The Late Shift

Los Angeles

I had a pretty decent seat for Jay Leno once I finally made it through the extra security, right on the edge next to the band. It's a very slick operation all round. He comes out about fifteen minutes before the recording starts and says a few words, then a warm up guy whips the already overexcited crowd up by throwing some t-shirts about and organising various other audience activities. Before long the music starts and the most famous quiff in world television appears again to start the show.

Leno's opening monologue is still consistently pretty good and it was interesting to watch him do it up close. His script isn't on an autocue like most TV stand up comics, instead he reads from big idiot boards with his material written largely verbatim in black felt tip pen. The crowd don't need much persuading to cheer but they do have some of those 'applause' signs dotted around the set that light up at appropriate moments to encourage the slow on the uptake.

Laura Bush was fairly dull, she had one or two good lines but they'd clearly been drummed into her by some campaign lackey. Leno's often criticised for his sycophantic interviewing style and, when his second question was "is that a new hairstyle?" it seemed unlikely Iraq was going to get much of an airing during the discussion. Indeed, neither of them mentioned it at all. Just about every Republican in the state had been shoehorned into the audience too, surely no coincidence it's the first and only time I've seen any "Bush/Cheney" t-shirts so far. Making up for this was the undoubted highlight of the interview, when a spotlight focused on a seat a few across from me to reveal none other than the lovely Jenna Bush. I had some difficulty focusing on the rest of the show (the other guests were those guys who flew that plane into space last week) for sneaking glances at her magnificent breasts. It was hard being in the same row as the President's daughter. Yes, it really was.

On the way back to the hostel I stopped by a nearby theatre to take in ABC's rival chat show, Jimmy Kimmel Live. The network still puts Nightline up against Leno and Letterman so poor old Jimmy doesn't go out until midnight and his show is consequently third best in terms of guests. If Leno is the Rolls Royce of talk shows, Kimmel may well be the cheap and slightly battered Ford Escort. Having said that, his monologue had some very funny stuff although he tended to mumble a bit which cost him a couple of big laughs. I had no idea who any of the guests were, although the announcer on the show is, randomly enough, the guy from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Kimmel wasn't a bad hour's entertainment but, especially given his network's recent attempt to woo Letterman, his career may well have peaked. For sheer professionalism, Leno still gets my vote.