by Jordan Yanco
Whether you love him, hate him, love to hate him, or hate to love him, the classic car loving late night talk show host and his trademark chin are finally ending their 17-year run on the Tonight Show. Leno’s last show will be May 29th, 2009 and Conan will begin hosting duties on June 1st. Still no word as to whether or not Tonight Show announcer “Stuttering” John Melendez will go crawling back to Howard Stern and Sirius Satellite Radio.
We already knew that Conan O’Brien was taking over for Leno, and the inherent dangers of transporting some of his more racy characters, like the Masturbating Bear and The Gaseous Weiner, to a full hour before. We just didn’t know the official date until now. We also learned that Jimmy Fallon is taking over for Conan, but we didn’t know the 5 W’s: WHY Jimmy Fallon? WHO the heck approved this at NBC? WHAT in the world were they thinking? WHEN did every other possible replacement on planet Earth not pick up their phones? HOW does “Fever Pitch” and laughing through your lines in the “More Cowbell” sketch justify having the chops to host late-night? And of course, WHERE will Jimmy go when the entire operation fails? Jimmy’s material will be “tested” online before being moved into the NBC 2009 schedule. Shouldn’t this testing have been done before he was named as replacement? But I slightly digress…
With Leno handing over the reigns, one thing we do know for certain. Now he finally has to touch his Tonight Show money; a rumor nobody has ever once believed, but that Leno himself has publicly stated many times. Only Jay and his financial advisor know for sure. Isn’t it remarkable how he has managed to scrape by on weekly stand-up appearances in Hermosa Beach, CA and the occasional Mirage Las Vegas appearance? He had to have amassed his countless collection of antique cars thanks to his short-lived Doritos commercials and residuals from his one Inside The Actor’s Studio appearance. What’s that you say? Jay Leno is not an actor? Well neither is Sir Elton John, but Bobby Deniro must have been shooting a film somewhere. What will Jay do next to avoid touching his Tonight Show money???
NBC is toying with the idea of keeping Leno on in some capacity at NBC, but ABC, Fox, and Sony Pictures still have some courting to do.