Jay Leno

From Norman Rockwell and Leonard Bernstein to Baltimore's Cab Calloway, no one does biography like "American Masters" on PBS. I've been reviewing these superb productions for all of the 26 seasons that "American Masters" has been on the air, and have written some variation of that line for at least 25 of them. And tonight's "Johnny Carson: King of Late Night" is one of the 10 greatest biographies this sublime series has delivered. Maybe one of the five best. But let's not quibble.

From Norman Rockwell and Leonard Bernstein to Baltimore's Cab Calloway, no one does biography like "American Masters" on PBS. I've been reviewing these superb productions for all of the 26 seasons that "American Masters" has been on the air, and have written some variation of that line for at least 25 of them. And tonight's "Johnny Carson: King of Late Night" is one of the 10 greatest biographies this sublime series has delivered. Maybe one of the five best. But let's not quibble.

"Look, there's Jay Leno!""Wow, it really is Jay Leno!" "Oh my god, it's Jay Leno! Who's Jay Leno?"The excited, somewhat confused little girl was just about the only one at the National Aquarium yesterday morning who didn't know why everyone was milling around the jut-jawed guy with the gray-streaked hair, blue jeans and rose-colored shirt.Mr. Leno, probably anxious for new material now that the O. J. Simpson trial is over, spent four hours at the aquarium yesterday, shooting a bunch of sight gags that should air on NBC's "Tonight Show" sometime next week.

The Sunny Gang reprise one of their new season staples - taking classic movies and try to relate their lives to it. Similar to last year's Lethal Weapon remake, the Gang drew inspiration this season from Indiana Jones. The Gang sneaks into a couple's home to retrieve some sort of an artifact by people who are unfit to hold it. Best Dennis/Dee Exchange : “I regret you getting quadruple onions on that burger,” Dennis said. “Well it's not every day I get stuck in a closet with you,” Dee snapped back.

Fifteen years ago, I had a stupid idea. I was the co-executive producer on TV's long-running comedy Cheers. NBC, the network on which Cheers appeared, was faltering: Ratings were sliding, money was tight, management was nervous and Johnny Carson, legendary host of the Tonight Show, was retiring, and no one knew how his replacement, Jay Leno, would do. I was 28 then, and like all 28-year-olds, I had no idea exactly how stupid I was. So when I found myself...

SIXTH-GRADERS FROM Wilde Lake Middle School should set their videocassette recorders for 11:35 p.m. Nov. 3.Students on a class field trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore Friday were among those who met "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno and were taped by Mr. Leno's crew.The comedian visited several cities last week and taped skits with local residents.A spokesman for Mr. Leno in Los Angeles said the aquarium segment is scheduled to air Nov. 3.Heck, that's a Friday. Let the kids stay up.'Charley's Aunt'Before "Mrs.

We are only two weeks into the new fall season, but already it looks as if we have an answer to the question of the TV year: How will Jay Leno do in prime time for NBC? The answer: Pretty well, when he is up against reruns or other weak competition, but not very well at all when he is faced with top-notch, first-run programs of the sort CBS is now throwing up against the lantern-jawed comedian on an almost nightly basis. And while NBC can probably live with being a low-cost alternative to the other networks on most nights, affiliates like Baltimore's WBAL (Channel 11)

Sometimes Hollywood stars that have a super-nice persona turn out to be ... super nice. At least that was the case with The Tonight Show's Jay Leno, who was in town recently. Leno was the headliner for The Chimes' annual fund-raising show at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. According to David Nevins, who co-chaired the event with wife Sharon, Tom and Dana Carroll, and Tony and Marcia Trantas, Leno made an appearance that was earlier than his scheduled one on stage. David says Leno showed up in the lobby about a half-hour before the afternoon show just to mingle with folks.

Los Angeles -- "You know what the late-night wars are?" Jay Leno asks. "A bunch of millionaires arguing on TV in late night."Leno is not the highest-paid millionaire on late-night TV. His $4 million a year from NBC is a far cry from the $14 million a year CBS is paying David Letterman.But despite the perception created earlier this year that he was NBC's booby prize after the network lost Letterman, Leno is now the acknowledged king of late night. And he's riding a new wave of respect since CBS this week started telling advertisers and the world that Letterman doesn't have a chance against Leno's "Tonight Show" for at least a year because not all of the CBS affiliates are going to carry Letterman's show when it premieres.

Jay Leno will step down as host of The Tonight Show in 2009, NBC announced yesterday, and turn over the most prestigious job in late-night television to Conan O'Brien, the goofy host of Late Night who has brought insult-spewing puppet dogs, among other innovations, to the small screen. O'Brien, who has been the host of the 12:35 a.m. Late Night show for 11 years, has been itching for an earlier time slot, and another network was likely to give it to him. NBC realized the only way to keep O'Brien, one of late night's most original talents, was to guarantee him the Tonight Show job. In April, Leno signed a five-year contract extension that will pay him more than $16 million a year and extend his run as host to 17 years.

Almost midnight in America ... As citizens camp out on the streets of American cities to try and express their anger and frustration at the way the country and his administration have failed them, President Obama goes on TV to trade scripted quips with the always-safe Jay Leno. But first, he hops into San Francisco on Air Force One to pick up a cool million at a campaign fund raiser. A few months into Obama's presidency, I wrote two things about his media behavior that have only become more pronounced in recent months.

Baltimore-native Julie Bowen stopped by "The Tonight Show" Tuesday for an extended chat with host Jay Leno. The newly crowned Emmy-winner wasn;t afraid to be goofy as she talked about her past and well as her successful present.  

The news last week that Conan O'Brien was going to host a show on TBS starting in November was met with a ton of talk about late-night TV. But amid all the chatter, almost nothing was said about Jay Leno and his move back to late night on NBC — the action that sent O'Brien off on his journey to the land of basic cable. Could it have been just a few shorts months ago that the news media were filled with nonstop talk about the "Leno Factor" and how it was "killing" the late news on top-notch NBC affiliates across the country, including WBAL in Baltimore?

Dodge flexes its muscle Steve Johnson Chicago Tribune The best ad was for the Dodge Charger. The clever, self-mocking script listed the many accommodations domesticated men make: "I will put the seat down," "I will watch your vampire TV shows with you," and so on. And because of this, it concluded, "I will drive the car I want to drive," positing the reborn Charger muscle car as "Man's Last Stand." Why it worked: It was cleverly written, and the visuals - a series of men staring blankly at the camera - were arresting.

Any working stiff watching the temper tantrum Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien threw on national television last week must be feeling something besides a tickle in the ribs. Catharsis. After just seven months in the job he waited years for, Mr. O'Brien woke up one morning to find that his employers wanted to push him deeper into the night to make room for Jay Leno. He not only refused to go, he pushed back. Unlike the rest of the American work force, most of which has found itself badly used by its employers of late, Mr. O'Brien got to rip into the NBC suits in front of a national television audience.

Trying to undo one of the most spectacular programming failures in TV history, NBC is canceling Jay Leno's prime-time show effective Feb. 12 with the arrival of Winter Olympics programming. Mounting pressure from affiliates, including WBAL-TV in Baltimore, was the driving force behind the move. Local stations across the country saw their profits plummet as the veteran comedian's lead-in dragged down late news ratings. Losing more than half of its 11 p.m. audience, WBAL - a longtime market leader - was one of the stations hit hardest by what came to be known as the "Leno effect."

The first thing almost everybody says about Jay Leno is that he's nice. He visits old friends in the hospital. He brings his new state-of-the-art motorcycles to local hangouts to the delight of fellow bikers. He gives out free tickets to The Tonight Show to star-struck autograph hounds. So, what's a nice guy like this doing in the murky sludge of power politics? A Washington, D.C., think tank is monitoring his joke output. Political watchdogs are scrutinizing his relationship with the newly elected governor of California.

"Oakland is doing so bad that Raider fans are now wearing eye patches over both eyes." Jay Leno "Tonight Show" host

For all the buzz since Thursday on NBC's plan to move Jay Leno out of prime time after barely four months, there is one driving force behind the story that has largely been ignored: The arrival of a new season of "American Idol" on Fox Tuesday night. The story of affiliate anger over "the Leno Effect" is one major factor for the Dump Leno Movement at NBC. The "effect" involves Leno's weak lead-in at 11 p.m. weeknights dramatically driving down the audience size for late news on local affiliates across the country.

Not long ago, Baltimore's tourism bureau invited public relations guru Richard Laermer to town for a pep talk. "I said 'good job,' " recalls Laermer, who was impressed with the group's effort to let the world know Baltimore had changed and that it was time to "Get in on it." But when he heard Mayor Sheila Dixon was convicted of embezzling gift cards for the needy, his first thought was: Baltimore's back to square one. "I thought about all those people and how they must be sitting there going, 'What the hell?