Jay Leno dumped after 10pm experiment fails

One of American television's best known presenters, the chat show host Jay Leno, has lost his 10pm slot on NBC after the network was forced to admit that their adventurous plan to move a late-night show to a prime-time slot has failed.

The decision, made over a year ago, to shift Leno into peak-time was supposed to be one of the most radical moves in the history of American television.

In one fell swoop it meant NBC could hang on to one of their prized assets when his contract came up for renewal last year and, given the economic climate, it was a way of filling an hour's television at a fraction of the cost of scripted drama. On a weekly basis, The Jay Leno Show would cost NBC about $2m rather than the $15m it costs to make five nights' worth of a drama like ER or Law and Order.

And if anyone could do it - the thinking went at NBC - it was Leno, the 58-year-old comedian known for his cartoon-strip chin and the strong mix of comedy and light-touch interviews he brought to The Tonight Show when he took over from Johnny Carson 16 years previously.

But it didn't work out. The ratings were miserable and under pressure from local "affiliate" stations, NBC has pulled the plug on Leno after less than six months. The show will be removed from the schedule when the Winter Olympics coverage starts on February 12 and not return afterwards.

Leno will be asked to go back to his former time-slot of 11.35pm. It is not certain he'll agree and there are rumours that Fox TV are after him.

As for what NBC will now broadcast at 10pm, it is not certain whether the network will return to expensive drama or to the cheaper alternative of reality/talent TV.

Among the new programmes they have commissioned - though it is destined for a weekly Sunday night spot - is The Marriage Ref, a project dreamt up by Jerry Seinfeld, whose long-running "show about nothing" was one of the network's great successes in its glory days.

As The First Post reported in October, it looks to be part comedy part panel game, and involve celebrities such as Tina Fey, Larry David, Alec Baldwin and Seinfeld himself giving advice to married couples.

Asked at a press conference last week why married couples would seek advice from celebrities and not experts, Seinfeld quipped, "Because experts are helpful".

Whether the show will display Seinfeld's magic touch - and whether it has the legs to help troubled NBC - pundits will be able to judge for themselves when the pilot is shown after the Winter Olympics closing ceremonies on February 28.

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