Dirty Dave v Lame Leno

The morning after Jay Leno returned to NBC's "Tonight" show, MSNBC's "Morning Joe" has on Vanity Fair contributing editor Mark Seal sliming Jay's rival David Letterman.  Seal's lonnnnng piece digging into "self-loathing" Letterman, his love life, the extortion plot, is in the brand new issue of Vanity Fair.  And a must-read.  Everyone's  clammed up but executive producer Rob Burnett - the Official Spokesman (Burnett denies the babes have been muzzled) - and anonymous sources.  One of whom describes Dave's workplace environment as "a cult."

One anonymous source: Does it surprise me that a man who owns his own show, who’s been on television for 30 years, owns the show that comes on after him [The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson], and owns one of the most popular shows of all time, Everybody Loves Raymond—does it surprise me that that man would get some extra pussy? No. It surprises me that he would be involved with people on his job, but they’re the ones in proximity.”

EP Burnett tells Seal that Dave will testify in the extortion trial.  Well, yeah.  Can you imagine Dave's ratings?

Dave's late-night rival Jay Leno kicked off Jay 2.0 Monday night and as I predicted yesterday, it was the same old nighclub Jay.  Bor-ing.  NYDN's David Hinckley's unflattering review.  NYP's Michael Star is far more charitable.

LA Times' Mary McNamara on the Wizard of Odds: "Dick Cheney jokes, George Bush jokes, Cheerios jokes and a 'new bit' entitled 'How Boring Is Alan Greenspan?': Jay Leno is back on late-night, looking happier and more self-confident than he has in months. ... And why not? As he has made clear through recent self-pitying interviews and the foot-dragging 'The Jay Leno Show,' he never wanted to leave 'The Tonight Show' in the first place. 'There's no place like home, there's no place like home,' he murmured in the show's Wizard of Ozian opening scene Monday night as he lay in black-and-white splendor."