# Jay Leno have a hardon or something....? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2012, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111 "2012-06-14T06:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/101 "2012-06-16T12:43:25Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Jaywalking depresses me though. Makes me realize we don’t pay our teachers _nearly_ enough. Why should Jaywalking depress you when it’s clearly fake? “Jay Leno is working up to me on the street with a camera crew! And he’s asking me who the President is! If I say Obama he’ll shake my hand and walk away, but if I say something stupid I’ll get on the TeeVee!” > [@etv78](#): > > Conan wasn’t cancelled! Jay’s 10pm show tanked, and he wanted 11:30 back, and Conan was forced out. This is a very basic version of what happened, but it’s amazingly accurate. The book “The War For Late Night” tells the whole story about Leno doing everything he could do to force Conan out. He really came across as a child. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/102 "2012-06-16T19:09:12Z")
**Justin** -Why do you think “Jaywalking” is fake? I agree that people who answer correctly won’t get on the show, but I doubt people “play dumb”. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/103 "2012-06-17T08:23:42Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > **Justin** -Why do you think “Jaywalking” is fake? I agree that people who answer correctly won’t get on the show, but I doubt people “play dumb”. Really? While I bet some people answering the Jaywalking questions don’t actually know the answer, I guarantee all the really wacky responses are people playing it up for the camera. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/104 "2012-06-17T17:19:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Hey, it was worth a shot. Worked for da big T. Yes, because negotiating to become the host of a TV show in contradiction to the old host’s wishes is somehow equivalent to beating up on a mentally ill man who is obviously confused about what’s going on. And, of course, making fun of me while obscuring my username is somehow vital to the topic of this thread. Posts like this are the reason I do what I do. They stop, I stop. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/105 "2012-06-17T17:26:57Z")
What are you going on about? Leno or Conan is supposed to have beaten up a mentally ill man? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/106 "2012-06-17T17:38:28Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Yes, because negotiating to become the host of a TV show in contradiction to the old host’s wishes is somehow equivalent to beating up on a mentally ill man who is obviously confused about what’s going on. > > And, of course, making fun of me while obscuring my username is somehow vital to the topic of this thread. Posts like this are the reason I do what I do. They stop, I stop. If you have a problem with another poster, take it to the Pit, don’t hijack this thread. **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/107 "2012-06-18T04:50:10Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > If you have a problem with another poster, take it to the Pit, don’t hijack this thread. > > **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator Funny how you just sent me an email telling me that it was okay for them to do this to me, but then tell me I can’t do it back to them. I only do back to people what they do to me, which cannot be against the rules. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/108 "2012-06-18T04:54:52Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > What are you going on about? Leno or Conan is supposed to have beaten up a mentally ill man? The poster referenced a post I made in the Pit, and pretended like there was some equivalence to what I said in that thread to what Jay Leno did to Johnny Carson. The intent was to attack me, so I had to point out how poorly formed the attack was. Twickster notwithstanding, doing so it not against the rules. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/109 "2012-06-18T14:16:47Z")
Since you’ve started an[ATMB thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=655600) about this, let’s have this conversation there. The topic is not relevant to this thread. **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/110 "2012-06-18T17:07:59Z")
I think Leno pokes fun at everyone. Sure, some of the anti-Obama jabs are a bit below the belt, but it’s fucking comedy for goodness sakes. He made fun of Bush, Palin, Cheney, McCain, etc. Of Letterman, Leno, and Conan, I like Leno best. Letterman’s a bitter old man. He has his funny moments but I always wonder why someone making 10x more than what most of us could ever dream of has such a persecution complex. Much the same for Conan. People didn’t watch his show and ad revenue tanked. If you can’t get viewers, you get canceled- simple as that. If Conan were such a big fucking deal, he’d be on one of the major networks, not TBS. ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/111 "2012-06-18T18:37:35Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I’ve read he’s a moderate/centrist/Republican, but I also know he’s rather pro-union. This doesn’t mean he’s anti-Democrat. > > He doesn’t have a hardon for the prez; he has a hardon for being the unfunniest man on television-- a title he’s very much owning since George Lopez left the airwaves. Sorry to say - George Lopez is Back - on a dating show no less. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/112 "2012-06-20T02:26:07Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > Sorry to say - George Lopez is Back - on a dating show no less. George Lopez is actually extremely cool. If a network had carried his show, jaw-bone-of-an-ass would be soaking his hemorrhoids in West Palm and hitting on nurses with stories of his Good Old Days while George had the network TV spot he’s deserved for years. I don’t care Who hates me; the above is true. May good things & better opportunities come your way, George. _fist-bump_ ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/113 "2012-06-20T04:28:57Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Much the same for Conan. People didn’t watch his show and ad revenue tanked. If you can’t get viewers, you get canceled- simple as that. If Conan were such a big fucking deal, he’d be on one of the major networks, not TBS. That’s an overly-simplistic summary of what happened. Conan’s ratings were fine for the first three months of his Tonight Show. (Not spectacular, but well within expectations, many weeks neck-and-neck with Letterman.) They only tanked after NBC changed the lead-in to the local news from scripted dramas to Jay’s 10pm show. It was the affiliates, who were losing money from their local newscasts, that demanded NBC remove Leno from 10pm. NBC responded with their ill-advised plan to bump the Tonight Show and move Leno to 11:35. When that idea turned out to be problematic, NBC was forced to conclude that one of them must go, and it would be a lot cheaper to buy out Conan’s contract than Jay’s. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/114 "2012-06-20T09:13:02Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > George Lopez is actually extremely cool. If a network had carried his show, jaw-bone-of-an-ass would be soaking his hemorrhoids in West Palm and hitting on nurses with stories of his Good Old Days while George had the network TV spot he’s deserved for years. > > I don’t care Who hates me; the above is true. May good things & better opportunities come your way, George. _fist-bump_ So… he couldn’t get ratings on cable, but on a network, he would have done well enough to unseat the guy whose shows leads the ratings? What leads you to that conclusion? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/115 "2012-06-20T09:14:21Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > That’s an overly-simplistic summary of what happened. Conan’s ratings were fine for the first three months of his Tonight Show. (Not spectacular, but well within expectations, many weeks neck-and-neck with Letterman.) They only tanked after NBC changed the lead-in to the local news from scripted dramas to Jay’s 10pm show. It was the affiliates, who were losing money from their local newscasts, that demanded NBC remove Leno from 10pm. NBC responded with their ill-advised plan to bump the Tonight Show and move Leno to 11:35. When that idea turned out to be problematic, NBC was forced to conclude that one of them must go, and it would be a lot cheaper to buy out Conan’s contract than Jay’s. So what explains Conan’s anemic ratings on his current show? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/116 "2012-06-20T09:32:28Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Really? While I bet some people answering the Jaywalking questions don’t actually know the answer, I guarantee all the really wacky responses are people playing it up for the camera. Why? On this board, we’ve had more than one thread in which people relate stupid things said by others they have met: > [@Ever been shocked at what some people believe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/23): > > I had a friend who, at a campfire discussion that turned to extinct animals, asked “So what’s the deal with unicorns? Are they actually fully extinct now or just endangered?” As we stared at him silent and open-mouthed, he very clearly realized for the first time in his life that unicorns were make-believe and he had just made a total idiot of himself. Watching this play out on someone’s face in real time is a memory I’ll always cherish. 😉 > [@Ever been shocked at what some people believe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/24): > > A cow-orker didn’t know that meat was animals’ muscle tissue. He just thought that “meat” was something that animals had inside them that had no other function than to eat. > [@Ever been shocked at what some people believe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/48): > > I had a friend in high school who believed that all dogs were male and all cats were female and when they mated, half of the litter were puppies & the other half kittens. > > One of the most bizarre things I’ve ever heard, though, came from my aunt after my nephew was born. She was actually my great aunt, my grandmother’s sister, so this must have been some kind of old wives’ tale - when you clip an infant’s nails for the first time, the mother has to eat the clippings or…something will happen. This was about 20 years ago and I can’t remember the penalty now. I do remember the entire room staying uncomfortably quiet for while after she dropped that pearl of wisdom. > [@Ever been shocked at what some people believe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/49): > > I had a conversation with an adult woman once who stated quite soberly and certainly that planes stay in air solely because of passengers belief that they will do so. > > . > [@Ever been shocked at what some people believe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/68): > > Good gosh, I had almost the exact argument with my high school friend, word for word, but minus any mom participation. I never convinced her. > > We had another argument, too, about those little bee-like flies you sometimes see buzzing around flowers. She said her dad said they were “baby bees”. I said that bees were fully-grown when they left the hive, having passed their infanthood in the form of larvae and pupae. She instantly got pissed that I would doubt anything that her dad said. FTR, her dad was an ignorant, bullshitting alcoholic. > [@Ever been shocked at what some people believe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-believe/622369/132): > > Oh my friend believes KFC doesn’t use real chickens anymore, he thinks the meat is grown in a lab. > > And another one thinks vaccines don’t work and viruses don’t exist. Are these people playing it up for some camera? If not, why do you imagine that the “Jaywalking” interviewees must be? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/117 "2012-06-20T10:14:37Z")
Given that when I was in a CATHOLIC high school, one of my classmates honestly asked if the Pope was Jewish (due to his skullcap)…I’m more than willing to believe that most of the fakeness in Jaywalking is picking out the funniest honest answers. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/118 "2012-06-20T13:11:02Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > That’s an overly-simplistic summary of what happened. Conan’s ratings were fine for the first three months of his Tonight Show. (Not spectacular, but well within expectations, many weeks neck-and-neck with Letterman.) They only tanked after NBC changed the lead-in to the local news from scripted dramas to Jay’s 10pm show. It was the affiliates, who were losing money from their local newscasts, that demanded NBC remove Leno from 10pm. NBC responded with their ill-advised plan to bump the Tonight Show and move Leno to 11:35. When that idea turned out to be problematic, NBC was forced to conclude that one of them must go, and it would be a lot cheaper to buy out Conan’s contract than Jay’s. Conan’s got the same problem that Ron Paul has- not many fans, but the ones he has are enthusiastic. If enough people watched the Conan Tonight Show, it would still be on. Most people are quite capable of switching the channel at 11:30 no matter what is on at 10 or 11. He had a chance and he failed to deliver. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/119 "2012-06-20T15:19:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > So what explains Conan’s anemic ratings on his current show? I don’t know about anemic. His TBS show is profitable and does excellently among M18-34. It’s also in direct competition with The Daily Show, which appeals to the same demographic. It’s no Tonight Show, but Conan is in a comfortable spot and will have that job on TBS as long as he wants. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111/120 "2012-06-21T10:59:38Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I don’t know about anemic. His TBS show is profitable and does excellently among M18-34. It’s also in direct competition with The Daily Show, which appeals to the same demographic. > > It’s no Tonight Show, but Conan is in a comfortable spot and will have that job on TBS as long as he wants. Wasn’t he also losing to Chelsea Handler? In fact, it seems to me I saw something about his having fewer viewers than Chelsea, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jay-leno-have-a-hardon-or-something/625111.md?page=7)