Hacky Comic Not Convinced by Music’s Ability To Bring In The Eyeballs

Yesterday, Jay Leno gave television writers a preview of his new primetime talk show, telling the scribes in attendance that he expects the ratings of his show to beat CSI: Miami… when it’s in reruns. (Gotta love that American ingenuity.) In addition, he downplayed the idea that musicians would be a big part of his show’s programming, saying that even the biggest names wouldn’t necessarily bring in enough eyeballs to take people away from David Caruso’s eyewear-flinging ways:

Leno disagreed with an idea George Lopez presented earlier at press tour while promoting his upcoming TBS late-night talk show, that a show’s format should be flexible enough to open with a musical guest, such as U2. “What a big musical guest gets you is a great studio audience, you wouldn’t necessarily have a great television audience.” Leno said. “If I want to see U2, I can go to VH1, or go to YouTube.”

But Jay, word on the street is that Rihanna, Jay-Z, and Kanye West are performing on your show’s premiere! Are they going to perform “Run This Town,” or are they going to be special correspondents in those Daily Show ripoff segments you have planned? Or are you just going to spend five exruciating minutes doing an “Uma… Oprah”-parodying riff on the differences between Jay and Jay? “Jay Leno Show” Format Revealed [The Live Feed]