Jay Leno in prime time: This could work

I'm kinda busy around 10 p.m. I've got things to do.

But I did catch enough of the first prime-time "Jay Leno Show" last night on NBC, and thus far, I'm favorably impressed.

Sure there were a few moment and segments that didn't work (the Jerry Seinfeld interview, that stupid fake Jay interview with President Obama), but the things that did work made the hour worthwhile.

The Dan Band (which has one of the worst, worst Web sites I've ever seen) segment in which Dan Finnerty and his two nattily dressed cohorts serenaded a Burbank/Toluca Lake (not sure exactly where) car-wash customer was great. I hope the show does more things like this.

While the taped segment in which Kevin Eubanks throws Leno over for a Leno look-alike (all three wearing matching argyle sweaters; bet they don't know that argyle is "in" this year) was not exactly comedy gold, it was amusing enough.

But the unscripted, unrehearsed few minutes in which Leno interviewed Kanye West was both great TV and genuine news. The day after the rapper grabbed the mic from Taylor
Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards and pretty much said Beyonce should've won, West was contrite and pretty much reduced to silence when Leno asked how his late mother would've felt about the incident.

So Leno can bring it.

Never mind that the following song performed by West, Jay-Z and Rihanna (I wish she would've sat for a few minutes with Leno to discuss her "Chris Brown beat the crap out of me" situation, but I can understand her reluctance.

And doing "Headlines" at the end of the show was a brilliant move; it's one of the best things Leno does, and I'm sure the network is well aware that viewership of "The Tonight Show" is strong at the beginning (monologue and comedy bits) and not so strong as the show goes on (interviews). At least I think that's the way the ratings go (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). So putting the interviews in the middle and promising something that potentially doesn't suck at the end of the hour is a smart way to keep viewers tuned in and deliver a bigger lead-in to the local news at 11 p.m.

Long story short: I don't watch hour-long scripted broadcast TV drama. I just don't. I don't like crime shows, don't like doctor shows, and these days don't really like reality shows.

And while all of the late-night talk hosts, from Letterman to O'Brien and beyond, spend a great deal of time talking about how much their own shows stink (and Leno plays that game as well), I think over the years Jay has tried harder to do a funny, relevant show.

And now that he has something to prove (that he can bring the ratings), I expect him and his staff to work even harder to make shows that ... don't suck.

Also, given that I pretty much need to get up and be functional in the morning, a prime-time talk/comedy show is more than welcome on my nightly viewing menu.

So for me, if I happen to be in front of the TV at 10 p.m., I'll be watching "The Jay Leno Show" ... or at least the opening monologue.