Suggesting possible series that CNN head Jeff Zucker might consider

http://www.deadline.com/2012/11/jeff-zuckers-first-memo-to-cnn-staff/ …

Jeff Zucker's NBC career spanned the heights of the Matt-and-Katie era of THE TODAY SHOW to the depths of THE JAY LENO SHOW/throwing Conan O'Brien into the Siberia of basic cable.

Given that CNN pre-Zucker was planning to manage for margins by giving series deals to edgy gourmand Anthony Bourdain and pop-documentarian Morgan Spurlock, one can easily imagine the kind of programming that Jeff might greenlight:
WHERE ON WALL STREET IS ERIN BURNETT?
PARKER BLITZER (teaming conservative columnist Kathleen Parker with Wolf Blitzer)
WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS IN AFGHANISTAN WITH LARA LOGAN
THE KATIE COURIC INTERVIEWS (goodbye, Piers Morgan)
and, of course,
THE NEW JAY LENO SHOW.

A wreath on the grave of THE JAY LENO SHOW.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jay_Leno_Show

Two notes to add to the Wikipedia article:
1. I'm assuming that David Letterman was possessed by a malign form of glee in proposing the Super Bowl commercial for LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN to Jay Leno--knowing that Leno's shaky hold on a "good guy" persona would take a further hit with a "can't laugh at
myself" turndown.

2. Last week, Bill Maher made his final guest appearance on THE JAY LENO SHOW.
When Maher brought up the topic of Jay's "vulnerability" (see Note #1),
Leno cut Maher off and rushed to a commercial break.

One final prediction: The Jay/Dave ratings war may be a bit more unpredictable from March onwards. Yes, Leno will be Number One some nights--and Letterman will beat him on other occasions.

And more than a few of us will opt for Coco if he finds himself on Fox or Comedy Central.

Letting Vic Richie have the last word on the Jay/Conan talk-show turf-fest.

Take a look at Nikki Finke's DEADLINE story from Thursday about NBC plotting to move Jay Leno back to 11:35 p.m. and Conan O'Brien to 12:05 a.m.
http://www.deadline.com/hollywood

And scroll down quite a long way in the Comments section to read what Vic Richie says about the whole mess.

Paraphrasing Vic: He's quite right to complain about overpaid execs who make stupid, shortsighted decisions and then go home to their elegant big houses (which they're not likely to lose).

Except he says it so much better than I (or a hundred other legitimate TV "critics") can.

Tiger Woods--when private becomes public.

Awhile back (think it might have been on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT), Kevin Bacon said something like: "My private life is none of America's business."

But then again, he's merely a well-paid actor and not a supremely-well-paid, taught-by-dad-to-be-golf-machine-more-than-actual-person athlete like Tiger Woods.

It looks like Tiger successfully put a lid on conjecture about what exactly happened re the late-night SUV accident.

But the leak of a voicemail message allegedly by Tiger to one of his alleged mistresses (of the "my wife's looking for evidence I'm seeing other people" variety) seems to have prompted little more than a crisis-management-shaped "apology" on the Tiger Woods website.

It may be time for Tiger to speak actual human sentences instead of save-my-commercial-endorsements-make-it-go-away-euphemisms; i.e. be honest with his fans in order to redirect public attention towards more pertinent matters (i.e. the escalation of the Afghanistan War).

Jay Leno needs ratings. Perhaps it's time for Tiger to endure Jay hauling out his old "What the hell were you thinking?" line once more. [Rumors are that Tiger will do the mea culpa thing for Oprah.]

[UPDATE: 12/9/09--Here's an article about Tiger's alleged marriage counseling: http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/tiger-woods-tries-intensive-therapy-to-save-marriage/19269773]

THE JAY LENO SHOW: insert your punchline here.

At this point, I'm wondering if NBCUniversal still thinks the continuing spectacle of THE JAY LENO SHOW (which now seems so hamstrung due to apparent restrictions on booking guests, it's turning to members of the George Butch Jr. family and the lame-duck California Governator) is worth the effort because it keeps Leno from being a competitive late-night force on some other network.

A modest proposal: do away with guests altogether and cut the show to a half-hour--giving network affiliates some slight relief and an earlier start on late news.

This way, Jay can merely do his monologue--plus all the hoary, fan-pleasing old bits (Jaywalking, Headlines, etc.). And maybe someone at NBCUniversal can strongly insist that he dump the sour "smirking about being gay" schtick that seems left over from, say, the latter years of THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW--yes, that may mean getting rid of the demeaning, ridiculously stereotyped "Ross The Intern."

Or, if NBCUniversal really wanted to save money, they can turn the new soundstage over to another tenant and just tape Jay doing his Sunday evening joke tryouts at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach. Five half-hour timeslots filled just like that.

[UPDATE 11/9/09: A better proposal might be to move Conan O'Brien to 10:00 (where his younger-skewing demographic may be more compatible with some of NBC's primetime lineup) and call Conan's show EARLY TONIGHT. This can allow Jay to return to 11:35 and keep doing the same old stuff; it could even be rebranded as TONIGHT SHOW CLASSIC.]