Jay Leno & Jimmy Kimmel To Appear On Each Other’s Shows

With writers on strike, Leno, Kimmel
to appear on each other’s show

For one night, Jay Leno and Jimmy
Kimmel will solve the problem of booking guests during the writers’ strike by appearing
on each other’s show.

The swap comes Thursday, with Kimmel
traveling to Leno’s studio in Burbank, Calif., and Leno returning the favor in
Hollywood. Both shows are taped on the same day they air.

“There are only a few people in
the world that know how tough this job is,” Leno said Sunday. “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.”

Joked Kimmel: “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.”

ABC’s Kimmel came to Leno’s defense
on the air Wednesday, urging picketing writers to back off the “Tonight
Show” host.

Both men’s programs returned to the
air last week without writers due to the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of
America. Their jobs were made even more difficult with the reluctance of stars
to cross picket lines. The Screen Actors Guild has encouraged its members to
appear on David Letterman’s “Late Show” and Craig Ferguson’s
“Late Late Show,” where writers have gone back to work.

Leno’s NBC “Tonight Show”
featured comic Howie Mandel, host of NBC’s “Deal or No Deal,” on
Thursday, with an animal expert and comedian on Friday.

Besides Kimmel, Leno’s only other
announced future guest is Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Monday
night.

Kimmel’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live”
on Monday will feature Kathy Griffin and Scott Baio, two actors more popular
recently on reality shows, and the rock band Velvet Revolver.

Without such booking problems, Letterman
has lined up actors Tom Hanks, Lucy Liu and Morgan Freeman for shows this week.

Leno is involved in a separate dispute
with the writers union. The guild contends Leno, who is a member, cannot write
his own jokes and perform them in a monologue; Leno and NBC say the guild’s own
contract allows this. The writers have threatened disciplinary action against
Leno, but a spokeswoman said Sunday no decision had been made on what to do.