As you may have heard, Jay Leno checked himself into a hospital yesterday afternoon for a condition that remains the subject of rumor and speculation. The main rumor on the Internet is food poisoning. I heard that the staff was told it was dehydration, which could be the same thing, right? True, it sounds like the kind of thing you say when there's something more serious and you're trying to keep the lid on it. But it's also the same thing you'd say if the person was hospitalized from dehydration and/or food poisoning. I suppose we'll know soon enough.
NBC ran a rerun last night and will be running one tonight. David Carroll, a reader of this site, writes to ask…
On the topic of Jay Leno's illness…it's day one May sweeps, Jay's in the hospital, and NBC is running a Tonight Show repeat. Hopefully his stay in the hospital will be brief, and he'll be back on his feet in a day or two.
But…what if it's an extended illness? How long will NBC (or whoever has final say) go on with repeats? At what point would they give in and let someone guest host?
I admire Leno's work ethic, truly remarkable. But even Letterman, a fellow workaholic, allowed some guest hosts during recent illnesses, both lengthy and brief.
And frankly, during Carson's heyday, some of the guest hosts did great jobs; Leno himself, Shandling, Rivers, Bishop, Brenner, Jerry Lewis etc. Obviously for many, like Leno it opened the doors for greater things.
I particularly enjoyed it when "short notice" hosts like Burt Reynolds, Steve Allen, Steve Lawrence, Rich Little or Bob Newhart filled in when Carson suddenly took ill (or was holding out for more cash, or both). I thought Steve Allen in particular was excellent during the 70's when he would be called upon in a pinch.
Anyway, I'd like to read your thoughts on whether the "no guest hosts" policy would hold up if Leno is laid up now, or later for a week, two weeks or more. And is his apparent refusal to have guest hosts now during his rare vacation days really a "work ethic pride" thing, or one of Leno's quirks: "I worked damn hard to get this gig, and no one is upstaging me."
My understanding is that Leno's reticence to use guest hosts comes from the same place as Letterman's: A feeling along the lines of "I'm supposed to be the star of the show so I oughta show up for work and do it." I suppose there have been times when each was reluctant to let the network use their programs to audition potential replacements…but I don't think that's been a major concern. They both enjoy doing their shows. Leno especially has long been a workaholic. Back in the seventies when I was hanging around the Comedy Store in Hollywood, it was not uncommon for him to do a spot at the Store there, then drive up to Westwood and do a spot at the Comedy Store there, then zoom back to Hollywood to do stand-up in the other room there…and somewhere along the way, he might cruise by the Improv or the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach and do a set.
That's all in one night. The guy has always seemed to delight in working longer and harder than anyone might believe possible. If he doesn't feel like he needs a night off, why should be take one?
Mr. Carson used a lot of guest hosts but I gather that flowed from his belief that if he did the show every night, he'd get weary and sloppy, and audiences would get sick of him. He had NBC pull the weekend Tonight Show reruns off at one point because he feared overexposure and also because he was going to cut back his weekday appearances and wanted to save the best reruns for that slot. (It might also be noted that when Johnny started on Tonight, it was an hour and 45 minutes and then it went down to ninety. He went to an hour format in 1980 but before that, his show was more work than the shows Dave or Jay do, and there was probably more concern about oversaturation.)
My guess is that Jay will be back Monday and this will not be an issue. If he did have to stay out longer, then it would be a question of how long…and how well the reruns do in the overnight ratings. At this point, NBC probably wants him there for the same reason he has a greater-than-usual incentive to be there. It's his "send-off" month and the network is planning on a lot of publicity built around the end of the Jay Leno Tonight Show. The only way they'll bring in a guest host is if the ratings are plunging, Jay's out of commission for a while, and they're worried about losing too much audience share before the arrival of Conan. I don't see that happening.