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Carson Daly Hopes to Fill Late Night Void
Late Sunday evening, an executive at NBC (who requested anonymity) received a phone call from Carson Daly, host of Last Call with Carson Daly. Daly offered his condolences for the loss of Johnny Carson, the legendary host of The Tonight Show. In addition, Daly offered his services for The Tonight Show until a permanent replacement could be announced.
Awkwardly, the executive reminded Daly that Carson had retired in 1992, leaving the post for Jay Leno. Embarrassed, Daly cut short the conversation, saying that he would have his resume available for the executives to consider.
Daly then proceeded to text message his resume to Jeff Zucker, President of NBC Universal Television Group. Ever the name-dropper, Daly's resume reportedly include references to Tara Reid, Britney Spears, and Snoop Dogg.
Daly took his interest one step further, taping his own segment of "Carnac the Magnificent" on his cellular phone. In the video clip, Daly held an envelope to his forehead and recited "my next job." Daly then opened the envelope and showed the camera an index card bearing the phrase "The Tonight Show Starring Carson Daly." Daly emailed this clip to Zucker and several NBC executives.
When asked about Daly's interest in the position, current Tonight Show host Jay Leno would not comment, but asked an aide to remind Daly that he had appeared on the Tonight Show with Leno.
Conan O'Brien, the host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the chosen successor to Jay Leno on the Tonight Show, laughed hysterically when he heard of Daly's response to the loss of Carson. "He may have beat me for the Total Request Live spot, but there's no way I was going to allow him to get this job before me." said O'Brien.
O'Brien did mention that he would be willing to put in a good word for Daly in exchange for Daly's little black book of phone numbers. "That would be a sweet trade for both of us. That's guy's had more action than Dick Cheney's cardiologist!"
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