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Title: Is NBC getting ready to dump Jay Leno?
Description: Entertainment reporter Joe Flint checks out the rumors. Read more at bit.ly

Title: TV Anchor Gets Carried Away on The Jay Leno Show
Description: KTLA Anchor Emmett Miller gets "carried away" by a hawk during his rose parade coverage on the Jay Leno Show.

Title: Best Of Jay Leno Headlines Pt. 2
Description: Best Of Jay Leno Headlines Pt. 2 *Credit Goes To NBC*

Title: Jeff Dunham on Jay Leno
Description: Jeff Dunham, Walter & Achmed pay a visit to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Title: Jay Leno Tank Car
Description: Jay Lenos Tank Car segment from the My classic Car with Dennis Gage television show.
![]() MiamiHerald.com | Oprah, Letterman and Leno Share Worst Super Bowl Party Ever E! Online (blog) The talk show titan brought Jay Leno and David Letterman together for a brief reunion. During a 15 second clip?we told you it was brief?the pair bookend ... How the Letterman-Oprah-Leno Super Bowl Ad Came Together Leno and Letterman have some fun with a little help from Oprah in Super Bowl spot. Watch Letterman and Leno declare a grumpy truce during The Super Bowl! |
Jay Leno's Adventures in Advertising (video) TheWrap Plus: Chevy Chase's big TV spot Jay Leno is no stranger to Super Bowl commericals. Or ads featuring chips. It was just a year ago, you'll remember that NBC ... |
Jimmy Kimmel Teaches Jay Leno the Meaning of 'Sucker Punch' New York Times (blog) On Thursday night, the surviving combatants were reapplying their war paint as the ABC host Jimmy Kimmel used his monologue to rebut Jay Leno, who said that ... TV Column: Jay Leno begs Oprah for forgiveness Jay Leno to Oprah: 'Am I not a good guy?" Leno: I Was Victim of NBC |
![]() Globe and Mail | Beyond The Game: What you might have missed during Super Bowl XLIV The Star-Ledger - NJ.com As soon as the ?Late Show with David Letterman? spot ended, how many times do you think it was asked around the country, ?Was that really Jay Leno? ... Denny's, Doritos, Snickers Score Big in Ad Bowl Super Bowl ads: Betty White, Bud Light, big laughs Super Bowl ads: Betty White, Bud Light, big laughs score with viewers |
![]() The Canadian Press | Brian Williams, NBC News thrives despite network's troubles The Canadian Press NEW YORK ? Forget Jay Leno. Maybe NBC should have considered Brian Williams for a prime-time job. The week before last, Williams' "Nightly News" was seen by ... |
![]() BBC News | 'Jersey Shore' juices up Jay Leno's 'Tonight Show' return Zap2it.com (blog) Can the "Jersey Shore" cast bring some viewer love to Jay Leno's first week back at "The Tonight Show"? They're certainly going to try. ... Can Jay Leno reclaim status? What Conan O'Brien Moving To Fox Would Mean For You Dear Local News, Don't Blame Jay Leno |
![]() Telegraph.co.uk | Leno to Speak at the White House Correspondents' Dinner New York Times Right in the middle of one of the most contentious periods in his long career, Jay Leno was announced Friday as the choice to be the keynote ... Late night is Coco-crazy: All the Conan, Letterman, Leno, Kimmel jokes Jay Leno to entertain Washington press corps Memo to Conan and Leno: Keep Feuding! |
![]() New York Magazine | Fox and Conan:<br />We've Got the Prenup</a> TheWrap Indeed, just as Jay Leno makes a point of not even spending his NBC coin, O'Brien long ago stopped worrying about cash flow and started focusing on what his ... Conan O'Brien Gets Last Laugh, Poll Says Jersey Shore's J-Woww Giving Jay Leno A Comeback The Man Behind the "I'm With Coco" Movement |
![]() New York Times | Executive Leaps to Leno's Defense New York Times Mr. O'Brien joked that young people should be inspired to believe that they can ?do anything you want in life ? unless Jay Leno wants to do it, too. ... Jimmy Kimmel goes after Jay Leno during ''Leno' appearance Rosie O'Donnell, Jimmy Kimmel slam Jay Leno over 'Tonight Show' battle Leno set to return to 'Tonight;' NBC willing to let O'Brien leave network ... |
Bill Maher slams Democrat 'impotence' on Jay Leno show Irish Central The comic was appearing on one of the last Primetime shows in current form. From February 12, the show will air at 11.35, not 10pm. ... Bill Maher Talks Obama's Birth Certificate, Ann Coulter's Balls, And More On ... Maher: Obama So Populist He Wants To See His Own Birth Certificate |
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Jay Leno
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| Jay Leno | |
|---|---|
| Jay Leno in 2006 | |
| Birth name | James Douglas Muir Leno |
| Born | April 28, 1950 1 New Rochelle, New York, U.S.1 |
| Medium | Television |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Genres | Observational comedy |
| Subject(s) | Everyday life, American culture |
| Influences | Johnny Carson, Robert Klein, Alan King, George Carlin, Don Rickles, Bob Newhart |
| Influenced | Dennis Miller2 |
| Spouse | Mavis Leno (1980–present) |
| Notable works and roles | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (host, 1992–2009) The Jay Leno Show (host, 2009–present) |
| Signature | |
| Website | The Jay Leno Show |
| Emmy Awards | |
| Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series 1995 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
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James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno (born April 28, 1950)1 is an American stand-up comedian and television host. From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. During his tenure, the show held the top ratings position in its time slot on nearly every weekday. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which airs weeknights at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time, UTC-5), also on NBC. After The Jay Leno Show was cancelled in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno is scheduled to return to host The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1, 2010.3
Contents |
Jay Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York, on April 28, 1950. His mother, Catherine (née Muir), a homemaker, was born in Greenock, Scotland, and came to the United States at age 11. Her schooling was limited and as a result she prized her children's successes. Leno's father, Angelo, who worked as an insurance salesman, was born in New York to immigrants from Flumeri, Italy.4 Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, and although his high school guidance counselor recommended that he drop out of school, he later obtained a Bachelor's degree in speech therapy from Emerson College, where he started a comedy club in 1973.5 Leno's siblings include his late older brother, Patrick, who was a Vietnam veteran6 and a lawyer.5
He replaced Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show in 1992, after having been a regular substitute host for Carson since 1987.7 Leno continued to perform as a stand-up comedian throughout his tenure on The Tonight Show.
In 2004, Leno signed a contract extension with NBC which would keep him as host of The Tonight Show until 2009.8 Later in 2004, Conan O'Brien signed a contract with NBC under which O'Brien would become the host of The Tonight Show in 2009, replacing Leno at that time.9
During the 2007-2008 WGA Writers strike, Leno was accused of violating WGA guidelines by writing his own monologue for The Tonight Show. While NBC and Leno claim there were private meetings with the WGA where there was a secret agreement allowing this, the WGA denied such a meeting.10 Leno answered questions in front of the Writers Guild of America, West trial committee in February 2009 and June 2009, and when the WGAW published its list of strike-breakers on 11 August 2009, Leno was not on the list.1112
Leno said in 2008 that he was saving all of his income from The Tonight Show and living solely off his income from stand-up comedy.13
On April 23, 2009, Leno checked himself into a hospital with an undisclosed illness.14 He was released the following day and returned to work on Monday, April 27. The two subsequently cancelled Tonight Show episodes for April 23 and April 24 were Leno's first in 17 years as host.1516 Initially, the illness that caused the absence was not disclosed, but later Leno told People magazine that the ailment was exhaustion.1617
In the 2005 trial of Michael Jackson over allegations of child molestation, Leno appeared as a defense witness (many celebrity defense witnesses had been expected, but Leno was one of the few whose testimony was actually needed). In his testimony regarding a call by the accuser, Leno testified that he never called the police, that no money was asked for, and there was no coaching - but that the calls seemed unusual and scripted.18
As a result, Leno was initially not allowed to continue telling jokes about Jackson or the case, which had been a fixture of The Tonight Show's opening monologue in particular. But he and his show's writers used a legal loophole by having Leno briefly step aside while stand-in comedians took the stage and told jokes about the trial. Stand-ins included Roseanne Barr, Drew Carey, Brad Garrett, and Dennis Miller among others.19
Because Leno's show continued to lead all late-night programming in the Nielsen ratings, the pending expiration of Leno's contract led to speculation about whether he would become a late-night host for another network after his commitment to NBC expired.20 Leno left The Tonight Show on Friday May 29, 2009,2122 and Conan O'Brien took over on June 1, 2009.
On December 8, 2008, it was reported that Leno would remain on NBC and move to a new hour-long show at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (9 p.m. Central Time) five nights a week.23 This show follows a similar format to The Tonight Show, tapes at the same lot, and retains many of Leno's most popular segments. Late Night host Conan O'Brien was his successor on The Tonight Show.24
Jay Leno's new show, titled The Jay Leno Show, debuted on September 14, 2009. It was announced at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that it will feature one or two celebrities, the occasional musical guest, and keep the popular "Headlines" segments, which would air near the end of the show. The show would also include a new segment called the "Green Car Challenge" in which celebrities will race around a track for the title of the fastest green celebrity. First guests included Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey (via satellite), and a short sit-down with Kanye West discussing his controversy at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.25
| Wikinews has related news: US TV host Conan O'Brien rejects NBC's offer to switch his show's time slot |
In their new roles, neither O'Brien nor Leno succeeded in delivering the viewing audiences the network anticipated. On January 7, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that beginning March 1, 2010, Jay Leno would move from his 10pm weeknight time slot to 11:35pm, due to a combination of pressure from local affiliates whose newscasts were suffering, and both Leno's and O'Brien's poor ratings.2728 Leno's show would be shortened from an hour to 30 minutes. All NBC late night programming would be preempted by the 2010 Winter Olympics between February 15 and February 26. This would move The Tonight Show to 12:05am, a post-midnight timeslot for the first time in its history. O'Brien's contract stipulated that NBC could move the show back to 12:05 a.m. without penalty (a clause put in primarily to accommodate sports preemptions), leaving him with no apparent recourse other than resignation.29
On January 10, NBC confirmed they would be moving Jay Leno out of primetime as of February 12 and intended to move him to late-night as soon as possible.3031 TMZ reported that O'Brien was given no advance notice of this change, and that NBC offered him two choices: an hour-long 12:05am time slot, or the option to leave the network.32 On January 12, O'Brien issued a press release that stated he would not continue with Tonight if it moved to a 12:05am time slot,33 saying, "I believe that delaying The Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show."
On January 21, it was announced that NBC had struck a deal with O'Brien. It was decided that O'Brien would leave The Tonight Show. The deal was made that O'Brien would receive a $33 million payout and that his staff of almost 200 would receive $12 million in the departure. O'Brien's final episode aired on Friday, January 22.343536 Leno is slated to return as host of The Tonight Show following the 2010 Winter Olympics.
| This article or section may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective. (January 2010) |
Leno has faced heated criticism and increasing negative publicity for his perceived role in the 2010 Tonight Show timeslot conflict.3738 Critics have pointed to a 2004 Tonight Show clip, wherein Leno claimed he would allow O'Brien to take over without incident.3839 At the time, Leno stated he didn't want O'Brien to leave for a competing network, adding, "I'll be 59 when [the switch occurs], that's five years from now. There's really only one person who could have done this into his 60s, and that was Johnny Carson; I think it's fair to say I'm no Johnny Carson."39 Leno also described the Tonight Show as a dynasty, saying "you hold it and hand it off to the next person. And I don't want to see all the fighting..." At the end of the segment, he said, "Conan, it's yours! See you in five years, buddy!"40
Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt was among the first celebrities to openly voice disappointment with Leno, saying, "Comedians who don't like Jay Leno now, and I'm one of them, we're not like, 'Jay Leno sucks;' it's that we're so hurt and disappointed that one of the best comedians of our generation... willfully has shut the switch off."41 Rosie O'Donnell has been among O'Brien's most vocal and vehement supporters,4243 calling Leno a "bully" and his recent actions "classless and kind of career-defining."44 Howard Stern, who has been openly critical of Leno for years, has become even more so in the wake of the controversy.45
Bill Zehme, the co-author of Leno's autobiography Leading with My Chin, told the LA Times: "The thing Leno should do is walk, period. He's got everything to lose in terms of public popularity by going back. People will look at him differently. He'll be viewed as the bad guy."46
NBC Sports head executive and former Saturday Night Live producer Dick Ebersol spoke out against all who had recently mocked Leno, calling them "chicken-hearted and gutless."47 Jeff Gaspin also defended Leno: "This has definitely crossed the line. Jay Leno is the consummate professional and one of the hardest-working people in television. It's a shame that he's being pulled into this."46 Paul Reiser and Jerry Seinfeld are two of the few celebrities to have voiced support for Leno.4849 Responding to the mounting criticism, Leno claimed that NBC had assured him that O'Brien was willing to accept the proposed arrangement and then would not let either host out of their contract.50 Leno also said that the situation was "all business."50 He appeared on the January 28 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in an attempt to repair some of the damage done to his public image.5152
Leno has been married since 1980 to Mavis Leno; they have no children.53
He is known for his prominent jaw, which has been described as mandibular prognathism.54 He is dyslexic.5 He claims to sleep only four to five hours each night.55 Leno does not drink or smoke, nor does he gamble.56 He spends most of his free time visiting car collections or working in his private garage.56
Leno reportedly earns $32 million each year;57 his total net worth is unknown, but has been estimated to be at least $150 million or more.58 In an interview with USA Today, Leno claimed that he has never spent any of money he's made from The Tonight Show, and has always lived off of the millions of dollars he makes each year from performing stand-up.59
Along with his wife, he donated $100,000 in 2001 to the Feminist Majority's campaign to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan, to educate the public regarding the plight of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Mavis Leno is on the board of the Feminist Majority.6061
In 2009, he donated $100,000 to a scholarship fund at Salem State College in honor of Lennie Sogoloff. Mr. Sogoloff gave Leno his start at his jazz club, Lennie's-on-the-Turnpike.62
Leno owns approximately 200 vehicles, including about 100 cars.63 He also has a website called "Jay Leno's Garage," which contains video clips and photos of his automobiles in detail.64
He has a regular column in Popular Mechanics which showcases his car collection and gives advice about various automotive topics, including restoration and unique models, such as his jet-powered motorcycle and solar-powered hybrid. Leno also writes occasional "Motormouth" articles for The Sunday Times,65 reviewing high-end sports cars and giving his humorous take on automotive matters.
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| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by Johnny Carson Conan O'Brien |
Host of The Tonight Show May 25, 1992–May 29, 2009 March 1, 2010 |
Succeeded by Conan O'Brien incumbent |
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