Jay Leno Fighting The Critics

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - With Jay Leno's 10 p.m. NBC show less than a week from its Sept. 14 debut, Leno again finds himself cast as the man from whom little is expected.

The bigger question may be why rivals and critics keep pinning the "he can't do it" tag on someone who has done it for years.

Leno loves recounting what "they" have said about him: not as iconic as Johnny, not as edgy as Dave, not as hip as Conan. He can't replace Carson, they said 17 years ago, and then he did.

A whole bunch of Americans, and they don't all live in the heartland, just seem to like the guy.
He's not too snarky, not too political. He's not looking to impress us by what he gets away with. He's a traditional comic, working with broad-tent stuff, telling jokes everyone can get. What a concept.

Now that he's replacing "ER" and "Law & Order," the chorus has begun again, starting with ABC and CBS salivating over all those NBC viewers now in play.