If Jay Leno wants to succeed in NBC’s prime time this fall, he’ll have to do it without the help of ABC and CBS talent. Insiders at both networks confirmed to Entertainment Weeklythat they’ve told their stars to just say no if bookers attempt to recruit them for The Jay Leno Show, which will air five nights a week at 10 p.m. beginning Sept. 14.

The reason? It makes no sense for the stars of scripted series from ABC and CBS. “It’s nothing personal toward Leno,” says one network source. It remains to be seen whether the newest edict will hurt Leno’s chances, though CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler recently quipped at a press conference, “NBC will declare victory [for] whatever ratings he gets, so it really doesn’t matter.”

A spokesperson for Leno declined to comment. For Hollywood publicists, meanwhile, the latest booking rule adds another turn to the labyrinthine system of when and where stars can appear on network and syndicated talk shows.

For instance, David Letterman and Conan O’Briendon’t want to book A-Listers who’ve just appeared on the other’s late-night show. The same goes for Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson, though newbie Jimmy Fallon is “the nicest of all” and will “pretty much take anybody,” offers one publicist.

Daytime shows have their own list of demands as well: Live With Regis and Kelly, for example, will take a guest who showed up on Good Morning America, but not The View, while The Ellen DeGeneres Show doesn’t want stars who’ve already been on Rachael Ray or The Bonnie Hunt Show. “[The rules] are arbitrary and capricious,” says another public relations exec.

Jerry Seinfeld, who next stars in the new season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” will be the first guest to drop by “The Jay Leno Show” when it makes its prime-time debut on Sept. 14.

NBC announced Friday that Seinfeld will be Jay Leno’s first and only guest for the premiere. The two are longtime friends and Leno has referred to Seinfeld in the press as someone he consulted with while deciding whether to accept NBC’s offer to launch a new 10 p.m. nightly vehicle.

During the TCA press tour, Leno said he’d have only one guest per episode — two max — on his new show, and no desk. He also revealed that “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams would pop up for bits regularly, as would a team of correspondents, including comics D.L. Hughley and Mikey Day.

Previously announced musical guests for Leno’s premiere include Kanye West, Jay Z and Rihanna.

Check out President Obama’s visit to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno!

Scarlett Johannson blew her nose on The Tonight Show with Jay Lenoand that used Kleenex has sold for thousands on Ebay. Yes, thousands of dollars. For a used Kleenex. Full of snot. And we’re in a recession.

Scarlett was still under-the-weather from a cold she picked up from her co-star in “The Spirit,” Samuel L. Jackson.

“I feel like it’s valuable in some way,” the actress said, “I feel like I could sell it on eBay.”

Sensing an opportunity, Leno handed her a box of tissues and encouraged her to got to town. The resulting wad (complete with bonus of smear of lipstick and Johansson’s autograph) was then listed on eBay.

Bidding started on Ebay for 99 cents and ended at $5,300. 83 people bid on it.

The money will go to the charity USA Harvest, an organization that distributes food restaurants don’t sell to people in need.

At least the money is going to a good cause!

Wanda Sykes was on Jay Leno.  Listen to her talk politics.

Remember when Rosie ODonnell was known as the Queen of Nice?  We adore Rosie, but that seems so long ago.

Rosie O’Donnell might have a deal with NBC in the works.  If everything pans out, Rosie will be the host of a variety show.  They are looking to have the show on the air by 2009 and it will have the same feel as The Ed Sullivan Show.

It should be noted that Jay Leno’s contract is up with NBC in May 2009.  I wonder if NBC would want Jay to host a variety show if the plan with Rosie doesnt work out.

Hmm…

“Saturday Night Live” veteran Jimmy Fallon was officially named on Monday to take Conan O’Brien’s place on NBC next year when O’Brien succeeds Jay Leno as host of “The Tonight Show.”

The announcement, which had been expected for weeks, was made during a press event from NBC headquarters in New York where O’Brien’s “Late Night” show is taped. I wonder what Carson Daly thinks about Jimmy getting Conan’s job. He must be pissed!

The appointment of Fallon, long considered a leading contender for NBC’s 12:35 a.m. time slot, completes a talent shuffle set in motion when the General Electric Co-owned network announced in 2004 that Leno would retire from “Tonight” in 2009 and that O’Brien would replace him.
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Actress and musician Minnie Driver confirmed rumors she’s expecting her first child on Thursday’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

“Are you pregnant?” Leno asked, after joking about her weight.

“Yes, I am,” she replied. “I don’t know why they call it morning sickness… I am sick morning, noon and night, but it’s a fair trade-off.”

Driver said she likes being pregnant “more than anything else.”

The 28-year-old stars in The Riches on FX and released an album last year.

She has not revealed the father of her baby.

Jay Leno, who will leave “The Tonight Show” next year to make way for Conan O’Brien, is not allowed to negotiate for a new job until November 2009. But his suitors are already circling.

Four years ago, NBC made the comedian the lame-duck host of “The Tonight Show,” announcing with fanfare that he would be succeeded by Conan O’Brien in 2009.

Today, Mr. Leno is still the champion of late-night ratings, with no apparent desire to do anything else but continue on top. “What I do,” he has said on several occasions to colleagues, “is tell jokes at 11:30 at night.”

And so, nearly two years before he can officially be courted, suitors including two networks, ABC and Fox, and at least one television studio, Sony Pictures Television, are beginning to circle, doing everything they legally can to make sure Mr. Leno knows that they will make it possible for him to continue doing just that.

Senior executives at ABC and Fox said that their networks had discreetly gotten the message to Mr. Leno that they were waiting eagerly for the time when they would be able to make official overtures. NBC Universal, meanwhile, has repeatedly expressed its intention to retain Mr. Leno with a still-undisclosed plan for a new program.

Sony Pictures Television has made an approach through intermediaries to let Mr. Leno and his representatives know that as soon as he is allowed to discuss his next move, the studio will make him a rich offer for a syndicated late-night show that would make him the highest-paid host in late-night television, put his name on a new theater on the Sony lot and give him a financial interest in Sony music artists who appear on his show.

Executives who have heard the details of the plan said the move was Sony’s effort to stake a flag in the ground, knowing how intense the pursuit of Mr. Leno was likely to be in coming months. (more…)