''Leeza'' is an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

and syndicated daytime

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

. It premiered on June 14, 1993 as ''John & Leeza from Hollywood'', hosted by

John Tesh John Frank Tesh (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. He hosts the ''Intelligence for Your Life'' radio show. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted ''Intelligen ...

and

Leeza Gibbons Leeza Kim Gibbons (born March 26, 1957) is an American talk show host. She is best known as a correspondent and co-host for ''Entertainment Tonight'' (1984–2000) as well as for having her own syndicated daytime talk show, ''Leeza'' (1993–20 ...

. Tesh left the show after seven months, and on January 17, 1994, the program was retitled ''Leeza'', and Gibbons became the sole host remaining in that capacity throughout the remainder of its run. The show aired its final episodes on September 8, 2000. The original format centered on celebrity news and interviews, but once Tesh left the show, it became more of a traditional television talk show. The show ran on

between 1993 and 1999, showing on other stations in markets where the local NBC affiliate pre-empted it in favor of other programming. On April 14, 1999, NBC announced major changes to its daytime schedule; ''Leeza'' was dropped by the network to make room for ''

Later Today ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

''. The show aired its final episode on NBC on September 3, 1999, after which it continued for one additional season in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

. In early 2000, ''Leeza'' was cancelled after eight seasons due to low ratings; the final episode aired in May of that year. Reruns of the show continued to air until September 8, 2000. It was taped at Paramount Studios on

Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts at Santa Monica Boulevard, at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. It ends at Lucile Avenue in Silver Lake. Melrose runs north of Bev ...

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, and was produced by Gibbons' production company and Paramount Television. Gibbons was also a hands-on executive producer in addition to host of the show, involved in every aspect from selecting show topics to finding guests. Recurring topics discussed on the show included current events of the time, mainly crime and celebrity stories. Famous con man

Steve Comisar Steven Robert Comisar (born December 30, 1961) is an American convicted con man and extortionist. Comisar was in federal prison and was released April 27, 2018. Career Comisar grew up in Beverly Hills, California. As a young man he sold a ...

appeared on Leeza as a fraud prevention expert, under the name Brett Champion.The Creep With the Golden Tongue
by Sabrina R. Erdely, GQ, August 2003, 126-32, 155-156. ''Leeza'' received 27

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

nominations (including nominations for Outstanding Host and Best Show for every year the show has been on the air) and has won three Emmy awards. The show also received a Genesis Award for programs that revealed animal abuse, the Media Access Award for accurately portraying persons with disabilities and an award from the Alzheimer's Association for show programming. ''Leeza''s

time slot Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...

often varied, as some stations aired the show in the morning while others aired it in the late-afternoon. The program was also shown in the United Kingdom, as part of the original daytime schedule on Channel 5.

References

External links

* {{U.S. daytime talk shows 1993 American television series debuts 2000 American television series endings 1990s American television talk shows 2000s American television talk shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by CBS Studios NBC original programming