Behind the Curtain: An Insider's View of Jay Leno's Tonight Show

Think about it: My review of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" co-producer Dave Berg's book about the inner workings of the broadcast is the 52nd for a book that has been available through Amazon for less than a week. This speaks to Jay's popularity among a certain "baby boom" demo that doesn't quite know where to go at late night anymore to get their needed jolt of humor.Berg--for the most part--provides the reader with a substantial amount of the "behind-the-curtain" drama that went on behind Jay's NBC career. What was particularly interesting was Berg indicating that the producers had access to the television ratings at 15-minute intervals and they could tell who their nightly audience liked--and didn't like--as the show continued to 12:36. Those who caused a ratings decline would often find themselves locked out.Berg--as expected--lasers off all or any of Jay Leno's warts as either a performer or person and gives him a near-perfect portrayal. Since the book provides many otherwise hard-to-get show biz snippets and inside takes, I found this transgression to not really get in the way of Berg's story especially since there is indeed lots to like about Jay.Apparently, there is absolutely no room for error in the late night talk show game. A large part of the book describes the daily war that goes on among all of the shows for guest bookings. There was a constant concern that one bad show would cause the show to lose momentum and give its competitors a real boost. By the same token, it was important to sometimes be lucky (think Hugh Grant) which Berg, like many others, cites as the immediate reason why David Letterman lost his two-year reign as late night champ after only two years in 1995.What I found most interesting in a book in which Jay wrote the Foreward (but indicated he hadn't read the book at that point) is Berg's and the show's obsession and resentment with David Letterman and his show. Frankly, I had thought that any animosity between the Leno and Letterman shows could be sourced at the Letterman camp but this book is evidence that this is not the case. For example, Leno would have worked every day of the year but was forced to take six weeks off; Letterman takes twelve weeks off. Leno taped every weekday while Letterman tapes five shows in four days because Jay thought it was important for the monologue to be fresh. There is a separate chapter called "The Audience" where Berg, based on his own research, claims that the Letterman people almost has contempt for its audience members while the Leno show treated audience members as if they were "customers." This summary is only a sample of what the reader will find on the Leno vs. Letterman front.Jay's successor, Jimmy Fallon also gets a few digs. Berg claims that while Jimmy "excels at comedy sketches and musical numbers", he needs to work on his "interviewing skills." He indicates that Jimmy's "monologue was also a little weak at first, but it has improved." (Well, as a side note, it is my view that the monologue has not really improved; this is why so many of us don't know where to go for our late night comedy fix; David Letterman might as well phone in his monologue these days.)Berg predicts that Leno will still show up somewhere on the dial, perhaps at CNN. I had thought that Jay would make an appearance or two on Letterman as Dave winds things up over the next year or so, but after reading this book, I really wonder if that is going to happen. I also wonder whether Jay will be a welcome guest on Fallon.

Really enjoyed Dave’s recounting of the events and characters that I watched through the years from my side of the television. An entertaining read.

Most of the rave reviews emphasize how fun this book is to read. There is no denying that. However this book is a bit heavier than one might be lead to believe. Berg does a nice job at portraying the non-stop pressure there was on everybody to put on "The Tonight with Jay Leno" just about every night (because Jay is adverse to vacations). He doesn't shy away from ripping critics of the show, detailing much of the tension between Jay & Dave & he doesn't soft pedal Helen Kushnick's reign of terror during the show's early years. Granted some of this was covered in Bill Carter's excellent "The Late Shift", but Berg brings another point of view to the "battle for Carson's seat".There is a very poignant chapter on JFK Jr. that is almost worth the entire price of the book. He also shares some very entertaining takes on other celebs from the many fields that the show included. This is not a "tell all". Jay is portrayed as a workaholic that just anybody would love to work for. (I met him & spoke to him for about 20 minutes a few months before he just the permanent & tell you that Jay is a great guy.)Until Jay one day decides not to be such a nice guy (which will happen when the Cubs win the World Series) & write a memoir about the show & about what how he really felt about the unfair raps on him & the show & the guests ("friends of the show" & others) & the corporate politics that helped save the show while almost trying to sink at the same time we have this really fine book written by one of his top people.

It was an interesting look at what it takes to produce a talk show, though it does boggle the mind that it's so hard to find people who can be interesting for ten minutes minus some commercial breaks. Considering that most folks who go on talk shows are selling something, including themselves, it's also interesting how much money and time is spent getting them to the show.The writing style is very stream of consciousness, which can be annoying in the Kindle format. There are many short sentences/comments about some guests but they don't show up as an indented paragraph. I found myself reading about one person and suddenly the author is on to someone else and the only formatting clue is that one sentence ended mid line and the next started at the beginning of the next.I found it very interesting to be reminded that politicos and reporters/journalists were NOT part of the guest line-up on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Even though I have found some of the interviews interesting over the years, I wonder if adding them is part of what propelled them from "public servant/gatekeeper" to "celebrity" status and I'm not sure we've been well served by that.I did enjoy reading about the production disagreements over time and how the different staff members, including Jay Leno, handled them. It's interesting how different entertainment segments were added and how they reflected in ratings. The back stage "gossip" about stars is minimal and I didn't really care about the few people of that focus. I bought it and read it to see a glimpse into what it takes to put a show together and how the insiders felt about the premature retirement..both times...and it was an okay read.

Really enjoyed it, most books like this sugar coat it so not offend celebrities but this tells it like it is.

While I'm endlessly fascinated by the business of American late night television, I have to confess that I'm not much of a fan of Jay Leno. His brand of comedy has rarely appealed to me, while I've also had my view of the man shaped a little, perhaps unfairly, by the unedifying battles with his contemporaries, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien.My purchase of this book, therefore, was driven by curiosity, namely to get the inside scoop of the making of a wildly successful late night franchise, but also to get an alternative view of the man who fronted it.However, even accounting for the fact that Berg is a close friend and confidant of Leno, and somebody who owes the man an awful lot, it was often difficult to get past the sugar-sweet sycophantic portrayal of his former paymaster. So forceful was Berg's attempt to effectively say 'See! He's not that bad really!' that it almost seemed insincere.However, that was nothing compared to the manner in which Berg portrayed the likes of Letterman and O'Brien. Such was his abject refusal to even afford the pair even the most begrudging criticism, Berg's take on Leno's late night peers could only be viewed as spiteful, bitter and wholly unnecessary. Much worse was the sense that his view represented those of Leno and his team as a whole, serving, somehow, to undo the 'nice guy' persona he had tried so hard to craft.However, despite coming across as unpleasant at times throughout the book, I don't think Berg is a bad person - perhaps just loyal to a fault. Most importantly, it can't be denied that he has provided some intriguing insight, with some fascinating details about the process of putting together a daily show, as well as the (often difficult) methods of keeping guests happy.For any fan of late night TV, this is worth a read - just don't expect an objective view of Leno's Tonight, nor of the genre as a whole.

Interesting book, not "deep" but a fun read, and that is all I expected from the subject.

I enjoyed the read on this book, it flowed nicely and the stories were very entertaining. I only took 4 days to read it because it was like reliving part of my life through that show

I am currently reading this book and enjoying it very much. Although I am only half through and definitely recommend this book to anyone who every watched Jay, or Johnnie, or Steve.