Mrs. Rainy and I usually watch the Tonight Show, and the other night began to wonder…Are the guests paid to appear, or do they appear for free to promote whatever their current project is, or do they (or their studio/publishing house/record company) pay to be on the show since it is such a good vehicle for promotion?
-rainy
They are paid SAG or AFTRA (Screen Actor’s Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Actors) union scale, which is on the order of a few hundred dollars, I think. This was a brilliant strategy of (IIRC) Steve Allen, the first host of The Tonight Show, who realized that if he allowed stars to demand large fees to appear, things would quickly get out of hand. So he established the strict policy of paying scale, and nothing more.
Of course, these days celebrities only appear to promote some film, show, or book, and would probably pay the show for the publicity. But the late 1950s was a more innocent time. Sort of.
What commasense said.
Plus, more celebrities would probably pay to be on the show for the exposure they get promoting their film/album/book etc. so money is not the reason for them to go on the show.
I do know there is a “secret” list of people they can call on a moment’s notice, should a scheduled guest not appear for some reason (illness, late flight, too drunk, just being a bitch, etc.). A friend of a friend worked on the show and said that the list used to be small, but now it is practically a book - just to give you an idea how many people want to be on the show.
Ah, that would explain the people that just seem to be hanging out. Very cool tidbit of info there.
Is Conan O’Brien still slated to be Jay’s replacement in '08? I really don’t think he is of the calibre to do that job.
I remember Tony Randall being one of those “fill-in” guests on a regular basis for Letterman. Probably needs to be somebody local who can show up within a few hours notice.