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This guy must think he is responsible for Jay's tenure at The Tonight Show. Hopefully he has killed himself now that The Jay Leno show is being canceled:
Dear Jay,
I just wanted to wish you the best of luck.
I'm not sure if you remember or ever got my letter when you first started hosting The Tonight Show, and you took a trip to New York to compete with David Letterman, who was leading. I wrote you a detailed plan where you should celebrate your stand-up background and Hollywood glamor, and even though your New York trip got good ratings, it was overall the wrong direction.
At some point you created the movable tongue that stretched out from the stage, brought in chairs to make the set look more like a stand-up club, brought in Hollywood power players, and you made The Tonight Show your own. Someone either had the same general idea that I did, or my comments hit home with someone, and you went with it, and you went on to do it spectacularly.
As you begin your new show at 10 pm, my only big piece of advice is to really think about the title of the show - "The Jay Leno Show". It's not do-all-the-same-things-that-worked-before show; it's a show that showcases you. You believe in hard work. You love cars. You love your wife. You like and think people are funny. You think real life is often funnier than fiction. These are great things.
On the Show Premiere and in the following episodes, my humble advice is as follows:
1. On the first night, after the monologue, talk directly into the camera to the people and tell them how you feel about the new show and this opportunity from the heart, before continuing with the show.
2. Do an expensive (where every dollar looks like it is on the screen) and extremely funny set piece that demonstrates your hard work and that you are raising the bar for yourself and the show.
3. In executive producing each show, think of each show like you are driving a great car on a great drive, where you can feel the road, hear the engine, wind blowing through your hair with the music cranked up. I bet you have many different favorite drives in your favorite cars and motorcycles. Recreate the pacing for the show from each of your favorite drives. It'll a feel right.
4. Have a regular set-piece that is inspired by your wife. It will be funny and help you with the female audience.
5. Find great and funny regular people that have amazing personalities or do amazing things to mix in with the celebrities on a regular basis.
6. Report wacky but true news with field correspondents (not like Jon Stewart) but more local interest humorous stories.
7. Avoid the Saturday Night Live problem - where it starts off funny and by the end, you can't believe have fast it got unfunny. Have at least three great set pieces - a fantastic beginning, spectacular middle and a showstopping end. Since you are at the 10 pm to 11 pm time slot, you need to be a good lead in and more viewers will watch to the end of the show.
Well, I think I've written enough. Take care and again, best of luck.
Sincerely,
Dennis Chiu
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