Headlines was a segment that aired weekly on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

''. It also aired on the prime-time spin-off ''

The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is a talk show created and hosted by Jay Leno. Premiering on NBC on September 14, 2009, the program aired on weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/ PT through February 9, 2010. The program was modeled upon the format of a late ...

''. The segment usually aired on Monday nights. It was first seen in 1987, when Leno was still a guest host on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'', and continued (even after Leno became permanent host in 1992) until Jay Leno left ''The Tonight Show'' in 2014. This segment reappeared on TV as part of a new version of the game show ''

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show deb ...

'' hosted by Leno beginning in 2021. Viewers submitted newspaper

headline The headline or heading 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 centur ...

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

Since the early 1980s,

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

had been doing a similar segment called " Small Town News" (albeit on and off) on ''

The David Letterman Show ''The David Letterman Show'' is an American morning talk show that was hosted by David Letterman on NBC. It originally aired from June 23 to October 24, 1980. Originally, the series lasted 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward. Backg ...

'', ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...

'' and ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

''.

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...

parodied "Headlines" on

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

in a segment called '' Actual Items'', which uses advertisements purposefully doctored by the show's prop and writing staffs.

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...

includes an updated version called "Screengrabs" (which uses online media), on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

''. On December 18, 2006, both Letterman and Leno included in their segments 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 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' about Letterman, which included a photograph of Leno. 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 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. Hall introduced himself by sa ...

) for the return of Leno to ''The Tonight Show'', referring to "Headlines" as "the bit enostole 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 ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

. 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