After just 14 days, "The Jay Leno Show" has broken a key promise.
The show had said it would end each hour with humor. Until tonight, it did. Some of the closing bits were great (including "Headlines" each Monday), some were lame, but all were comic.
That ended tonight, when the show closed with a man said to have the world's strongest ears. Arriving from India, he pulled Leno horizontally on a board, pulled a skinny lady vertically on a chair, then pulled a fire truck. All were pulled via a chain clamped to his ears. I'd estimate he moved Leno six inches, the lady four inches, the truck two inches. Hey, the guy traveled 15,000 miles to move things a foot.
That's unfortunate, because Leno could have used a strong finish. Other elements were:
-- Great. The monolog was sharp, from the moment Leno acknowledged reports that someone is trying to buy NBC. ("Hey, I thought they ended 'cash for clunkers.'") He also saw some wisdom in a change that would make it legal for a customer to carry a gun into a bar. "That should help prevent robberys, hold-ups and, hopefully, karaoke."
-- Weak: Liz Feldman seems amiable, but her film (teaching old people how to Twitter) was so-so. The track record for "found humor" from correspondents has been poor.
-- Great: Chris Rock is a terrific guest, filled with sharp observations. In particular, he was appalled that some people feel Roman Polanski should be excused of legal charges, because he's made good films. "Even Johnny Cochran didn't say, 'Sure, but did you see what O.J. did against New England?'" He also refused to comment on Kanye West, saying that he avoids offending rappers, for fear he'll end up in a song, being dissed every 20 minutes on the radio. "There are too many things that rhyme with 'Rock.'"
-- Weak: Instead of just letting Rock be himself, Leno's "earn your clip" segment had a duo reading from the biographies of a former husband and wife. It was a good idea, poorly executed.
-- Weakest: This was one of the worst "10 at 10" segments so far, with Chris Matthews insisting on laughing after each answer. Inexplicably, Leno said "this segment has been taking the nation by storm." I suppose that's accurate, if you count the fact that I would like to pelt it with lightning and hail stones.
-- Weak: Instead of lett