.  If he’s not, whoever is writing his material sure as hell is.

Still, I watch.  He occasionally gets off a zinger,  he gets good guests and I think Ross the intern is hysterical.  But I’m disappointed, more often than not.