andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Jay Leno has been missing from TV screens across the world for just over three weeks now.  And Monday, he will reappeared, reports the CBC.

Nine-teen days ago, NBC cancelled Leno’s own prime-time show.  It has also been nine months since Leno has given up his position at the “Tonight Show,” to Conan O’Brien.  But now, Leno is back to reclaim his old position on the “Tonight Show.”

Since Leno is back, the late-night war once again begins with CBS opponent David Letterman.  Letterman dominated the ratings during O’Brien’s brief appearance as the “Tonight Show” host.

But, Leno ruled the late night for much of the 17 years he was with the “Tonight Show,” and NBC is hoping that he will be comfortable in his desk chair, once again.

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Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are officially engaged. The couple announced their plans to marry last night on David Letterman.

Although the episode won’t air until Friday, their publicist had no comment at this time and the couple have yet to post anything on Twitter.

The extortionist in the David Letterman blackmail case wants a deal. Perezhilton.com reports that Robert Halderman has offered to take a sentence of 1 year (opposed to 15 years) for a plea of guilty. In case you don’t remember, Robert Halderman attempted to blackmail Letterman for $2 million dollars as he was threatening to produce a screenplay based on Letterman’s sexual affairs with female staff employees.

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A representative for the host of Late Show with David Letterman says National Enquirer reports that David Letterman’s wife kicked him out of their Westchester mansion are false, reports TMZ. The Enquirer stated, following the highly-publicized extortion/affair scandal involving Letterman, he has moved to a loft in Manhattan.

“The National Enquirer has it wrong,” said Letterman’s representative.

Holly Hester, who was an intern for David Letterman on The Late Show with David Letterman in the early 1990s, claims to have had a series of secret dates with the host. Letterman, now 62, and Hester, a student at New York University at the time, kept their relationship secret from the rest of the staff on the show, reports TMZ.

“I was madly in love with him at the time,” Hester said. “I would have married him. He was hilarious.” She says Letterman ended the relationship after a year citing the age difference between the pair.

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Perez Hilton reports The Late Show with David Letterman has beaten The Tonight Show in ratings for four consecutive weeks. This is the first time in a decade that Letterman has stayed above the competition for so long.

Letterman has been hosting the show since 1993, while Conan O’Brien, the new host of The Tonight Show, only just took over for Jay Leno in June.

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, which follows Letterman on CBS, has scored higher ratings than NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for three weeks running.

David Letterman tied the knot for the second time on Thursday afternoon- this time around with longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko, in a simple courthouse ceremony.

According to E! News, the couple- who’ve been together for 23 years with a 5-year-old son named Harry- made it official at the Teton County Courthouse in Choteau, Montana.

“Regina and I began dating in February of 1986, and I said, ‘Well, things are going pretty good, let’s just see what happens in about 10 years,” said Letterman. “I had avoided getting married pretty good for, like, 23 years, and I—honestly, whether this happened or not—I secretly felt that men who were married admired me…like I was the last of the real gunslingers, you know what I’m saying?”

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A heated cook book debate just got a lot more unappetizing, as Jerry Seinfeld and his wife were sued yesterday.

Missy Chase Lapine has accused Jerry Seinfeld’s wife, Jessica, of “brazenly” plagiarizing from her recipe book, “The Sneaky Chef.” Mrs. Seinfeld’s book, entitled “Deceptively Delicious,” was released six months after Lapine’s. Both are collections of recipes that hide healthy ingredients in meals for children.

Mr. Seinfeld was included in the lawsuit for defamation of character. When reports first surfaced of the commonalities of the two books, Mr. Seinfeld made comments about Lapine being a “wacko” while on the David Letterman show. Seinfeld called Lapine “angry” and “hysterical,” compared her to Letterman’s past stalkers, and noted she is a “three-name woman… if you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins.”

Lapine’s 19-page filing seeks unspecified damages.

David Letterman and Craig Ferguson will be back on the air with fresh material next week, after a special deal was struck between the Worldwide Pants production company and the Writers Guild of America.

A statement on the guild website said “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” will return on Wednesday with a full writing staff, as part of a binding agreement with the Letterman-owned Worldwide Pants.

“[The] agreement dramatically illustrates that the Writers Guild wants to put people back to work, and that when a company comes to the table prepared to negotiate seriously, a fair and reasonable deal can be reached quickly,” the statement reads.

It’s a positive breakthrough in the Hollywood writers’ strike that began Nov. 5. The dispute, Hollywood’s worst labour crisis in two decades, focuses on how writers will be paid for work distributed over the Internet, cellphones and other new technology.

Letterman said in a statement that he was “happy to be going back to work, and particularly pleased to be doing it with our writers.”

He added, “This is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands. But I hope it will be seen as a step in the right direction.”

David Letterman will return to late night television very soon – and, he’ll have writers!

The 60-year-old host owns his show, as well as being the producer. So Letterman was able to arrange his own contract with the Writer’s Guild of America, which is still on strike. Letterman is also a card-carrying WGA member.

“Late Night With David Letterman” will be the only talk show that has the luxury of staff writers. It is expected that NBC will soon announce the writer-less return of Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno’s shows in January.

Letterman also made waves by being the first of his late night cohorts to pay his staff out of his own pocket during the WGA strike.