Late-Night Update

According to the New York Times, Jay Leno has taken my advice about how to handle the gag order:

Jay Leno had just told a joke on Monday night that imagined a phone conversation between Michael Jackson and Martha Stewart - "He wanted to know what it was like to be a white woman in prison" - when he suddenly put up his hands and ground his monologue to a halt.

He informed the audience at that night's taping for the "Tonight" show on NBC that because he had been listed as a possible witness in Mr. Jackson's trial on child molesting charges, he, like all potential witnesses in the case, was prevented from discussing it publicly. "I am under a gag order," he said.

Then, like a starting pitcher calling for relief from the bullpen, he motioned backstage and brought on the comedian Dennis Miller - who also has a talk show, on CNBC, the NBC cable network - to tell a sequence of Michael Jackson jokes in his stead. On Friday, Mr. Leno had engineered a similar handoff to Brad Garrett, a star of the CBS show "Everybody Loves Raymond."

First Sting, then Brian Wilson, now Jay Leno. Unfortunately, even though Leno has followed my advice, his jokes are still terrible.