5 Less Hours of Weeknight Drama on TV

Posted by Francine Brokaw Sep 14, 2009

With The Jay Leno Show taking up the last hour of primetime TV on NBC, the network loses those hours that are generally slotted for major drama series'. Up against such popular shows as CSI: Miami and others that have consistently ranked in the top ten, Jay Leno has his work cut out for him.

Leno doesn’t expect to overtake the big dramas. He hopes that when they are in reruns, however, that his new programming will entice viewers over to NBC.

Many of those in the Writers Guild are not pleased about this new show as it takes away from five different groups of writers. The hours that Jay Leno is talking about headlines and other things are generally filled by five dramas, which each have their writing teams.

So, the talk of the town is whether The Jay Leno Show will do well enough to hold its own in the ratings. And, if it does, that is another headache for the writers and actors who would generally have jobs filling the weeknight hours. If other networks decide it is more cost-effective to put a talk/variety show on in lieu of a drama series, actors, writers, and the viewers will be missing a lot of good TV.

But this remains to be seen. It will take awhile for Jay Leno to hit his stride. After that, we’ll see. Will we be in for more of this type of format? Hopefully, this won’t be as popular as the reality show format, which continues to be successful. However, with the expense of regular drama series’, the future is up in the air.