I don't think there's anyone who has been harder on Jay Leno over the years than me. I'm a Letterman guy all the way, but there's something oddly...comforting about having Jay back at 11:35. And you know what? Seeing Jay talk about how that Super Bowl ad with David Letterman and Oprah came about is almost touching. It seems like Jay was truly moved by Letterman asking him to be in the ad, even if it was mostly just to do something funny and surprising.
Jay talked about it on the show last night. (For the record, Dave talked about it too, but just made a few jokes, including one about how the people who played Jay and Oprah in the ad did a great job).
David Letterman-related stories
What You Missed Last Night: Leno on That Super Bowl Ad with Dave & Oprah
Final 'Jay Leno Show' Airs Tonight
This little bit of news has been lost in all of the Leno/Conan/NBC chaos (and overshadowed by this past Sunday's Super Bowl commercial with Jay, Dave, and Oprah), but tonight is the last episode of 'The Jay Leno Show.'The guests tonight are Ashton Kutcher, Gabourey Sidibe, and Bob Costas. I know, they're not exactly the type of guests that a person has on their final show (no offense to Mr. Kutcher, Ms. Sidibe, or Mr. Costas), but this probably was not meant to be a final show when they were booked. Or maybe it's no big deal even to them and they just want to end things.
I'm sure there's going to be a lot of tears tonight as Jay shows a montage of all of the great bits from his show. Set your DVRs America!
I don't know what's in store for this Jay Leno person after his show ends tonight. But he's a funny, talented guy, and I wouldn't be surprised if NBC gave him another show at some point.
So What Was David Letterman's College Radio Show Like?
Since we saw that rather stunning Letterman/Leno/Oprah ad on The Super Bowl last night, I thought it might be interesting to post this audio from Dave's 1969 radio show at Ball State University (WAGO).He's young here (it was 41 years ago!), but you can already see his style of humor in place. Not sure why it sounds so echo-y and metallic. That's either because of the age of the audio or perhaps that's what it sounded like on AM radio back then. The Internet Archive has more info about the show, and according to them, the woman that Dave calls is his then-wife Michelle.
[via Pop Candy]
Letterman Wanted Conan for Super Bowl Promo
If you've seen the by-now-infamous David Letterman/Oprah Winfrey/Jay Leno Super Bowl promo, then you are probably left with a lot of unanswered questions. "Were they really in the same room together?" "Did this happen before the Second Late Night Wars started?" "What about Conan?"
Well, the answer to the first two questions can be found in this New York Times article on the spot, which was shot last Tuesday. The short answer: Letterman just thought it would be funny. What would have been even funnier though, is if there had been four people on the couch. Because if there's anything more awkward than Leno and Letterman in a promo together, it would be throwing Conan into the mix. It turns out, that was exactly Letterman's original plan.
Continue reading Letterman Wanted Conan for Super Bowl Promo
The most surreal ad I've ever seen: Letterman, Oprah, and ... Leno?
The first big Super Bowl shocker came early tonight, in a CBS promo, no less. The Super Bowl is on CBS, so it's no surprise we get a shot of David Letterman on a couch in his Colts jersey, but here's where things get weird: he's at a Super Bowl party with Oprah, and he's complaining about how it's the worst Super Bowl party ever. We then see Jay freakin' Leno, who says that Letterman is only saying that because he's there. Letterman then mocks Leno, and then we see that this whole thing is a promo for 'The Late Show with David Letterman.'
How in the hell did this happen?
Continue reading The most surreal ad I've ever seen: Letterman, Oprah, and ... Leno?
Letterman Show Hires a Female Writer
When it comes to television comedy, female writers are like diamonds. That is to say they are hard to find and tough enough to crack pavement when properly used. That being said, girl power has given late night television a kick in the crotch with the hiring of Jill Goodwin, who will now be on the writing staff of the 'Late Show with David Letterman.'Goodwin has been involved with the show since 2001. She got the job the old fashioned way, by rising through the ranks. More power to her. It makes a person wonder when one of the networks will take a chance a have a female-hosted late night talk show. Females seem to dominate the daytime shows (see Oprah), but not at night. The last that I can recall was Joan Rivers way back when.
Given the recent allegations against Dave with regards to his recently admitted affair, it does raise eyebrows with regards to the timing. On the other hand, it's not like she was hired the next day and a lot has happened on late night television since then.
Leno talks to TMZ about Conan, Letterman, and the Masturbating Bear
The ever-present TMZ caught up with Leno getting out of his car the other night (they always seem to catch him getting out of a car) and they asked him about Conan's last show, whether he'll use the Masturbating Bear (that's supposed to be capitalized, right?), and what he thinks of David Letterman.
Leno also says that he hasn't spoken to Conan at all since this whole thing started, and that tells you a lot.
Leno also says that he hasn't spoken to Conan at all since this whole thing started, and that tells you a lot.
What about Jimmy Fallon?
With all this talk about Conan O'Brien getting the boot and Jay Leno getting back The Tonight Show, very few people have spoken about how this will affect Jimmy Fallon. CNN has one of the first articles I've seen about the subject. Fallon himself has remained quiet, which is an excellent idea.If I may interject my two cents, the correct answer is: not much. Jimmy Fallon is in no better position to inherit The Tonight Show than those Late Night hosts before him. Let's use his two predecessors as an example. David Letterman, who pretty much originated late night television, didn't get the job and switched networks as a result. Conan O'Brien did get it and NBC suffered buyer's remorse.
In short, just about the last person who would inherit The Tonight Show would be the guy hosting Late Night. More likely, the successor will be the person who is Jay's most frequent substitute host. That is, unless Jay gets a robot body like Dick Clark, in which case he'll never leave The Tonight Show.
Oprah to interview Jay Leno next week
So what does a celebrity do when he wants to look good to the public again? He goes on Oprah of course!That's what Jay Leno is going to do. Oprah Winfrey is going to interview him for a segment that will air next Thursday. Let's predict how this will go, shall we? He'll come out to a lot of applause, he'll make some jokes about how NBC screwed both him and Conan (which Leno has been doing this past week, trying to look like NBC has wronged him in some way - pretty strange considering Leno got exactly what he wanted), make some political jokes, try to come off as The Nice Guy (TM).
Now...will Oprah give Conan a chance to be on her show at some point? Who will get the first interview with Conan anyway? I pray it's David Letterman, on March 1.
NBC planned it all along
We all know about the NBC late-night issues going on right now. David Letterman is having a field day with them. What we suspected but didn't know is that apparently, like the Cylons, NBC had a plan.The plan was that in the event Conan's ratings for The Tonight Show didn't work out, they would replace him with Jay Leno. That's why they wanted to keep Jay Leno around. Now, the actual reason for the switch back was that Leno's 10 P.M. ratings tanked and Conan didn't want to start The Tonight Show at a time that even fewer people would watch, but the end result is the same.
Comparing the executives of a network to a fictional cybernetic race bent on the destruction of humanity isn't completely fair, but it's close enough. A closer analogy would be if the Cylons were being led by the WWE's Vince McMahon. And like Vince McMahon before him, Jeff Zucker can turn around and say (based on their offer of a post-midnight Tonight Show): "NBC didn't screw Conan. Conan screwed Conan."
Here's why Edd Hall did that Letterman sketch the other night
I think we can all agree that Jay Leno's hiring of ex-Howard Stern sidekick John Melendez to replace Leno's original announcer Edd Hall was one of the stupidest, most odd decisions in Tonight Show history, right? (Right?) So I wasn't surprised to hear Hall's voice on one of the comedy bits that Letterman used to insult Leno earlier this week. But why did Hall do it?You can probably guess the answer. He says that he even though he likes both Leno and Letterman, he "doesn't feel any allegiance to Jay" and he "never left on bad terms with Letterman." Hall started his career on Letterman's old Late Night show at NBC. He says that no one at Leno's show has called him about what's going on in the late show wars and that he didn't do it to "get" Jay, he just thought it was a funny comedy bit. He did a second one that's going to air soon.
[via TV Tattle]
Letterman extortion case on trail to trial
It's time to look back to a simpler, less vicious time in late night television when the alleged extortion of a major talk show host and his office flings was all the rage in the daily news rags. Robert Halderman, the 48 Hours producer accused of extorting Late Show host David Letterman, lost his recent bid to have a judge throw out his grand larceny charges. His defense claimed that what Letterman and the FBI call his actions blackmail, he called it simply an offer to buy a screenplay about the talk show host's life.
Call me crazy, but offers to do artistic work don't usually involve threats of dragging people through the mud for personal gain and profit. Then again, I've never worked for NBC.
What You Missed Last Night: the first promo for Leno's return to The Tonight Show
OK, so it's from David Letterman, but still, it's a promo! Letterman ran this last night.
What I love about it is not only how they point out what Leno took from other shows for The Tonight Show, but they got ex-Tonight Show announcer Edd Hall to do the voiceover!
What I love about it is not only how they point out what Leno took from other shows for The Tonight Show, but they got ex-Tonight Show announcer Edd Hall to do the voiceover!
Jay to Conan: I'll step aside so you can have The Tonight Show
OK, so he didn't say this today, he said it five years ago, when NBC announced that Conan O'Brien was going to take over The Tonight Show in the far off year of 2009. Here's video of Leno talking about the transition. I wonder if he remembers saying any of this stuff.
[via Gawker]
Review: Saturday Night Live - Sigourney Weaver/The Ting Tings
(S35E12) First of all, Sigourney Weaver looks incredible. Believe it or not, she turns 61 this year, so that's something to think about as we slowly weep into our young but round, Cheetos-stained fingers. Secondly, Weaver managed to play a variety of characters that explored a wide range of wackiness, all without humiliating herself (it was a dangerous moment during that "Fifty and Freaky" sketch but we all knew Weaver's still a classy lady).
The writing was pretty consistent and suited Weaver well, and it was fun to see her do so many goofy things. It's not often Saturday Night Live brings in someone that of her status. Let's be honest here.
Continue reading Review: Saturday Night Live - Sigourney Weaver/The Ting Tings
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on 'Faces of America' and the Beer Summit
Six Reasons Why '24' Has Jumped the You-Know-What
The Super Bowl Commercials: The Best
