What A Difference A Week Makes

As expected, ratings for "The Jay Leno Show" took a nosedive last night, and what was last Monday's highest-rated show became this Monday's lowest.

Last Monday's "Leno" premiere nabbed 18 million viewers, with those numbers going down throughout the week. But, as I predicted, last night's airing plummeted to just over 5 million, making it the lowest-rated show on a night that also included the season premieres of "House" and "CSI: Miami" (the night's big winners, with 16.5 million and 13.7 million viewers, respectively).

To add insult to injury, David Letterman returned after taking last week off, and his opening night guest was a doozy: U.S. president Barack Obama, which actually attracted more viewers in late night than Leno's primetime episode (which featured Jennifer Garner).

BTW, are there any fans of BBC's "Top Gear" out there who, like me, watched Drew Barrymore do that stupid "green car challenge" thing on Friday and realized Jay ripped off the entire bit from the British show?

Anyhow, coupled with the so-so ratings of the two-hour season premiere of "Heroes," NBC landed in fourth place last night, a position it's been in for years and one it will likely find itself in for the remainder of the season.

Although it may be a bit premature to consider Leno's primetime show a failed experiment (NBC is proclaiming that it's a marathon, not a sprint), it sure looks that way. Honestly, does anyone expect this show to get any better? And let's not forget that, according to rumour, both CBS and ABC have banned their stars from appearing on Leno, which will only compound the pain.

On the bright side, the failure of "The Jay Leno Show" would bode well for the future of network television, reinforcing the idea that viewers want to watch dramas at 10 p.m. and talk shows at bedtime, just like they always have.