Times Square Gossip

**** THE HAMPTON'S **** Jay Leno Jay Leno, the celebrated “Tonight Show” host and comedian, takes the stage at Guild Hall in East Hampton on Saturday, July 1 at 7pm. A benefit dinner immediately follows at a nearby location. This is a rare stand-up appearance on Long Island by this TV late night legend. Don’t miss out! There are two levels of tickets: Performance-only starts at $150 and the Benefit Dinner ticket ranges from $1,000-$1,500 including premium seating and reserved parking. Performance Only Tickets: ($150-$250) visit GuildHall.org , Box Office, or call 631.324-0806. For Performance & Benefit Dinner tickets: ($1,000-1,500) call 631.324.0806 or visit https://give.guildhall.org/seasonspectacular The John Drew Theater in the Dina Merrill Pavilion at Guild Hall, 158 Main Street, East Hampton, New York 11937 About Jay Leno Acclaimed TV late night show host, admired stand-up comedian, best-selling children’s boo...

Jay Leno Jay Leno And Mavis Leno Jay Leno and his beautiful wife Mavis Leno celebrated the launch of 'Jay Leno's Garage' at The Press Lounge at Ink 48 the other night in New York City. Photo By: Diego Corredor/MediaPunch

**** THE GLORIOUS CORNER By: G. H. HARDING **** Jimmy Fallon Jay Leno GUESS WHO, DON'T SUE --- We had a dinner last night with someone who books the celebrity-personalities for one of the hottest new radio talk shows out there and we were completely dumbfounded by what he had to say about the competitive booking practices for radio and TV. We had heard for years about the trials-and-tribulations of being a Booker … but, we never completely thought it out … till the other night. This young man, who we certainly cannot name, started off by talking about the imminent arrival of Jimmy Fallon (replacing Leno) next year as the new host of The Tonight Show and how that will impact trying to get your artist or group on his show or on the Letterman show, for that matter. He said that up till now, The Late Show With David Letterman, or Late Night, had a solid lock on any booking procedures here in NYC. He said that now, with Fallon, they’ll be more of an equ...

**** THE WEB GOSSIP **** The guy or girl that writes this column is a very big industry insider who wishes to remain anonymous, but wants to write about all the headlines happening in Hollywood and the Music Industry. **** Julian McMahon NIPPED AND TUCKED – This Wednesday is the final Nip/Tuck episode after 7 years. I must admit that though I completely missed season one; I've watched it ever since season two and even when the characters up and moved (from the show's original South Beach roots) to L. A., though it did seem to get even a bit more incredulous. That said, I kept watching and this final season has evidenced not only some terrific writing, but also stellar turns from Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh. They usually started the show by asking potential clients 'what don't you like about yourself?' One show this season started with a marriage counselor asking the two leads that question! I mean, if you buy the premise … and, truth be told, it did get wild at t...

**** THE WEB GOSSIP **** The guy or girl that writes this column is a very big industry insider who wishes to remain anonymous, but wants to write about all the headlines happening in Hollywood and the Music Industry. **** Mel Gibson MAD MEL: Mel‘s back in a supremely entertaining thriller-revenge movie called Edge of Darkness. Let’s get it out of the way and say that despite the tabloid headlines Gibson’s made over the past five years (and, no, I won't go into them!) let’s put all that behind us and focus on what a truly entertaining movie presence he’s been … and, still is. This riveting new movie is based on a BBC miniseries that has been developed by director Martin Campbell and producer Graham King (The Departed). In short, Gibson’s daughter is killed at the beginning of the movie and although everyone immediately assumes that Gibson’s Tom Craven was the intended target, as Gibson peels back the layers, he discovers that it was indeed his daughter who was the target. The bril...

Conan O'Brien Big name guests are scheduled for Conan O'Brien's sure-to-be final week on "The Tonight" Show. Wednesday, January 20: Adam Sandler, Joel McHale and musical guest Joss Stone; Thursday, January 21: Robin Williams and musical guest Barry Manilow; Friday, January 22: Tom Hanks, Ferrell. There is still no official announcement of O'Brien's exit and Leno's return to "Tonight," it was delayed once again yesterday as the two sides have not settled yet on the size of the severance packages of the "Tonight Show" staff. If it's any indication on what Jerry Springer's people got, you might as well forget about it. Lucky if you get a one way ticket back to New York..... Photo By: Sara De Boer/Retna

**** THE WEB GOSSIP **** Conan O'Brien CONAN/JAY: 30 million, 40 million? Question: How would one spend it; is it coming with one single check … or, paid out over the year. Amazing figures and truly a black-eye for the Peacock-network for sure. Saturday Night Live’s opening sketch was Larry King (played by Fred Armisen), interviewing both Jay (played by Darrell Hammond) and Conan (via Bill Hader). Every Leno-answer was delivered with his rather sarcastic snark … Conan sat there in stunned silence. Actually, for me, the funniest line in the whole skit as when King remarked, “Conan is out and Jay is in. And no one is talking about the greatest talk show of all time … Mr. Joey Bishop!" Truth be told, this NBC mess is even deadlier and messier than when Leno replaced Letterman as the Tonight Show runner back in the 90s. Our colleague Roger Friedman quotes an insider as saying “Each figure is wrong … nothing is signed yet.” As of Friday last, this Friday will be Coco’s last show. ...

**** NBC STANDS FOR NO BODY CARES **** Conan O'Brien We are hearing reports that Conan O'Brien has struck a deal with NBC, said to be worth 30-40 million bucks. We also hear there will be many parting clauses, one which will be Conan can not trash the network. If he does, Conan will pay. We have kind of had it with NBC and the way they treat employees. They had a deal with Conan and they should have struck by it. They did the same thing to Conan that they did to everyone on The Jerry Springer Show. People worked on the Springer show for many years and walked away with only a few weeks severance when NBC decided to move the show to Stamford Connecticut. Some people that worked on the show as long as 15 years walked away with just a few weeks pay. This is the way NBC is working these days. It's all about the money and not about the people. As for Jay Leno, he should be ashamed of himself for taking back the Tonight Show. I remember years ago, when NBC announced that Conan wou...

Conan O'Brien Conan O'Brien's last show could be next week, and according to TMZ, has re-negotiated his contract. Other reports say Leno is retaking the helm of the "Tonight Show,". NBC's late-night woes may have been solved Thursday with a deal to restore Jay Leno to his old 11:35 p.m. slot host. The Leno deal was reported by TMZ.com , while People reported O'Brien's last show was set for next Friday. Neither report could be immediately confirmed. "Conan does not currently plan on doing any more new shows after next week," a source told People. Conan, in a letter to NBC executives earlier this week, said he had no interest in moving his "Tonight Show" to 12:05 a.m. to accommodate Leno's return to an 11:35 p.m. start for a half-hour program. O'Brien is reportedly thinking about jumping to Fox Network. Photos By: Sara De Boer/Walter McBride/Retna

**** THE WEB GOSSIP **** Jay Leno NBC certainly does have a problem on their hands; push Jay Leno back into his former 11:30PM spot … and, move Conan … or, lose him! The one variable in all this, as our colleague Roger Friedman pointed out the other day, is Saturday Night Live major-domo Lorne Michaels. He is THE man behind the launching of the Conan show, and even though Conan will get a rich pay out if he does leave … how can NBC go against the wishes of Michaels. SNL is in its third decade of survival … you don’t want to piss off Uncle Lorne. For my money, I’m a Letterman-man, always have been, and what with his own recent scandals … he could well be the winner. His ratings have never been better. In fact, it was reported this past Friday, that contract talks with him to continue for another five years are already in the works … There’s this 92-year old, yoga-practicing matron on the UES, and she’s just released her own memoir … written with a more-than-casual acquaintance of her wa...

Conan O'Brien NBC has big problems and now have to figure out how to fix it. Plagued with low ratings for both "The Jay Leno Show" and Conan O'Brien's "Tonight Show," the network is said to be considering returning Leno to his 11:35 p.m. EST slot and moving "Tonight" to midnight - a change that NBC's hard-hit affiliate stations would welcome. Many stations are complaining that the ratings for their 11 p.m. newscasts have plummeted because Leno's 10 p.m. show is such a weak lead-in. "I think Jay Leno's a great performer. He's just at the wrong place at the wrong time. There's nothing wrong with making mistakes. There is something wrong with not correcting them," according to Bob Prather, president and chief operating officer at Atlanta-based Gray Television Inc., whose station group includes 10 NBC affiliates. We think the New York Daily News writer David Hinkley said it all."If NBC's Jay Leno Shuffle isn...