JAY LENO AND JIMMY FALLON ARE #1 VS. ABC AND CBS COMPETITION FOR THE LATE-NIGHT WEEK OF APRIL 25-29

‘TONIGHT’ DELIVERS ITS BIGGEST 18-49 AND TOTAL-VIEWER RESULTS IN FIVE WEEKS, JIMMY GENERATES A 12-WEEK HIGH IN 18-49 AND A 19-WEEK HIGH IN TOTAL VIEWERS

SEASON TO DATE, ‘TONIGHT’ IS UP 19 PERCENT IN TOTAL VIEWERS VS. LAST YEAR AND JIMMY FALLON GROWS BY 14 PERCENT

‘LAST CALL WITH CARSON DALY’ IS UP SEASON TO DATE BY 6 PERCENT IN 18-49 VIEWERS AND 17 PERCENT IN TOTAL VIEWERSUNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – May 5, 2011 – NBC’s late-night lineup has delivered #1 finishes for the week of April 25-29, with “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” out-performing CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” and ABC’s combination of “Nightline” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in 18-49 viewers, total viewers and most other key ratings categories. At 12:35 a.m. ET, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” topped CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and ABC’s “Kimmel” in 18-49 viewers, total viewers and most other key categories. Note that “Late Late Show” was in rebroadcast Monday through Wednesday.

Jay delivered his biggest audiences in 18-49 and total viewers in five weeks (since the week of March 21-25), while Jimmy generated his top 18-49 viewership in 12 weeks (since January 31-February 4) and biggest overall audience in 19 weeks (December 13-17). Jay averaged 1.288 million adults 18-49 and 3.832 million viewers overall for the week, while Jimmy delivered 873,000 adults 18-49 and 1.900 million viewers overall. At 1:35 a.m. ET, “Last Call with Carson Daly” hit a five-week high in 18-49 viewers (526,000) and a 10-week high in total viewers (1.074 million).

So far during the 2010-11 television season versus the first 32 weeks of last season, “Tonight” is up by 19 percent in total viewers (3.856 million vs. 3.240 million), while “Late Show” is down 10 percent (3.558 million vs. 3.950 million). At 12:35 a.m. ET, Jimmy Fallon is up 14 percent versus his year-ago pace in total viewers (1.766 million vs. 1.546 million), while “Late Late Show” is down 7 percent (1.756 million vs. 1.883 million).

At 1:35 a.m. ET, “Last Call with Carson Daly” is up so far this season versus one year ago by 6 percent in 18-49 viewers (496,000 vs. 469,000) and up 17 percent in total viewers (992,000 vs. 851,000).

Jay Leno has ranked #1 for 30 of 32 weeks this season versus “Late Show” in viewers 18-49 and total viewers. Jimmy Fallon has ranked #1 versus “Late Late Show” in viewers 18-49 for 32 of 32 weeks this season. In total viewers, Jimmy has won 18 of the last 24 weeks versus “Late Late Show.”

WEEKLY AVERAGES

(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of April 25-29. Ratings reflect “live plus same day” data from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date figures are averages of “live plus seven day” data except for the two most recent weeks, which are “live plus same day.”)

ADULTS 18-49

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Tonight,” 1.0 rating, 4 share

CBS “Late Show,” 0.8/3

11:35 p.m.-12:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Nightline,” 0.9/3

12:05-1:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Kimmel,” 0.5/2*

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Late Night,” 0.7/3

CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.5/3*

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET

NBC “Last Call,” 0.4/3*

TOTAL VIEWERS

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Tonight,” 3.8 million viewers

CBS “Late Show,” 3.2 million viewers

11:35 p.m.-12:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Nightline,” 4.0 million viewers

12:05-1:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Kimmel,” 1.8 million viewers*

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Late Night,” 1.9 million viewers

CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.6 million viewers*

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET

NBC “Last Call,” 1.1 million viewers*

* “Late Late Show” was in rebroadcast Monday through Wednesday and Friday’s “Kimmel” was an encore. Thursday’s “Last Call” is excluded from these averages due to low clearances for coverage of the Royal Wedding.

SEASON TO DATE

ADULTS 18-49

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Tonight,” 1.0 rating, 4 share

CBS “Late Show,” 0.9/4

11:35 p.m.-12:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Nightline,” 1.0/4

12:05-1:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Kimmel,” 0.5/3

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Late Night,” 0.6/3

CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.5/3

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET

NBC “Last Call,” 0.4/3

TOTAL VIEWERS

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Tonight,” 3.9 million viewers

CBS “Late Show,” 3.6 million viewers

11:35 p.m.-12:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Nightline,” 4.0 million viewers

12:05-1:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Kimmel,” 1.7 million viewers

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Late Night,” 1.8 million viewers

CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.8 million viewers

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET

NBC “Last Call,” 1.0 million viewers

SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF APRIL 25-29:

NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING

Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 0.7

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, “The Colbert Report,” 0.6

TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, “Conan,” 0.3 (in encore telecasts)

TBS, midnight-1 a.m., “Lopez Tonight,” 0.2 (in encore telecasts)

Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 1.0

Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.6

Each adult 18-49 rating point equals 1.31 million viewers

TOTAL VIEWERS

Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. “The Daily Show,” 1.7 million

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, “The Colbert Report,” 1.2 million

TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, “Conan,” 0.7 million (in encore telecasts)

TBS, midnight-1 a.m., “Lopez Tonight,” 0.4 million (in encore telecasts)

Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 2.3 million

Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.4 million

Christina Applegate on “THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO” on Feb. 28th / Guest listings from Feb. 28-March 14th

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO — Episode 3998 — Pictured: (l-r) Christina Applegate, Jay Leno on February 28, 2011 — Photo by: Paul Drinkwater/NBC 

Monday, February 28 – Guests include Christina Applegate, “Must Love Cats” Host John Fulton and musical guest Michael Franti

Tuesday, March 1 – Guests include Matt Damon, Betty White and musical guest Cake

Wednesday, March 2 – Guests include Simon Cowell, Jeff Gordon and musical guest Travis Barker featuring Cypress Hill

Thursday, March 3 – Guests include Jerry Seinfeld, Bailee Madison and musical guest Darlene Love

Friday, March 4 – Guests include Aaron Eckhart, Christie Brinkley and musical guest Thompson Square

Monday, March 7 – Guests include Amy Poehler, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and musical guest Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Tuesday, March 8 – Guests include Cameron Diaz, Eric Stonestreet and musical guest The Civil Wars

Wednesday, March 9 – Guests include Ashton Kutcher, Aubrey Plaza and musical guest Neon Trees

Thursday, March 10 – Guests include Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Seacrest and Steven Tyler, Dan Ahdoot and musical guest Diane Birch

Friday, March 11 – Guests include Lady Gaga, Sofia Vergara and musical guest John Legend

Monday, March 14 – Guests include Jane Lynch, Chris Matthews and musical guest Avril Lavigne

Back From Hell: A Tribute to Sam Kinison (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

If you grew up watching Sam Kinison and loved his comedy, this is one hell of a documentary featuring today’s top comedians paying respects to Kinison nearly 20-years after his death.  Featuring past comedy clips, his “Wild Thing” music video and live performance and more.  “Back from Hell: A Tribute to Sam Kinison” is definitely for fans of his comedy and an awesome Comedy Central DVD release!

Images courtesy of © 2010 Robert Small Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Back From Hell: A Tribute to Sam Kinison

YEAR OF DOCUMENTARY: 2010

DURATION: 60 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Widescreen, Dolby Digital

RATED: Parental Guidance: Explicit Content.  Warning: This program is recommended for mature audiences only.  It contains adult language and situations.

COMPANY: Comedy Central/Paramount

Released Dated: November 16, 2010

Directed by Robert Small

Executive Producer: Robert Small, Bill Kinison, Bill Schwartz

Executive Producer for Worldwide Biggies: Albie Hecht

Produced by Carrie Weprin

Co-Producer Pat Buckles

Consulting Producer: Sue Flinker

Editors: Matt Davis, Steven Rosenthal

Assistant Editor: Sharon Perlman

Starring:

Sam Kinison

Denis Leary

Chris Rock

Norm MacDonald

Ice-T

Lenny Clarke

Jay Leno

Kathy Griffin

George Lopez

Richard Belzer

Lewis Black

Paul Profenza

Ron White

Pauly Shore

Carol Leifer

Bill Kinison

Craig Gass

Marc Maron

Rodney Dangerfield

Judy Tenuta

John Lovitz

A star-studded cast of comedians including Chris Rock, Jay Leno, Ron White, Kathy Griffin and Denis Leary gather to pay tribute to the man who turned rage into an art form. Filmed in part at Sam Kinison’s familiar Los Angeles stomping ground The Comedy Store, this documentary weaves performance footage and interviews to offer some fresh perspective on a truly original voice in comedy.

Sam Kinison is one of the most well-known comedians who tackled on subjects and wouldn’t hesitate to tell audiences how he felt about them.  Known for comedy of screaming and delivering controversial humor, Kinison was among one of the few people at the time during the late ’80s who would take subjects that were sensitive to a lot of people and rip on them.

From his jokes on marriage, religion, homosexuals, AIDS… nothing was off-limits, Kinison would take on these subjects without giving no care of what people thought.  A style that made him popular among many comedians and also his love for rock music, he would also earn the respect of the rock stars of the ’80s.

Sam Kinison was one of the most respected comedians who lived life the way he wanted, wild and crazy and there probably will never be a comedian like him ever again.  He was truly an original comedian and with such a long life ahead of him, while things were going great for the comedian, Sam Kinison and his newly married wife Malika Souiri were struck by a 17-year-old drunk driver in April 1992.  While his wife survived, Kinison was killed.

A life cut short 18-years-ago, Comedy Central will be celebrating Kinison’s life in a special titled “Back From Hell: A Tribute to Sam Kinison” in which his comedian friends and celebrity friends share their memories of Sam Kinison and what they loved about him.  The special tribute documentary features comedians and talents such as Denis Leary, Chris Rock, Norm MacDonald, Ice-T, Lenny Clarke, Jay Leno, Kathy Griffin, George Lopez and many more.

VIDEO:

“Back From Hell: A Tribute to Sam Kinison” is presented in widescreen.  Picture quality differs as you get a combination of modern interviews and old clips of classic Sam Kinison live performances from the ’80s.  But for the most part, this is a pretty cool documentary/tribute in which picture quality is for the most part pretty good.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Back From Hell: A Tribute to Sam Kinison” is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and 2.0 Stereo.  The DVD is center and front channel driven.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Back From Hell: A Tribute to Sam Kinison” comes with the following special features:

• Stories from the Comedy Store – (12:33) Featuring a celebration of Sam Kinison’s life by Bill Kinison, Craig Gass, Marc Maron and Pauly Shore doing standup at the Comedy Store.
• Music – (10:06) Featuring Sam Kinison performing “Wild Thing” Live and the original music video of Kinison’s “Wild Thing”.
• Additional Stand-Up – (17:06) Featuring Sam Kinison stand-up comedy routines for: Bigger than Me, Donating to Aids Research, Extended Cocaine Bit, Friends When You’re High, Jesus’ Wife, Leper Whore, Sam’s Moving Idea and Swallowing

When I was a teenager, Sam Kinison was a comedian that I absolutely loved watching.  This man was not afraid to tackle subjects that may be too taboo for the masses but he did and the audience gravitated towards his comedy because a lot of what he does say is quite logical while others who dislike his comedy look at him as insensitive and comedy of hatred.

But this was how things were during the ’80s and ’90s.  Unlike today in which a comedian can easily be scrutinized for talking about things that are wrong or not politically correct, back then, comedians didn’t touch those subjects but Kinison did.  And he did it with a style that no one can ever copy with the same amount of flair, this man would literally scream his head out and audiences would be wide-eyed and surprised.  This is Kinison’s comedy and his delivery was well-paced, starting off slow until he launches his tirade on the audience and you can’t help but laugh.

I remember one of my favorite HBO young comedian special in which Kinison took part of and he was talking about the kids that were starving in Africa and Kinison would talk about how the kids starving and are very depressed and seeing the commercials of how cruel.  He starts off sincere But then he slowly begins his tirade of how he wished the film crew could at least give the kid a sandwich.  And then starts screaming how the director would want to make sure these kids look hungry while shooting and telling his crew not to feed them and literally getting the audience laughing.

He then goes into world hunger and says if you want to stop world hunger, stop giving them food.   You hear this awkward silence and he continues that the drivers would continue to drive U-HAULS full of food to those countries for 34 years and then Kinison would unleash and start screaming that it would occur to the drivers that world hunger wouldn’t happen if these people would just pack up and move where the food is.  Kinison would then start screaming “YOU LIVE IN A DESERT!  YOU LIVE IN A FU**IN DESERT!  UNDERSTAND YOU LIVE IN A DESERT! NOTHING GROWS OUT HERE!  NOTHINGS GONNA GROW OUT HERE!” and then he would become sincere again and crouch down and say, “see this here.. it’s sand.  This is sand.  It’s sand.  You know what it’s going to be in 100 years…. IT’S GOING TO BE SAND!  YOU LIVE IN A FU**ING DESERT!  GET YOUR KIDS, GET YOUR SH*T, WE’LL MAKE ONE TRIP AND TAKE YOU TO WHERE THE FOOD IS!  WE HAVE DESERTS IN AMERICA, WE JUST DON’T LIVE IN THEM ***HOLE!”.

It was trademark Kinison style and I can’t think of anyone who can replace him.  And that’s what I love about this tribute to Sam Kinison, seeing all these comedians complimenting, thanking Sam Kinison for what he contributed to comedy.

Comedian Chris Rock would talk about how when he was just starting out and doing comedy acts at 1-2 am, he could hear Sam Kinison laughing and how the comedian took him out for dinner and would tell him how he loved his act.   Kathy Griffin would compliment his comedy and although she wouldn’t vote for him if he ran for office, she loved his comedy. And there are many comedians on this tribute that pay their respect to Sam Kinison and very rarely do you see top acts all taking part in a documentary.

I can also remember in his comedy acts, he would be joined by two beautiful women (scantily clothed) and then he would go on a tirade by calling the ex-girlfriends of guys who had been cheated on and join them in a screaming tirade on the women.  Because Sam Kinison has had marriages in which the woman would cheat on him, his thoughts on marriage would play out in his comedy acts.  It was insane but the crowd loved it and definitely a memorable moment.

The documentary also touches upon how Sam emulated televangelist and how religion would be part of his act.  And he would unleash on religion especially these televangelist which were on the forefront in the ’80s and ’90s due to the Jim Bakker scandal (interesting enough, he dated Jessica Hahn, who had an affair with Bakker and she even appeared scantily clad in his “Wild Thing” music video).

And speaking of the music video, we also get to learn in this tribute of how he got involved in the rock n’ roll world and he was introduced to a world of excess.  At that time of his life, he would drink a lot and was quite hardcore in doing drugs.  And the comedians who knew him talked about his involvement.  Also, we learn some details of those who did drugs with him and also some details of what took place behind-the-scenes of that “Wild Thing” music video which shocked even me because I always thought how awesome it was to see a music video with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Skid Row, Billy Idol and other rockers together cheering on Sam Kinison singing and getting down with Jessica Hahn.

But the tribute would also go to discuss his sobriety but also when he got clean after he was arrested for substances.  Or so you thought.  This was an interesting part of the tribute because even more myself, I believed he was clean and sober but learning from this tribute and learn that it was part of his sentence where he had to give anti-drugs messages.  Chris Rock even talked about how he would talk about being clean on stage, he would catch Kinison snorting coke and look at Chris Rock and tell him “The important thing is that they think your clean”.

And “Back From Hell: A Tribute to Sam Kinison” also includes a segment of his two ladies Sabrina and Malika (who he eventually married) and how he was a man who literally got a lot of sex, to a man who could care less about being politically correct and wanted to be outrageous and wanted people to be shocked by what he would say but still laugh at his comedy.

For me, that’s what I loved about Sam Kinison’s comedy.  Taking topics that people would dare touch and make humor out of it.  From world hunger, drug use, religion, homosexuality, serial killers going after rappers, he didn’t care and he knew that there would be people protesting his comedy acts but he could care less.  It was a different time from today, where comedians are now held accountable for what they say and are targeted by people on the Internet and the media watchdogs but back then, that was what made his comedy acts so special and so unique and he is definitely a comedian that could never be duplicated.

As for this tribute documentary, I absolutely loved it!  I grew up watching Sam Kinison and there are a lot of things I didn’t know about the man but the documentary definitely gives us an idea of how he was on stage and also off-stage.  Comedy Central also includes some of his performances in the special feature but also the music video and his live performance of “Wild Thing”.

If you grew up during a time when Sam Kinison was around delivering his style of comedy, looking back, you realize how unique this comedian really was.  And as mentioned, rarely do you see many top comedians coming together for a tribute documentary, from late night hosts/comedians Jay Leno and George Lopez, Dennis Leary, Chris Rock, Kathy Griffin and many, many others who have had a chance to work with Sam Kinison or had that opportunity to get to know him and to pay their respect to him nearly 20-years-later after his death.  It goes to show how special of a comedian Sam Kinison truly was.

Definitely recommended!

“THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO” LISTINGS November 8 – 19

Monday, November 8 – Guests include Arnold Schwarzenegger and musical guest N.E.R.D.

Tuesday, November 9 – Animal expert Dave Salmoni, Chris Pine and musical guest Lee DeWyze

XXWednesday, November 10 – Guests include David Spade and Delaware Senate Nominee Christine O’Donnell

XXThursday, November 11 – To celebrate Veteran’s day the audience will be made up representatives from of each of the five branches of the U.S. Armed Services and guests include Kim Kardashian and Dennis Miller

Friday, November 12 – Guests include Diane Keaton and Kevin McHale

Monday, November 15 – Guests include Russell Crowe and musical guest Annie Lennox

Tuesday, November 16 – Guests include Julianne Moore, Tom Felton and musical guest Nelly

Wednesday, November 17 – Guests include Christina Aguilera and “Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro

XXThursday, November 18 – President George W. Bush and musical guest Jewel

Friday, November 19 – Guests include Garth Brooks and Elizabeth Banks

(XX denotes changes/additions)

Jimmy Kimmel comments about Jay Leno’s interview with Oprah Winfrey

Jimmy Kimmel spared no punches once again when commenting about Jay Leno. This time in regards to Leno telling Oprah that he felt he was suckered punch by Kimmel.

Kimmel opened his show saying, “Leno went on Oprah and rats me out. That’s a sucker-punch right there. You don’t go to Oprah and say that. He’s a tattle-tale.” Kimmel said jokingly, “Oprah and I had a wonderful relationship, and now it’s ruined because of Jay.”

“Watch out Oprah. Don’t think he won’t take your show next.”

Jay Leno in regards to Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on his show: “I got sucker-punched”

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jay Leno opens up about his “white lie” about telling people he was planning to retire (when the truth was NBC fired him for Conan O’Brien), about taking over “The Tonight Show” once again and also commenting on the scathing, comments Jimmy Kimmel gave Leno live on his show.

Leno tells Winfrey, “I got sucker-punched,” Leno said. Leno said he could of edited the footage but said, “No. Put it out there. I walked into it. You get right up again. You don’t whine and complain.”

Jay Leno explains his side of what took place during NBC negotations with Conan O’Brien

Jay Leno’s opening monologue on his show Monday night was to talk nicely about Conan O’Brien but also explain his side of things of what took place last week.

“Don’t blame Conan O’Brien,” Leno told the audience. “Nice guy, good family guy, great guy…through all of this Conan O’Brien has been a gentleman. He’s a good guy. I have no animosity towards him. This is all business.”

“What do you want to do with Conan?,’ ” Leno asked his boss. “We’ll put him on at midnight, or 12:05, keeps “The Tonight Show, does all that, he gets the whole hour. I said, ‘OK.’ You think Conan will go for that? ‘Yes, yes. Almost guarantee you.’ I said, ‘OK.’ ‘Shake hands, that’s it.’ I don’t have a manager, I don’t have an agent, that’s my handshake deal,” Leno said.

“Next thing I see Conan has a story in the paper saying he doesn’t want to do that,” Leno explained. “They come back to me and they say if he decides to walk and doesn’t want to do it, do you want the show back? I go, ‘Yeah, I’ll take the show back. If that’s what he wants to do. This way, we keep our people working, fine.’ ”

As for Conan O’Brien…