Headlines was an appropriated comedy routine developed by

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...

. The segment usually aired on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'' Monday nights. It was first seen in 1987, when he was still a guest host on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

'', and continued (even after Leno became permanent host in 1992) until Jay Leno left ''The Tonight Show'' in 2014. It also aired on the prime-time spin-off ''

The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is an American prime time talk show hosted by Jay Leno that was broadcast by NBC from September 14, 2009, to February 9, 2010. The series was a spiritual successor to his previous late-night talk show ''The Tonight Show wit ...

'' and during Leno's hosting run on ''

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radioheadline The headline is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th century when incre ...

s or other articles from all over the world, and the clippings contain either (but not limited to) a misspelled word, juxtaposed image or badly structured sentences that comically (and often in an unintentionally risqué way) completely change the meaning of what the writer intended.

Influence

On December 18, 2006, an item in ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' about

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

, which included a photograph of Leno, was included on both Headlines and on Small Town News, a segment with a similar conceit on Letterman's '' Late Show''. In January 2010, during the replacement of O'Brien as ''Tonight Show'' host, Letterman ran a fake promo (featuring former ''Tonight'' announcer

Edd Hall Edd Hall (born December 7, 1958) is an American television personality and announcer. He was Jay Leno's announcer on ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2004, replacing ''Tonight Show'' announcer Ed McMahon after Johnny Carson's retirement. Hal ...

) for the return of Leno to ''The Tonight Show'', referring to "Headlines" as "the bit

eno Eno may refer to: Music * English National Opera, London * ''Eno'', an album by Japanese band Polysics Organisations and businesses * Eno (company), a Chinese clothing and accessories business * Eno Center for Transportation, a non-profit t ...

stole from Letterman's late-night show".

Publications

Leno released several compilations of Headlines during the late 1980s and early 1990s: *''Headlines: Real but Ridiculous Headlines from America's Newspapers'' *''More Headlines'' *''Headlines III: Not The Movie, Still The Book'' *''Headlines IV: The Next Generation'' *''Jay Leno's Police Blotter: Real-Life Crime Headlines'' All profits from sale of the books went to charity, most notably the

Samuel Jared Kushnick Foundation Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venerated a ...

. Wil B. Strange includes "personal ads from the book 'Jay Leno's Headlines'" in an issue of '' Campus Life''.Wil B. Strange, "Strange World," ''Campus Life'' 53.4 (Nov94): 78.

References

{{TonightShow Headlines The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Television series segments