Leno, Kimmel To Guest On Each Other’s Show
Jay Leno and Jimmel Kimmel have come up with a way to skirt the problem of booking guests during the television writers’ strike, at least for one night: They will appear on each other’s late-night talkshows.
Leno announced Sunday that the swap will occur on Thursday, with Kimmel appearing on “The Tonight Show,” which is taped in Burbank, Calif., and Leno guesting on “Jimmel Kimmel Live,” which is taped in Hollywood.
Both shows are taped and aired on the same day.
“There are only a few people in the world that know how tough this job is,” Leno said. “Jimmy is one of them. It will be fun to discuss who’s a good guest, who’s a difficult guest and everything else that comes with sitting behind these desks.”
“If Jay and I can come together and guest on each other’s shows, then surely there is hope for peace in the Middle East,” Kimmel joked.
The late-night talkshows returned with new episodes on Wednesday, but only David Letterman and Craig Fergusons’ shows were back with their writers after a separate deal was struck between independent company Worldwide Pants and the Writers Guild of America.
The Screen Actors Guild has encouraged its members to appear on those two shows, and says appearances on other talk shows will be considered as crossing the picket line.
Meanwhile, Monday will mark the return of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert,” but without their writers.