Jay Leno

Jay Leno (born James Douglas Muir April 28, 1950) is an American comedian of Italian and Scottish extraction who is best known as the current host of the long-running NBC television variety and talk show The Tonight Show. He also owns the production company which co-produces The Tonight Show called Big Dog Productions.

Host of Tonight Show

When Carson retired in 1992 Jay Leno became the new permanent host of The Tonight Show after a long period of debate and negotiations with Leno and David Letterman (who had been considered by many to be Carson's heir apparent). Letterman signed a deal with CBS, sparking an ongoing late-night rivalry between the two talk-show hosts. Although Letterman's Late Show led in the ratings at the start, The Tonight Show took over the lead in 1995 and has, on the whole, had higher ratings ever since.

Related Topics:
1992 - David Letterman - CBS - Late Show - 1995

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Although known mainly for his wit, he has also shown his sensitive side on air. When The Tonight Show came back after the September 11 attacks, he nixed his usual monologue to talk about what had happened. He also spoke about the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. In addition, following the skating controversy surrounding the ice skating pairs event at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Leno invited the Canadian pairs teams onto his show the following day and waved a Canadian flag and played "O Canada" for them.

Related Topics:
September 11 attacks - Space Shuttle Columbia disaster - Skating controversy - 2002 Winter Olympics - O Canada

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In 1998, Jay Leno and his show partner Kevin Eubanks were invited to a wrestling show called WCW Road Wild 1998, from Sturgis, South Dakota, to wrestle against Hollywood Hogan and WCW President Eric Bischoff.

Related Topics:
1998 - Kevin Eubanks - Wrestling - WCW - Road Wild - Sturgis - South Dakota - Hollywood Hogan - Eric Bischoff

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In 2002, Leno had a group of professionals build him a robot called "Chin Killa" for Battlebots. Although the officials from the show only let his robot fight in fun matches, they wouldn't allow it to fight in tournaments because it was built by professionals.

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On May 12, 2003, he and Katie Couric switched places, meaning Leno co-hosted the Today Show with Matt Lauer.

Related Topics:
2003 - Katie Couric - Today Show - Matt Lauer

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On The Tonight Shows 50th anniversary episode (September 27, 2004), he announced that he would retire as host in 2009, when his current contract expires, as part of an arrangement that allowed NBC to have Late Night host Conan O'Brien replace him.

Related Topics:
September 27 - 2004 - 2009 - Late Night - Conan O'Brien

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