The TV Zone

I suppose I COULD watch "Late Show with DL" again tonight and listen to him thunder for another hour about the perfidy of that false friend, John McCain (because, after all, there's nothing else in the world to talk about, and the fact that Dave was LIED TO BY A POLITCIAN is shocking to no one on this planet save Dave)...

But instead, I'm watching "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" because he's got on Jimmy Kimmel.

Here are some questions Jay will ask Jimmy:

"Will you mind when I come over there to ABC and start at 11:35, even if it pushes you back a half hour?"

"I like 'Nightline' but I guess they'll cancel it when I come over: Has Iger or McPherson told you any different?"

"You think Zucker minds me having you on tonight, seeing that you and I are gonna be late night partners in another couple years? He's in England - probably doesn't even know you're on tonight. Silverman? He's out at some party, chasing a leggy blonde, so nothing to worry about there..."

Seriously folks. This is a big show. I called Bill Zehme - the Chicago-based best-selling author and one of the world's leading authorities on late-night TV and Johnny Carson (he's writing the biography for Random House) to get his take on all this business.

He told me about the budding Kimmel-Leno bromance, "I do think those two boys talk a bit [outside of work]."

Bill also disagreed with my snark-assessment of Letterman's McCain rant.

Said he:

"I thought last night was even more of a spectacular follow-up [to Wednesday]....Last night was gold, and it shows you the importance of this guy. He's not just a show business figure; he's a barometer, and has an unbridled sense of outrage that can be triggered at any given moment. It's generally dead-on."

Well put indeed.