With the paper of record breaking the news that NBC has thrown in the towel awarded Jay Leno with a new contract that will keep him with the Peacock Network five times weekly next fall, theTVaddict.com thought we should take the fair and balanced approach by posting both the winners and losers with regards to this landmark deal.

Winner: Jay Leno
Even though this move will mark the beginning of the end for NBC (more on that later), we don’t begrudge Jay Leno one bit. Not only is he one of the hardest working men in Hollywood, by all accounts he is one of the nicest and most genuine as well. We congratulate Jay on this historic move and truly wish him the best of luck.

Loser: The Audience
10 PM on NBC used to mean something special. Yet now, rather than help redefine genres in the ways in which HILL STREET BLUES did for the police procedural and ER did for the hospital drama. It will be the home of Leno’s trademark segments such as “Headlines”, “Jay Walking” and Kevin Ubanks. Must See TV, not so much.

(more…)