In defense of Jay Leno

So why the hate? In talking with people and poring through the anti-Leno sniping, part of the irritation seems to stem from the sense that, despite his success, Leno doesn’t deserve “The Tonight Show” because he just isn’t funny. Period. Indeed, some people clearly hold the opinion that he has been ruining the franchise with his Dudley-Do-Right goofiness and aggressive Regular Guy persona. He lacks the edge and post-modern sensibility of Letterman or Coco or the Comedy Central gang. His humor is broader, dumber, and softer than the other guys’, in what has long been panned as a shameless pander to the unwashed masses. (To put it in 1990s sit-com terms, Leno is more “Home Improvement” than “Seinfeld.”) But to some degree, this is what it means to oversee “Big Tent” entertainment (as “The Tonight Show” has been characterized) rather than trafficking in the quirkier niche humor of Coco. Americans cuddle up with Leno even as the critics roll their eyes and bemoan national tastes. When Letterman’s “Late Show” launched opposite Leno in 1993 (during the last great salvo of the Late-Night Wars), Newsday’s TV critic cheered it as “the start of a taste and sensibility war that will divide the country between the mainstream and alternative audiences. The mainstream has Jay Leno. And all the others have Dave.” Or, as Letterman’s executive producer sniffed to Fortune in 2004, “Jay runs ‘The Tonight Show’ like a political campaign. Dave is an artist.”

Now, I myself have always been a Letterman gal. (What can I say? The deranged, gap-toothed grin slays me.) And, while Coco has never tickled my fancy, I’ll accept that he’s funnier—and certainly more au courant—than Leno. I mean, who isn’t? But to fault Leno for being unhip or too boringly mainstream in his humor is to misunderstand the function he serves as “Tonight Show” curator. Being a comedian has always been an ancillary part of the job.