Report Card on Jay Leno’s 1st Week: C+

For the first three shows anyway, the ratings for Jay Leno as the new host of NBC’s “Tonight” series have been good: 38% of the big-city audience for his Monday premiere, 27% on Tuesday and 26% Wednesday.

The public good will from his five years as Johnny Carson’s sub obviously is still there. So is the initial interest in how he will do at succeeding Carson. New network late-night shows often pull in curious viewers at first: CBS’ Pat Sajak opened strong against Carson before collapsing in the ratings.

With all the early good news about ratings, however, one hopes that Leno and his staff are not deluded into thinking they have been putting on a great show the first week. They haven’t.

Acceptable, sure--at times. Even better than that on opening night during Billy Crystal’s spot and on Wednesday with Joe Pesci and comedian Paula Poundstone. Pretty awful, on the other hand, with the separate appearances of Tom Cruise and Emilio Estevez--vapid, empty conversation, if you can call it that, and a lack of ability by Leno to raise the guest shots to a higher level.

What we are talking about here is the need by Leno’s staff to give him help in the areas where he needs it. The opening monologue, clearly, is his strong point, although it wasn’t up to his usual level the first three nights. But that will take care of itself, especially if Leno stops finding himself so amusing--a trait that tends to be quite off-putting after a while.

More important is what Leno’s staff can do for him after the monologue. The comedian has said that the monologue is the most important thing on “The Tonight Show,” and that’s true, just as it was with Carson. But there are still about 45 minutes to go after the opening gags--and that’s five nights a week, 47 weeks a year. That’s why Leno should be calling some heavy-duty staff meetings.

He is not a great interviewer, but that can be improved. He is a splendid comedian but not a great wit. David Letterman, for instance, has a funny attitude that is more important than any gag he utters, and that keeps his series at a consistent level. Carson, although dressed like a businessman, had many dimensions--a superb ability, for instance, as a sketch comedian.

Thus far, and based on his more than 300 appearances on “Tonight,” Leno is a highly ingratiating fellow who tells a joke well, and that’s about it. For less demanding audiences, that may well be enough, even for the long haul.

But if Leno is going to raise the overall quality of his show and make it appealing as a stylish nightly venture--as Carson, Jack Paar and Steve Allen did before him--it will probably be his talent coordinators who have to turn the trick. These were the hidden heroes of “Tonight” under Carson--the people who know the star, his tastes and his inclinations so well that they find guests, both celebrities and ordinary folks, with whom he is most comfortable and at ease in his conversation.

That was certainly not the case, for instance, in the Cruise and Estevez interviews. On the other hand, Pesci immediately seemed to be in Leno’s ballpark, and the comedian knew it, saying: “I love you because you look like every guy I grew up with.” A perfect line, but, alas, Pesci quickly had to make way for other guests in the overbooked show so that we were deprived of what looked like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Poundstone, meanwhile, was a delight, baring her politics without hesitation (“I hate Bush”), but a unique and substantial comic guest who, like Pesci, Leno would do well to incorporate into his regular rotation of visitors.

Leno also needs help in his slight attempts at sketches, which have been pretty woeful. On opening night, there was a faintly amusing takeoff on those TV programs that appeal for money to support the needy. Only in Leno’s case, the recipients would be “the needy greedy” who would be part of a “Feed the Felons” charity--Leona Helmsley, Jim Bakker, Charles Keating and Manuel Noriega.

Another sketch, trying to show that he is just as irreverent toward NBC’s owner, General Electric, as Carson was and Letterman is, also came off only so-so. The idea was that Leno conceivably could be replaced by a robot “Tonight” host--who showed up but soon malfunctioned, with the comedian concluding that his job is safe.

Still another sketch, on Wednesday, had great potential, only moderately realized. The idea here was how TV political ad campaigns might be presented against George Washington and Julius Caesar. There was a great line nailing Washington--”He says he’s an environmentalist, but he cut down a cherry tree”--yet again, the final touch of true elegance or irresistible raunchiness was lacking.

Now, the music and the set. Some viewers who admire jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis and his band have told us they are nevertheless left cold by the music. We disagree. Leno for years has made his living playing clubs, and the intimate style of the Marsalis group seems ideal in creating a mood in which the host would be comfortable--an all-important factor.

The set is another story. In person, it is splendid--decked out like an old, refurbished theater, with a California coastline backdrop for Leno that seems appropriate. On TV, however, the effect has not been properly caught yet. The concept of the old theater, with pillars and such, barely comes across because the cameras fail to capture it. And the coastline backdrop looks a bit dull and washed out when viewed on the tube. The tropical plants, on the other hand, provide some needed color and a vivacious flair.

Best of all, however, has been the camera work for such musical guests as the Black Crowes and Shanice in the roomy performance area--with shots that render a terrific show-business atmosphere.

In the end, though, the future of “The Tonight Show” under Leno will probably be determined by how well his staff provides the hard-working comedian with guests who dovetail with his personality and enable him to sharpen his interviewing--and thus finish strong in the final 45 minutes of his nightly series.