TLC's "Jon & Kate plus 8" ratings cooled from its scorching start last week.
The show, which premiered on Memorial Day to 9.8 million viewers, drew an average of 5.7 million viewers for two episodes Monday night. While that's a big drop from week one, it's still drawing a bigger audience than in any previous season.
"Jon & Kate" has generated a ton of publicity from the tabloids over the state of their marriage. Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor weighed in, saying it was investigating whether the show about the Gosselin family was violating any child labor laws.
Barring more rumors of infidelity, expect the numbers to continue to trend downward over the next few weeks. While filming for the premiere episode was not finished until the last minute, many other episodes for this season were already in the can before Jon started getting photographed with a woman who wasn't his wife.
-- Joe Flint
Photo credit: Jon & Kate Gosselin by Mark Arbeit/Associated Press
Conan's first 'Tonight Show': Thumbs up from the Midwest
Conan O'Brien brought his brand of goofy, slightly surreal comedy to "The Tonight Show" for the first time on Monday.
And the universe did not implode!
The plan for the former "Late Night" host's accession to the "Tonight Show" throne was announced in 2004, and so for years, people have been wondering whether his comedy sensibility would work at an earlier hour. Though he seemed a little nervous and the humor seemed a bit broader, generally speaking, than it was on "Late Night," Conan on "The Tonight Show" worked just fine.
A few of Conan's "Tonight Show" bits -- including a visit from the "D" from the famous Hollywood sign, a riff on the Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination and a ride around Los Angeles in Conan's decidedly uncool 1992 Ford Taurus -- could have been taken directly from Jay Leno's playbook.
But Conan was still Conan. There was still improvised silliness and self-deprecation. He seemed a little nervous during the opening monologue and ever so slightly tense during his interview with his first guest, Will Ferrell, but those are normal opening-night jitters, and through it all, Conan still appeared to be enjoying himself. Given a few weeks to ease into the job, Conan's "Tonight" show should go over fine with Middle America.
That was the other big question hanging over Conan -- you could wallpaper your entire house with articles questioning Whether Conan's Comedy Will Work in Middle America. As if the Great Non-Coastal Wilderness has some completely different ideas about what's funny. Sheesh. I thought the majority of Conan's comedy was fine, despite the fact that he never once referred to tractors, cows or Wal-Mart.
Well, whether or not Conan keeps on pulling in Jay Leno-sized "Tonight Show" ratings, Conan gets major points for showing a willingness to visit -- or least run through -- the byways and highways of this great land of ours.
The best bit in the whole show was Conan's opening skit, which showed him running across the continent in order to get to Los Angeles. He couldn't have chosen a better theme song: Cheap Trick's "Surrender" played as Conan raced through Amish country, past the Tribune Tower, through a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and then he swam across the Mississippi, breezed past a mountain range, ran through Las Vegas and finally arrived in Los Angeles.
The set that Conan arrived at was a much snazzier one than he'd had back in New York. It new set has old-school razzle dazzle plus a hint of Art Deco class, and it was certainly a step up from his cramped digs in NBC's 30 Rockefeller Center studio complex. Although he didn't get much to do in the first show, Andy Richter, Conan's old sidekick on "Late Night," was on hand as Conan's announcer, and Conan's excellent band is still led by drummer Max Weinberg.
"I have to admit, I think I timed this moment perfectly," Conan told the studio audience during his monologue after a raucous standing ovation finally ended. "I'm on a last-place network, I moved to a state that's bankrupt and tonight's show is sponsored by General Motors."
The first third of the show ended with the kind of thing that Conan excels at -- it was a pre-taped segment showing Conan leading a Universal Studios tour. Perhaps the most Conan-esque moment of the night was when he led the tour's tram through a residential neighborhood close to the studio. The winningly demented segment ended with Conan stopping at a 99 cent store to buy treats (and toilet paper and lettuce) for the people on the tram.
Will Ferrell, a dependably excellent talk-show guest, stopped by to promote his new film, "Land of the Lost," and to serenade Conan with "Never Can Say Goodbye." He appeared to be taken aback when Conan told him that it was not a "goodbye" show -- it was Conan's first night as "Tonight Show" host.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm pulling for you, man," Ferrell said. "This whole thing's a crapshoot at best, you know."
Did you watch? Take our poll to rate Conan's performance. View a photo gallery of Conan through the years.
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