By Dean Robbins
Jay Leno returns to his old timeslot
Jay Leno returns to “The Tonight Show” (Monday, March 1, 10:30 p.m., NBC) after the failed experiment of his primetime talk show, displacing successor Conan O’Brien. NBC has been savagely attacked for this series of moves, but I really can’t see why. Leno’s foray into primetime looked doable on paper, but like many such risks, it didn’t work out. Neither did O’Brien in the “Tonight Show” timeslot, losing a massive share of Leno’s old audience.
O’Brien received a lot of support in the media, but to me he came out the whole affair looking juvenile. He refused an offer to move his show back a mere half-hour and spent his last days on the “Tonight Show” launching vicious, self-serving attacks at NBC. That’s not a classy way to go out, especially for a guy who bombed big-time in his new job.
There’s talk of O’Brien getting another talk show on Fox, and I think I have a good title for it: “The Big Baby Hour.”
‘Parenthood’
Tuesday, 9 p.m. (NBC)
Move over, “Brothers & Sisters,” NBC’s new series aims to be TV’s top poignant-yet-funny large-family soap opera. “Parenthood’s” pedigree is impressive, with executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer overseeing the update of their 1989 film. The cast isn’t too shabby either. Lauren Graham plays Sarah, a single mother who moves her two kids back to the family nest in Berkeley. Craig T. Nelson is the big-personality patriarch, Bonnie Bedalia the formidable matriarch, Erika Christensen the high-achieving sister, Dax Shepard the immature younger brother, and Peter Krause the troubled older brother.
“Parenthood” was originally scheduled to premiere last fall but got pushed back after star Maura Tierney bowed out. That’s right, folks — the amazing Lauren Graham was the producer’s alternate choice. With sloppy seconds this good, who needs firsts? CV
