NBC: "This is going to be a comedy show."

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on April 10th, 2009

That’s the word from NBC execs as they beat the drum for the industry-only showcase that will introduce Jay Leno’s show to the advertisers at next month’s upfront meetings in New York. The New York Times article says that Leno will hit the stage at 10 PM on the May 19 show, which will also feature Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien and Rainn Wilson.

NBC exec Ben Silverman said that Leno’s new primetime show…

…will be significantly more humorous than Mr. Leno’s current work on The Tonight Show.

A difference viewers may see, said Mike Pilot, the president of advertising sales for NBC, will be “more newsmakers as guests” as opposed to the heavy quotient of entertainers who appear on the late-night shows. Another difference, he said, was intended to appeal to advertisers. “We think there will be opportunities to do things like live commercials,” he said.

Newsmakers + live commercials = comedy gold!

The idea for the comedy showcase is “partly just fun,” Mr. Silverman said, but he acknowledged that NBC’s big gamble on shifting Mr. Leno to prime time, as well as its commitment to Mr. O’Brien as the new “Tonight” host, served as considerable incentives to “reinforce the idea that comedy is one of the principal elements of NBC’s success.”

Does anyone here speak Executive?

Too many clauses. Too many qualifiers. We’re confused. How about you just find, develop and schedule some… comedies? Nothing like a few hit sitcoms to act as considerable gambling incentives to reinforce an idea or two about principle elements of success… or something.

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