Bailey Legull
2006-06-22 18:56:00 UTC
Leno & Leno: Compare & Contrast.
You're insane.Mr. Leno's monologue jokes are funny, but they're straight from
Reader's Digest. The point of view is so middle-class it's like
watching the entertainer on a cruise ship.
Leno's filmed bits are often good -- when it's not a frat boy playing
with a camera. Ross the Intern is terrific. I really enjoyed
"Jaywalking" until one contestant let slip that they were faking their
stupidity. Not quite so good once you know that.
As far as banter with the bandleader, on Leno there *isn't* any. In
the average show, Mr. Eubanks will say "yeah" a few times and laugh.
Frankly, it's embarrassing, and without any rapport the relationship
looks phony. Turning Mr. Eubanks into a token rather than a person.
Mr. Leno's interviews are similarly embarrassing. Catch Kate
Beckinsale recently? He forced the woman to talk about breastfeeding
-- titties are his life, doncha know -- even though her daughter is
SEVEN. He actually pretended to *hit* on some female, and frankly it
was repulsive. (He's charmless, and he's been married twenty years.)
His interviews with lesbians -- Rosie, Ellen -- are interesting because
for a change he doesn't focus on sex.
Mr. Leno is a mealy-mouthed host, pretending he attracts flies with
honey. He doesn't. He bores flies into a coma. Mr. Letterman, on the
other hand, is in a whole different class. He'll call an idiot an
idiot, like when he went after Lynne Cheney like a hardened gay
activist. Jon Stewart is the role model here, and Mr. Letterman is off
with flying colors.
Mr. Leno is a talented host with a teenager's intellect who plays it
safe, scared to death of offending Grandma and Grandpa in Kansas. Mr.
Letterman is a smart adult who loves to gamble and doesn't care what
anybody thinks.
I can appreciate them both, and I can laugh at them both, but only one
deserves my respect.