Jay Leno Sits Down With Oprah And Talks Real Good

By Mark Lorenz on January 29th, 2010

Leno-1 There’s nothing weirder than a celebrity trying to save face. The only thing weirder is when they try to save face with Oprah. Enter Jay Leno.

Jay Leno has just been publicly dragged through the mud. His reputation has been tarnished by this whole debacle with Conan, to the point where it might damage his ratings once he takes over his own time slot. So he had a sit-down with Oprah, saver of reputations, and paragon of virtues. And she drilled him. Hard.

What basically came out was a list of excuses. NBC forced him out against his will, he really meant no ill will to Conan, the way NBC handled it was beyond abysmal, and to a point, I agree with him. Late night talk show hosts just want to tell jokes and interview people. That’s what they’re good at. Collective bargaining, late night scheduling, strangling idiot execs, that’s not what they’re good at. This whole thing was handled terribly, and Jay Leno needs to be repeatedly publicly reprimanded. It’s not like Conan failed on his own terms, he failed on NBC’s terms, which were ridiculous, and imposed merely to make the network look good.

You can find information about the interview and when it will air on Oprah’s official website.