1ST JAY LENO REVIEW: ‘IMITATION COMEDY GRUEL’

Anyone who saw three minutes of the NFL game last night knows that Jay Leno’s new show debuts on Monday, as NBC was pimping it like a whore on sailors’ payday. Well, the first review of “The Jay Leno Show” is in, and you’ll be surprised to learn that it’s actually a groundbreaking reinvention of what a late-night talk show can be. Haha, just kidding. It’s the old “Tonight Show” without a desk.

The new show is muddled and confusing. There’s not enough innovation, and too much that reminds us of the old “Tonight Show” for us to feel like this is Jay’s true “victory lap” primetime show…

What it comes down to is that Jay Leno is a great salesman. The producers won’t let him forget that… He seems aware of the show’s lack of sensibility…

Jay is at the helm of this show, but we get the feeling he has little autonomy on his own show. With his own primetime program, we thought we’d get to see more of Jay as himself. Unfortunately, looks like he’ll continue to be a big ladle serving us more imitation comedy gruel. [TV Munchies]

That’s the thing about Leno. It’s not that he’s bad, per se. It’s that he’s bland. And the fact that so many people LIKE the blandness is what pisses me off. I don’t want to sound callous here, but I hope he gets into a horrible vintage car wreck. Preferably with Ray Romano.