Extinction-Level Television Event

[Commentary] Today's entertainment universe provides endless variety for every demographic and taste, and the things that everyone actually wants to watch together are few and far between. That's what makes NBC's decision to surrender its weekday 10 p.m. timeslot to a new Jay Leno talk show as inevitable as it is sad. As the audience shrinks and the networks increasingly program for niches instead of the general public, they resemble cable channels more and more. To use a pop culture metaphor that everyone should (I hope) understand, the networks are Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff. So long as they pump their legs and assume there's solid ground beneath their feet, they get to keep moving. But as soon as one of them gives up and looks at where it is, as NBC has with the Jay Leno deal, there's nowhere to go but way, way down.