NBC never had high ratings expectations for The Jay Leno Show. Given that the talk show is dirt-cheap to produce (despite the salary commanded by its star) compared with a conventional drama, the network can make money even if Leno continually finishes third in the ratings, as it now appears well on its way to doing.

But has it really come to this point? That simply because The Jay Leno Show will draw about the same rating every night unless there's a newsmaking guest, there's no reason to really try to make it more watchable? Leno himself was a notorious workaholic and perfectionist as he made his way up the comedy ladder -- can he really be happy with what has been going on at NBC at 10 o'clock five days a week?

Rightly or wrongly, viewers have an expectation that something airing in primetime is going to be just a little more special than what we find in late night. But so far, The Jay Leno Show is not delivering the goods. Here's how NBC can make it better:

Bring back the desk: Ordinarily I'm all for trying something new with the staid talk show format, but this just hasn't worked out. The body language for both host and guests is all askew. What's more, there doesn't seem to be any good reason for not having the desk except "We're proving that this isn't just the old Leno Tonight Show moved to 10 p.m." That battle can't be won, so why try?

Create an "event" atmosphere: When the first 10 p.m. Leno premiered, the first thing I noticed was how much more low-key everything seemed compared with an average Tonight Show: quieter music, a more subdued audience, a more sedate host. It's primetime -- ramp up the excitement! Let viewers know they are about to be entertained!

"10 at 10" is boring: The segment that features a guest having to answer 10 allegedly silly questions simply brings everything to a dead stop. It takes too long and most of the time, the guest simply isn't able to be funny on cue. It's one thing for David Letterman, who is funny, to read a pre-written Top Ten list every night. But watching the always guarded and self-important Tom Cruise struggling to be lighthearted ten times in a row ... bad idea.

New writers: The key difference between Leno's new and old show is that the 10 p.m. version looks like it is going to have a shorter monologue, with a greater reliance on taped bits and old reliables like "Jaywalking" leading into the critical (for local affiliates) late news. But writing one-liners doesn't require the same comedy chops as producing skits or coming up with oddball scenarios to insert Leno into. Some new blood on the writing staff, preferably younger folks with a track record for creativity, could help shake things up.

Vacation: But are there enough excellent comedy writers in the world to be able to come up with decent bits five nights a week, every week? The Daily Show comes close, but that is only a half-hour show, and it riffs off the news much more than Leno does outside of his monologue. And there's one other key thing about The Daily Show: they don't have to bring it every single day, because they take vacations every so often. Leno's desire to be out there every night is admirable, but I don't see any reason why he and his staff can't take a month off occasionally for battery recharging, and allow NBC to experiment a little in the 10 p.m. slot with limited-run series that could someday graduate to the earlier primetime lineup. Leno and his team have a break scheduled during the Winter Olympics early next year, but why not take a couple more here and there?

There are things to work with here. It was surprisingly entertaining seeing Leno interview Paul Reubens while he stayed in character as Pee Wee Herman, and politics aside, watching Rush Limbaugh driving over a cutout of Al Gore -- twice -- while taking the Green Car Challenge was hilarious. But it won't cut it to be decent only some of the time when the other networks are running more conventional programming at 10 p.m. -- a lesson that NBC should have learned long ago.

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