Thursday, May 21, 2026

Jay Leno Can’t Stop Himself: Another Jab at NBC in Tuesday’s Monologue

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Jay Leno can’t stop himself. He’s mad at NBC over the replacement story, he’s mad at them over Bob Greenblatt asking him to back off telling jokes about NBC’s ratings. On Monday night it was the St. Patrick’s joke about NBC execs being snakes.

On Tuesday, Leno continued:”Did you hear about this? A 28-year-old woman from Serbia has a rare brain condition where she sees everything upside down,” Leno said, setting up the joke. “The good news? She’s now been given a job at the White House as President Obama’s economic adviser.” There’s a pause. Are we safe? No. Leno continued: “Isn’t that crazy? It’s unbelievable. She sees everything upside down. In fact, she thinks NBC is at the top of the ratings.”

Johnny Carson made jokes about Fred Silverman and NBC all the time, especially during the lowliest time when the Peacock network had “Supertrain” and “Me and the Chimp.” But times have changed, we are in the Twilight of the Gods here. Greenblatt is feeling pressure from Comcast. Leno knows how to rankle him. It’s going to be a long week.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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