CBS’ Late-Night ‘Crime Time’ Stands Up to Jay, Arsenio

Reading the Los Angeles Times Calendar section with its numerous articles concerning the ratings combat between Jay Leno and Arsenio Hall (most recently Sept. 26, “Leno’s Challenge: Bringing the Luster Back to ‘Tonight,’ ” not to mention last week’s abundant reporting on the firing of the “Tonight Show” producer), one might conclude that apart from these two estimable entertainers and the occasionally acknowledged Ted Koppel, the rest of the channels turn to test patterns at 11:30 p.m.

While the passing of Johnny Carson from the late-night scene focuses understandable attention on the ratings fortunes of his successors in post-news gab, there is a rest-of-the-world on the dial.

Some of those invisible shows actually achieve ratings respectably in the Jay / Arsenio ballpark. I come from a place called “crime time.” But one of the most flagrant late-night crimes, I have come to believe, is the unwillingness of the Los Angeles Times and other major media to admit that the “crime time” statistics are significant.

Each Friday night, our show titled “Dark Justice” goes head-to-head with Jay and Arsenio--and when we run our first-run episodes against theirs, “Dark Justice” does very respectably against Jay’s numbers and often exceeds Arsenio’s.

What is “crime time?” What is “Dark Justice”?

“Crime time” is CBS’ across-the-boards submission of sensual action shows in that talk-dominated hour after the 11 p.m. news. These shows are made more quickly and economically than their earlier-hours prime-time cousins. But necessity has mothered inventiveness in our case, and “Dark Justice” has earned an eclectic and populous following, Calendar’s obsession with Jay / Arsenio notwithstanding.

If crime time is famous for anything, it is that it can be sexier and more explicitly violent than the 8-11 p.m. offerings.

And while the camera may dip a few more vertebrae down a lovely lady’s torso on our show than could be the case prior to the news, the fact is that our viewership is substantially content-attracted. Perhaps because of the hour, I am permitted to portray TV’s only good cop/bad cop captured in a single psyche, a frustrated criminal judge who resorts to criminal vigilante justice after he hangs up his robe for the night.

You might argue that folks watching TV at that hour are not rocket scientists, but you would be wrong. A number of our viewers are precisely that. We have a fan club in San Jose made up of female aerospace experts, and a letter received from them suggests that it is more than the added epidermis that is tearing some thoughtful viewers away from Jay, Arsenio or Ted. They find it “a refreshingly delightful idea” to have a good guy with a twist . . . “and not even a little, acceptable twist, but a profound invasive sociopathological tornado of a twist.”

Then there is the distinguished jurist who assures me that he is not alone among his peers on the bench as a won’t-miss-it fan of “Dark Justice.”

The network program-practices boys (and girls) must go to sleep when the news comes on, for we may not get a lot of bucks to do this show, but we do get a lot of latitude. Speaking only for “Dark Justice,” we are allowed to address issues that earlier shows don’t get around to . . . the cons as well as the pros of the Rodney G. King issue, for instance, or rape issues or Clarence Thomas-type issues.

One faithful viewer explained to me that “if you’re up watching TV after 11:30, your mind is working overtime. So you might as well give it some gritty grist for its hyperactive mill.”

Holy Rocket Scientist! Jay, Arsenio, even Ted . . . eat your heart out. I’ll match our viewers with yours on “Jeopardy!” any time. Apparently someone interested in substance and issues is watching non-talk after the news goes off. We may be even more popular mind candy and hormone candy than Jay or Arsenio . . . but don’t tell the Los Angeles Times.