Jay Leno- GS Host? "You Bet Your Life..."

[JMFabiano]

Wasn’t Groucho’s version being carried on PBS at one point? Or am I thinking of something else?

Let's not just count the TV version. Up until the program got retired a couple months ago, Wisconsin Public Radio's "Old Time Radio Drama" regularly included "YBYL" in its lineup. I doubt I was the only young'un listening in to it.

Yeah wasn't it called "Best of Groucho" when reran? 

[alfonzos]

This show is doomed. YBYL had contestants who had been interviewed and all the topics and jokes were set up and, of course, you had Groucho on hand to add his own touch. Plus, all the interviews were edited and contestants were mixed and matched between shows. Jay is good but he's no Groucho. Why don't they revive Two for the Money? The host can compare himself favorably to Herb Shriner and Sam Levinson.

[chargeradiocom]

I’m interested in checking it out. Jay can be good at drawing outrageous answers from civilians, as we saw in his “Jaywalking” segments (which for my money was one of the more entertaining features of his Tonight Show run).

If the new YBYL is based around Jay trying to emulate Groucho & get laughs from his own zingers, it will probably fail. But if the humor is more centered around outrageous civvie answers with Jay setting up & playing off of them, I think it can work. It may feel a bit more like a Bob Eubanks-hosted show than Groucho’s YBYL (as Eubanks was also a master of drawing out funny civvie answers), but I think that could be the more successful route for this.

[Neumms]

Besides the fairly dull game, which rarely involved betting anything, a comedian interviewing civilians for five minutes just doesn't seem that interesting anymore. I can imagine Leno being a funny host of something, but this isn't it.

I'd much rather see Letterman's Know Your Cuts of Meat as a half-hour show, presumably without the young assistant he was diddling on the side.

[chris319]

Don't let's forget that Groucho's lines on YBYL were almost 100% scripted on the basis of contestant pre-interviews. Groucho basically sat on a stool and read his questions and comebacks off a projection screen.

If Buddy Hackett and Bill Cosby couldn't pull it off, what makes anyone think the much-less-talented Jay Leno can?

Contestant selection and writing are important. If they cast wannabe actors/comedians who are trying way too hard to call attention to themselves and compete with Jay for the audience's attention, it ain't gonna work. I see a lot of this on Match Game-Hollwood Squares Hour. Some of the panelists are downright disruptive.

I've seen Leno live twice at his club in Hermosa Beach. Not a lot of talent there.

I occasionally watch MGHS Hour when I've had enough riot and coronavirus coverage on the news.

[Neumms]

I see a lot of this on Match Game-Hollwood Squares Hour. Some of the panelists are downright disruptive.

Including Jay Leno.

I watched a Buddy Hackett episode on YouTube last week and enjoyed it. Buddy was spontaneous and unpredictable, as opposed to Leno, and the sidekick added something. There was a short monologue, one funny story really, and three individual contestants, and despite the bland game, it was a pretty good half-hour.

What do you remember of it?

[whewfan]

I remember the hubbub about Cosby hosting the show. There was definitely potential, as Cosby ad-libbed quite well, and he had guest hosted for Johnny before. I auditioned for YBYL back in 1992, and there was a lady that went on a date with Cosby before he became famous... he was a ticket taker at a movie theatre... no, there was no mention of drugs, pills, or suspicious drinks.

Of course part of the success of the show is picking the contestants that have enough "material" for the host to play off of. Like Groucho, Cosby would film hour long shows, with the weaker bits being cut out. Cosby did not have prepared quips and worked cold. I seem to remember reading from someone that saw the show live that Cosby seemed to be having problems finding funny comebacks. Cosby had his moments, and he was quite funny, but not consistently enough.

[ChrisLambert!]

I watch Jay Leno's Garage, and sometimes he's hard-pressed to come up with a good ad-lib there - and that show's 100% his element. This might have been something that would've worked better a decade ago, but he was too busy destroying Conan.

[Matt Ottinger]

I watched a Buddy Hackett episode on YouTube last week and enjoyed it.

Buddy is fondly remembered, but I still don't think he ever got proper recognition for his talents.  He could do this.  Cosby could do this.  And they both failed.

Meanwhile, I'm just about as indifferent to Leno as you can be, but this seems like an odd choice.  For one thing, his reputation has not aged well.  And speaking of age, Groucho was 70 at the END of his thirteen-year run.  Leno is 70 now.  (Hackett and Cosby were in their mid-fifties when they hosted.)  Also, Leno has never really been known for his interviewing skills, especially with the common man.  In his most famous interactions with regular folks (Jaywalking), he holds them up to ridicule.  That might be the approach they're taking, especially with whatever quiz segment they tack on, but if they do, I don't see it playing well.

[TimK2003]

I remember more about the Hackett version:

It was only seen on the Akron ABC affiliate WAKR/WAKC-23 in the late afternoon as I recall,  but never on any of the Cleveland affiliates.

Cosby's version aired on WJ(K)W-8, IIRC, but I dont remember the time.

[MikeK]

Cosby's version aired on WJ(K)W-8, IIRC, but I dont remember the time.

7:30 PM, opposite Jeopardy.

[PYLdude]

When did it go on in New York? I would figure the late night hours because prime access was already spoken for. (If indeed the CBS owned stations had it.)

[BrandonFG]

Wasn't Cosby's version promoted for prime access? It aired at 7:30 pm here, also against Jeopardy!, and IIRC, 6:30 pm on one of the Dallas stations.

[PYLdude]

Wasn't Cosby's version promoted for prime access? It aired at 7:30 pm here, also against Jeopardy!, and IIRC, 6:30 pm on one of the Dallas stations.

Every ad I’ve seen for a station that carried it had it airing usually at 7 or 7:30, so I would lean towards “yes”. But if they did indeed sell it to the CBS O&Os, it wouldn’t have gone on there in New York because Hard Copy and ET were the stalwarts there.

[colonial]

Wasn't Cosby's version promoted for prime access? It aired at 7:30 pm here, also against Jeopardy!, and IIRC, 6:30 pm on one of the Dallas stations.

IIRC, the Cosby version of YBYL was pitched as a competitor to the WOF/J block, and stations were encouraged to air the show in the 7-8 p.m. ET time slot. I was a freshman in college in DC when this aired -- it was originally at 7:30 p.m. on the CBS affiliate (WUSA), but was quietly shipped to overnights by early 1993.

Tried watching the Cosby version a few times -- it was just dull, and Cosby seemed disinterested and coasted throughout (There was a blurb in "Spy" magazine around the time of the show's cancellation that Cosby would pop in to the studio a few minutes before taping, essentially ignore everyone around him, and spent all of the downtime on stage reading newspapers -- supposedly had several of the day's papers under his desk/podium to peruse when the cameras were off).

As for Leno, I can see why he was picked for this show. He's a name and arguably one of the bigger "free agents" out there on the TV market. There is an audience, albeit one that is much older on the demographic spectrum, that miss him on late night.

And the Fox stations need something to air next fall. Several Fox O&Os, but not all, air "Judge Judy" (including Atlanta, Orlando and DC), and first-runs for that show end next year (reruns will continue, but it's expected they'll be shipped off to the MyNetwork or CW sister stations). That's an hour of programming right there, primarily in the 3-5 p.m. ET slots.

But I don't have confidence that this show will succeed. The game element is flimsy, and even his staunchest supporters will admit that Jay is not a great interviewer. He's going to need a lot of help -- particularly a strong writing staff and contestants that can interact well with him -- to make this work, but I have my doubts.