Advice to NBC Executives – Don’t Get Into a Fight With Someone Who Has Millions Watching Him Every Night

If You Are Not Smart Enough to Avoid That – How Can You Run a Network

NBC has a lot of problems these days.  The network is fifth in the ratings, behind a Spanish language network and it is trying to shove its top rated late night host Jay Leno out to make room for the cool, hip, young and probably to be last in the ratings Jimmy Fallon. 

To make matters worse, some NBC execs complained about Mr. Leno’s jokes at their expense.  Bad idea.  Mr. Leno has a TV show watched by millions.  Nobody knows or cares about NBC execs.  So Mr. Leno has the insult field all to himself.

For example there was this.

According to a NBC transcript from Friday's taping, Leno said that he had dinner Thursday with a "bunch of NBC executives" who offered to make things up to him: He and his wife are going on an all-expenses paid Carnival Cruise, he joked.

And there was this.

In another wisecrack, Leno cited news reports of a Canadian man who had a knife pulled from his back after three years. Sniped Leno: "He must have worked at NBC, too."

And even funnier was this.

"You know the whole legend of St. Patrick, right? St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland - and then they came to the United States and became NBC executives," Leno joked on Monday's show.

On Tuesday, he played off a news report about a Serbian woman with a rare brain condition that causes her to see the world upside down: "Isn't that crazy? It's unbelievable. She sees everything upside down. In fact, she thinks NBC is at the top of the ratings."

Of course, it may be that the NBC execs are doing this all as part of an elaborate plot to get publicity for the Tonight Show.  But it they were that clever would they really be running the nation’s fifth rated network?