04:45 PM EDT 11/02/2009
Jay Leno
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Jay Leno Likes Being an Underdog
Originally posted 11/02/2009 11:50AM
It's been a tough few months for Jay Leno since he left his late-night talk show and set up shop in primetime, but the funnyman insists that he's still having a ball.
"I'm not having a bad time at 10 o'clock now," the NBC star, 59, tells the trade journal Broadcasting & Cable. "I look at this as a job, and now I'm faced with a challenge, and it's a challenge I find difficult but interesting."
"You don't take it personally because there's really no fun in an upbeat story," he adds, remarking on what's been relentlessly negative press. "The fun is, they did this and let's watch it fall. I enjoy being the underdog."
Meredith Vieira's Secret Past Revealed
Originally posted 10/07/2009 09:10AM
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While a sex scandal brews at rival CBS over a certain late-night host, NBC has some skeletons in this closet that the network seems to be voluntarily exposing on its own.
Jay Leno on Tuesday night added a brief post-script to a Today show segment earlier in the day about mentoring. As a result, a shocking secret about Meredith Vieira's early career came to light, prompting a sharp observation on Wednesday's Today show from her cohort Al Roker that even seemed to shock the good-natured Vieira and the always-stoic Ann Curry.
A good way to start the day with a smile, gang.
– Stephen M. Silverman
Jennifer Garner Knows Her Red Sox Players!
Originally posted 09/22/2009 09:00AM
Pardon the pun, but Jennifer Garner hit a home run on The Jay Leno Show Monday night when forced to recite the starting lineup for the Boston Red Sox in order to earn the right to plug her new flick, The Invention of Lying.
"Just to annoy" husband and diehard Sox fan Ben Affleck, Leno not only forced her to don a rival New York Yankees cap, but she also had to hold a photo of "her least favorite" Yankee player, Derek Jeter.
Impressively, Garner pulled off the challenge with commentary about her favorites – hey, she admits they watch every game! – but refused to give the Jeter photo to Affleck "as a gift," proving just how smart she really is.
– Kristin Boehm
Permalink | Filed Under: Ben Affleck, Jay Leno, Jennifer Garner
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Kanye West: I'm Just Ashamed
Originally posted 09/14/2009 10:35PM
A contrite Kanye West helped Jay Leno kick off the TV host's new primetime NBC show on Monday, with the emcee thanking him for not backing out of his commitment to appear – despite the mountain of criticism since he interrupted Taylor Swift's MTV Video Music Awards victory speech.
"Have you had a tough day?" Leno asked West, 32, as the studio audience erupted in laughter. Speaking seriously, West replied, "Yeah, it's been extremely difficult." He admitted to "just dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took anything away, you know, from a talented artist or from anyone, because I only wanted to help people."
Permalink | Filed Under: Scandals & Feuds, Jay Leno, Kanye West, Taylor Swift
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Rihanna, Jay-Z, Kanye West to Help Launch New Jay Leno Show
Originally posted 08/07/2009 07:00AM
The Sept. 14 launch of the new prime-time The Jay Leno Show will not only bring a leaner, meaner host – who recently dropped 12 lbs. – but a hip guest roster of Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West, NBC has announced.
The R&B trio – considered the top names in the genre – are scheduled to perform "Run This Town" from Jay-Z's latest album, The Blueprint 3"].
For Rihanna, the appearance will mark one of her first major public performances since the February assault against her by her then-boyfriend, Chris Brown, whose sentencing has been rescheduled for Aug. 27.
– Stephen M. Silverman
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Jay Leno Loses Weight, Gets in Shape after Hospitalization
Originally posted 08/06/2009 06:00PM
There will be less of Jay Leno to love when his primetime comedy show debuts this fall.
Since his hospitalization for exhaustion in April and his emotional goodbye to The Tonight Show in May, the 59-year-old funnyman says he has dropped 12 lbs. with a new fitness regimen.
"I've been working out and I've been running four miles every day," Leno said Wednesday at NBC's Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. "Doing The Tonight Show, I got into a bit of a rut. I got complacent. Now I'm running and working out. I've lost about 12 lbs. already and want to drop a few more."
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Jay Leno Delivers His Final Tonight Show Monologue
Originally posted 05/29/2009 08:45PM
Jay Leno left 'em laughing as he performed his final monologue from The Tonight Show stage Friday, taking time to thank those who made his show successful – Monica Lewinsky, Michael Jackson, and Bill Clinton – and to reflect on how much time has passed since he first took over the stage from his mentor Johnny Carson in 1992.
"When we started this show," Leno told a cheering crowd in the standing-room-only studio in Burbank, "my hair was black and the president was white. When we started the show, Jon and Kate were both eight."
Permalink | Filed Under: The Tonight Show, TV News, Jay Leno
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Inside Jay Leno's Closet: Not His Clothes
Originally posted 05/22/2009 07:00AM
Jay Leno might have to find a new desk and chair when he leaves the Tonight Show next Friday for his upcoming weeknight comedy hour in the fall, but one worry he won't have is what to wear.
"That's been the best part of my job – I haven't been in a store in 17 years," Leno, 59, tells PEOPLE. "I don't own any suits of my own. Before the show, my clothes are laid out for me – the suit, shirt, tie, even the shoes. I put them on and walk out on stage."
And when the Jay Leno Show premieres on NBC later this year, the comedian's performing wardrobe goes with him.
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Mel Gibson to Help Jay Leno Say Farewell
Originally posted 05/07/2009 03:25PM
Whether or not divorce will be a topic of conversation – or even jokes – Mel Gibson will join Jay Leno as the NBC host oversees the Tonight Show's final week.
Gibson, whose 29-year-marriage has ended amid stories of a new girlfriend, will appear on the late-night show Monday, May 25, along with musical guest Lyle Lovett.
Other guests that final week include Dwight Yoakum and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on May 26; Wanda Sykes and Sarah McLachlan, May 27; and Prince and Billy Crystal, May 28.
Permalink | Filed Under: TV News, Jay Leno, Mel Gibson
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Jay Leno Reveals Mystery Ailment: Exhaustion
Originally posted 05/01/2009 05:25PM
Jay Leno is one of the hardest-working men in show business. And he's embarrassed to admit that it finally caught up with him.
As The Tonight Show host prepares to move into primetime, Leno, 58, tells PEOPLE exclusively the cause of his two days of hospitalization that forced him to take his first sick days in 17 years, canceling two shows.
"Exhaustion," he said Friday, shaking his head. He added jokingly, "That's like a rich person's condition. Poor people that work – they don't get exhausted. Only rich people get exhausted. It's an embarrassing thing."
He blames not only his talk show and grueling standup schedule, but also his lesser-known writing jobs.
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