Poll: Jay Leno

[Comrade_Beric]

I've been curious about this lately: Why do so many people say Jay Leno is the "King of un-funny"? I'll admit that Conan O'Brian is better and I was upset over what happened with the Tonight Show, but I'd been hearing the Leno hate for years before then. I've never seen anyone actually try to concisely explain why they feel that way about the man and I'm curious what you think.

Also, an obligatory poll just to measure his popularity with the Escapist.

 

[SillyBear]

I don't like him that much, I don't think he is very funny and I lost a lot of respect for him after I heard about how difficult, selfish and childish he was during the whole NBC Conan O'Brien fallout.

So yeah, not really my thing.

 

[Doti]

I have no idea about what really happened between him, Conan and NBC, and quite frankly, it shouldn't matter.

The point is, the man is incapable of making me laugh. As simple as that. So, no, I do not think he's funny, and if you do, I can understand why. It's just not my kind of humor.

 

[enzilewulf]

I don't pay him to close of attention any more really. Show is just isn't watchable. I stick to Jon Stewart.

 

[RandallJohn]

Jay: Okay.
Conan: Used to be better.
Graham Norton: Better than both of em'

 

[Spencer Petersen]

The biggest problem I have is when he ousted Conan he decided to try to appeal to a younger, teenage demographic, which means he occasionally showed a 4 year old youtube clip and made jokes about Glee. Personally, I find him to disconnected from the modren era, he seems much more comfortable in the 90s. Thankfully Conan does understand the demographic (Being a huge nerd also helps) and his comedy is much more original and funny for this generation.

 

[kane.malakos]

He's just not the funniest. My personal favorite is Craig Ferguson.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Okay, how are you guys posting topics? I can't because its not showing a captcha so I can't even put in the code to make one! Can someone enlighten me on this?

OT: Never really liked him that much, more of a Conan guy myself.

 

[DOOM GUY]

I don't watch much T.V. myself, in fact, I may have seen Jay Leno only once or twice, so I don't even have much of an opinion on him. The only late night talk-show I really like is The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, he's pretty funny.

 

[Comrade_Beric]

Well, I used to curse and moan because I loved both Conan and Craig. I hated having to choose between the two, but when push came to shove, I watched Craig. Between Jay Leno and David Letterman, Leno was simply the better of the two options. When Conan got the tonight show, I loved it because then I could catch both Conan and Craig every night. Now Conan is on a cable network (I don't have cable) and I'm back to watching Leno before switching to Craig. I don't think Leno is awful the way so many have told me he is and at the very least he's better to me than Letterman.

Anyway, all I was getting at (and still am) is why you find him funny or not (particularly not since those tend to be the most strongly held opinions of him).

-snip-

Thank you for trying to answer my question of "Why?" but it only serves as half of the answer I'm looking for. Your reply is a good reason why you don't like him post-Conan, but did you hate him from before then? If so, why? The hate for him has been around for far longer than the Conan fiasco. I'm curious about exactly why.

 

[antidonkey]

Leno tends to be too safe with his comedy. I can't say he's unfunny cause he does make me laugh but he's not someone I go out of my way to watch. I'd imagine the "king of un-funny" moniker was put on him by people who like their comedy to be more edgey or random.

 

[XandNobody]

I just find Leno to generally not be all that funny. Never really cared for him before the whole Conan mess due to the aforementioned fact that he's just not my type of humor, but then after the whole Conan thing, I lost any respect for him as a person I might have had anyways.

So, yea, I personally see him as not funny and more than a little spoiled.

 

[AMX58]

Headlines on Monday thats only thing I watch for that is so LOL man

 

[Lionsfan]

I don't really watch Late-Night shows, not Letterman, Leno, Kimmel, any of them really. If I'm at home or something I'll catch part of the Craig Ferguson show, like his interviewee, but it's never really a priority. I prefer show shows (like Franklin and Bash, or Futurama) than stand-up hosting shows. Just seem boring

 

[dex-dex]

I never really watched Jay Leno or Conan O'Brian.
the only show that I do watch that is similar is Graham Norton.
Graham Norton is the only person who would put up a TARDIS close to the London eye, wait for someone to go in it and then get a fork lift to carry the TARDIS and all back to the studio.
The only other interviewer sort of show I watch is George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight which use to be the hour but I still call it that.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

I'd like to bring to your attention someone who knew what Jay Leno was way back when and who, even after his death, pegged him for the corporate whore we know him to be.

Spoiler: WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGERY AND FOUL LANGUAGE

 

[TheTim]

I like Conan and Jay equally, they're both great imo