Grande Prairie
—  City  —
City of Grande Prairie
100 Street, looking south from 100 Avenue
Flag of Grande Prairie Flag Official seal of Grande Prairie Seal
Nickname(s): Swan City
Grande Prairie Location of Grande Prairie in Alberta
Coordinates: 55°10′15″N 118°47′41″W / 55.17083°N 118.79472°W / 55.17083; -118.79472Coordinates: 55°10′15″N 118°47′41″W / 55.17083°N 118.79472°W / 55.17083; -118.79472
Country	Canada
Province	Alberta
Region	Northern Alberta
Census division	19
Incorporated [1]  - Village	April 30, 1914
- Town	March 15, 1919
- City	January 1, 1958
Government[2]
• Mayor	Bill Given
• Governing body	Grande Prairie City Council John Croken Alex Gustafson Kevin McLean Justin Munrow Kevin O'Toole Lorne Radbourne Helen Rice Dan Wong
• Manager	Greg Scerbak
• MP	Chris Warkentin
• MLA	Everett McDonald, Wayne Drysdale
Area (2011)[3]
• Total	72.80 km2 (28.11 sq mi)
Elevation	669 m (2,195 ft)
Population (2011)[3]
• Total	55,032
• Density	755.9/km2 (1,958/sq mi)
Time zone	MST (UTC−7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC−6)
Postal code span	T8V to T8X
Area code(s)	+1-780, +1-587
Highways	Highway 43 Bighorn Highway
Waterways	Wapiti River Bear River (Bear Creek)
Website	City of Grande Prairie

Grande Prairie is a city in the northwestern part of the province of Alberta in Western Canada. It is located on the southern edge of the Peace River Country (part of the Peace Region or simply "The Peace", as is often locally known, which encompasses much of northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia). The city is surrounded by the County of Grande Prairie No. 1.

Grande Prairie is one of Canada's fastest growing cities. As of its 2007 civic census, its population was 50,227, up 6.9% from the Canada 2006 Census figure of 47,076. As of 2006, the population of the Grande Prairie Census Agglomeration was at 71,868;^[4] the census agglomeration has now been expanded to cover the County of Grande Prairie No. 1 in its entirety. It is currently Alberta's seventh largest incorporated city by population.

Grande Prairie is the largest city between Edmonton and Fairbanks, Alaska on the route via Highway 43, the Alaska Highway, and the Richardson Highway. It lies about 460 km (290 mi) and 2,480 km (1,540 mi) from each city respectively.

The city has adopted the Trumpeter swan as an official symbol because it is near the migration route and summer nesting grounds of this large and graceful swan. For that reason, Grande Prairie is sometimes nicknamed the "Swan City".

History[link]

Grande Prairie was named for the large prairie which lies to the north, east, and west of it. In the 18th century, the prairie was occupied by bands of the Beaver First Nation who began trading with the North West Company at Dunvegan in the early 19th century. The earliest recorded reference to the prairie was by trader Samuel Black in 1824. In 1880, a Hudson's Bay Company post called La Grand Prairie was established by George Kennedy 15 miles (24 km) northwest of the present city. In the late 19th century, the prairie was settled by Cree and Iroquois from around Jasper and Lac Ste. Anne. When 17 townships were surveyed for homesteading in 1909, a land rush soon followed, with many settlers arriving over the Edson Trail. In 1910, the Grande Prairie Townsite was sub-divided. By 1912, it included a bank, hotel, post office, and land office, making it a district metropolis. In 1916, it became the terminus of the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway from Edmonton.

The Edson Trail from Edson to Grande Prairie was opened in 1911 as a means for settlers to reach the Grande Prairie area. It was basically nothing more than a tract of clear cut bush and forest, and thus was a very difficult route for many settlers, especially during wet weather. Because of this, large scale settlement came late compared to other major farming regions further south in Canada. Grande Prairie was incorporated as a village by the Province of Alberta in 1914. It was not until the arrival of the railway in 1916 that farmland quickly expanded as waves of settlers came into the Peace region. This drove up Grande Prairie's population past the 1,000 mark, allowing it to incorporate as a town on March 27, 1919. A local recession in the 1920s caused a temporary depopulation of Grande Prairie. But the population rebounded afterwards by the 1930s, by which time the population had reached 1,464. Settlement continued unabated even into the 1930s during the Dust Bowl era because the Peace Region was able to escape the severe drought conditions that plagued the Canadian Prairies further south at the time.^[5]

The Second World War saw the US and Canadian military establish Grande Prairie as a part of the Northwest Staging Route for the construction of the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek to Alaska. Although Dawson Creek was chosen as the major starting point of the construction of the Alaska highway, Grande Prairie was a major stopover point for military aircraft during the war, and benefited economically from this.

Although Grande Prairie was well located in the southern edge of the Peace Region, it was competing with the towns of Peace River and Dawson Creek for the title of the most important centre of commerce and agriculture in the region until the late 1950s, when its population growth began to outstrip these towns as oil and natural gas exploration was underway in the Peace Region, especially since the first major discovery of oil further south in Leduc near Edmonton in 1947 and the construction of a large pulp mill in the early 1970s.

The construction and paving of Highway 43 (originally sections of Highways 2, 34, and 43 from the BC border to the Yellowhead Highway just west of Edmonton) in 1956 cut down on the travel time by road significantly, further enhancing Grande Prairie's accessibility and economic status. The town was incorporated as a city in 1958. At that time, its population was approximately 7,600.

The opening of the Procter & Gamble kraft pulp mill in 1972 and the discovery of the Elmworth deep basin gas field spurred an economic boom. Grande Prairie's population went from just over 12,000 in the early 1970s to over 24,000 by the time the oil boom went bust in 1981.

A tornado struck the downtown area and east side of Grande Prairie on July 8, 2004. Although the tornado was considered a very weak one (F0-F1 on the Fujita scale) and the weather was not severe at the time, it was still strong enough to incur damage to houses and flip vehicles over. There were no casualties or fatalities.^[6]

Geography[link]

Aerial view of Grande Prairie and farmland to the north

Grande Prairie is located just north of the 55th Parallel, and is 465 km (289 mi) northwest of Edmonton. The City of Grande Prairie lies at an elevation of 669 m (2195 ft) above sea level. The city is surrounded by farmland to the north, east, and west. To the south, it is mostly a vast boreal forest with aspen, tamarack, lodgepole pine, jack pine, and black spruce extending well into the foothills of the Canadian Rockies south and southwest of the city.

Bear Creek goes through the city from the northwest to the south end and is a tributary of the Wapiti River to the south. The Bear Creek Reservoir is the small body of water by Grande Prairie Regional College in the northwest part of the city, and is ringed by marshy wetland. The terrain immediately surrounding Grande Prairie is largely flat to gently rolling, but rises gradually to hilly terrain closer to the foothills to the south and southwest. On clear days, some peaks in the Rockies are visible to the southwest from Grande Prairie.

The city lies on the southern edge of aspen parkland, which is a transitional biome between boreal forest and prairie. The Peace Country contains the northernmost area of aspen parkland in North America. However, much of the aspen parkland in the region has long since been altered by extensive farming and oil/gas drilling activity.

Climate[link]

Grande Prairie has a northern continental climate typical of northwestern Alberta and northeastern BC. Winters are generally cold with some mild spells. Summers are often fairly cool to pleasantly warm in the daytime, but nights can be cool despite the long summer days typical for its latitude. Hot days over 30 °C (86 °F) are rare, occurring on average, only one to two days a year, which is not unexpected this far north. Winter conditions can vary tremendously from year to year. Winters have been known to be mild enough to produce "brown Christmas" conditions, where little or no snow may fall until after Christmas due to unusually mild early winter conditions.

The average January temperature is −15 °C (−9 °C average high and −19 °C average low) and the average July temperature is 15.9 °C (22 °C average high and 10 °C average low). However, temperatures as low as −52 °C and as high as 34.5 °C^[7] have been recorded. Grande Prairie gets 317.7 mm (12.5 inches) of rain and 158.6 cm (62.4 inches) of snow per year on average. The total annual precipitation is 446.6 mm (17.6 inches)^[7] which includes both rain and snow. Snowfall amounts, however, vary greatly from year to year. Being fairly close to the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, it can get quite windy in Grande Prairie, especially in the spring and fall. Chinooks are not an unheard of occurrence in the Grande Prairie area. Grande Prairie has 314 sunshine days per year on average.

Summers can bring thunderstorms, although they are not as frequent nor as severe as those further south in Central Alberta. Rainfall can vary from year to year, but the Peace Region is noted for never having experienced truly severe drought conditions more typical of Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. Tornadoes are rare but not unknown in the Peace Region.

October 28, 2006, heralded a new record for the city: nearly 40 centimetres (15 inches) of snow fell in 24 hours. It was the greatest single-day snow fall in nearly fifty years.^{[citation needed]}

Demographics[link]

In the 2011 Census, the City of Grande Prairie had a population of 55,032 living in 21,180 of its 22,979 total dwellings, a 16.8% change from its 2006 population of 47,107. With a land area of 72.8 km² (28.1 sq mi), it had a population density of 755.9/km² (1,957.9/sq mi) in 2011.^[3]

The population of the City of Grande Prairie according to its 2007 municipal census is 50,227.^[27][28]

In 2006, according to the Canada 2006 Census, Grande Prairie had a population of 47,076 living in 17,941 dwellings, a 27.3% increase from 2001. The city has a land area of 61.08 km² (23.58 sq mi) and a population density of 770.7 /km² (1,996 /sq mi).^[29]

As recorded in the Canada 2001 Census, the median age was 29.7 (Alberta median age was 35.0), and the Median Total Income for age 15 and up was $25,414.^[30]

About 9 percent of residents identified themselves as aboriginal at the time of the 2006 census.^[31] 4.9% of residents identified as visible minorities.^[29] The largest minority group were Filipinos, which accounted for 22.7% of total visible minorities.^[29] Almost 90 percent of residents identified English as their first language at the time of the 2006 census, while almost three percent identified French and two percent identified German as their first language learned. The next most common languages were Polish, Tagalog, Cree, and Ukrainian.^[32] More than 70 percent of residents identified themselves as Christian at the time of the 2001 census while almost 28 percent indicated they had no religious affiliation. For specific denominations Statistics Canada counted 9,255 Roman Catholics (about 25 percent of the population) and 3,955 members of the United Church of Canada (about 10 percent), as well as 2,165 Anglicans and 2,020 Lutherans (about 5 percent each).^[33] Less numerous denominations included 880 Baptists and 790 residents identifying as Pentecostal (about 2 percent each).

Economy[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Major industries include oil and gas, agriculture, forestry, and food services.

Agriculture was the first economic mainstay of Grande Prairie since settlement began in the early 20th Century. It remains part of the local economy today. A variety of crops such as barley, wheat, canola, and oats are grown in the area. Livestock such as cattle and buffalo (bison) are also raised in the area. Despite being north of 55°N, the climate is mild enough to allow for farming on a large scale to prosper. Longer daylight hours during the summer at this latitude aid in crop production. The Peace Region is the northernmost major farming region in North America. Land within the region is still being cleared for new farmland.

Although some oil and gas drilling has been ongoing in the area since the 1950s, oil and gas exploration did not begin to occur on a large scale until the late 1970s. It was in the mid-1970s that the Elmworth gas field was discovered and developed, causing the city to grow rapidly until the last oil boom ended in 1981.

Forestry is a major part of Grande Prairie's economy, for large tracts of forest lie to the south in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. The Weyerhaeuser Canada kraft pulp mill, opened in 1972 by Procter & Gamble, is one of Grande Prairie's largest employers. Canfor runs a sawmill and lumber yard operation on the west side of the city. The Ainsworth Oriented Strand Board plant opened in late 1995.

Grande Prairie serves as the economic and transportation hub for a trading area of nearly 250,000 people. Grande Prairie is also on the CANAMEX trade route linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Infrastructure[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

Transportation[link]

Air

Grande Prairie Airport is located in the west end of the city and serves the region with regular flights to Calgary and Edmonton. Two airlines, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet, offer service to Grande Prairie Regional Airport. The airport has seen growth in both passenger and aircraft traffic in recent years. The terminal, built in 1981, was renovated in 2009 making it twice its original size. Forthcoming expansions include an update to the parking system and expansion of the runway.^{[citation needed]}

City public transit

Grande Prairie Transit is a small public transit system with modern buses and a route system integrated throughout the city.

Charter bus

Greyhound Canada offers scheduled bus service to Grande Prairie from Edmonton and other communities in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia and Yukon.

Highways and roads

Highway 43 is the primary highway into the city from the north and from Edmonton. Highway 43 meets Highway 2 a few kilometers north of the city at an intersection known locally as Four Mile Corner, then continues south into the city via a northwest bypass and west to the Alberta/BC border.

The stretch of Highway 2 extending north from Grande Prairie to Four Mile Corner and west to the Alberta/BC border was renumbered to Highway 43 in the late 1990s to link with the rest of Highway 43 from Four Mile Corner to the Yellowhead Highway just west of Edmonton. This explains why newer maps no longer show that stretch west and a few km north of the city as Highway 2. The renumbering was also partly due to Highway 43 now being a part of the CANAMEX trade route and also that it is being widened to a four-lane divided highway along its entire length. Highway 40 is the primary access road into Grande Prairie from the south.

Construction of a new Highway 43X bypass to go around the northwest side of the city from Four Mile Corner to Highway 43 just west of the airport has begun as of August 2007^[34] ("Four Mile Corner" is not an actual settlement - it is an intersection so-named because it is four miles (6 km) north of the intersection of Clairmont Road (100th Street) and Richmond Avenue (100th Avenue)). The construction is in two phases, with the first phase under construction and the second currently in the design stage. The first phase extends west to Range Road 63 (116 Street within city limits), while the second phase runs west from Range Road 63 south to Highway 43 west of the airport. The future bypass is intended to replace the current one. The current bypass, which was built in the late 1960s, is no longer functioning well as one due to high traffic volumes and new intersections. The rapid population growth of Grande Prairie is contributing to such a high increase in vehicle traffic that traffic jams are now common during peak hours.

Grande Prairie sees many vacationers heading to the Alaska Highway by road during the summer because Highway 43 leads towards Dawson Creek, BC, which is the "Mile 0" of the Alaska Highway.

Street layout

Grande Prairie's streets are usually numbered rather than named, with the exception of some major roadways. In fact, the street numbering system is based on the Grid plan.

The downtown core is centred at 100 Street (Clairmont Road) and 100 Avenue (Richmond Avenue). Streets run north-south, while avenues run east-west. The letter "A" is sometimes used if a street lies between two streets but doesn't correspond to the street numbering grid. For example, 100A Avenue would lie between 100 and 101 Avenues.

Houses and buildings with odd numbers are on the east side of a street or the south side of an avenue. Dropping the last two digits of a house number tells you what two streets or avenues the house lies between, for example 9835 101 Avenue is between 98 Street and 99 Street, and 11610 91 Street is between 116 Avenue and 117 Avenue.

An unusual element of the city's street layout is the presence of the "Canfor Hauling Road" that parallels 108 Street in the southwest, before cutting across the south side of the city. Closed to public traffic, the road allows industrial trucks to traverse that part of the city with minimal interference from standard traffic.

Education[link]

Secondary[link]

Three school districts operate secondary schools within Grande Prairie.^[35]

The Grande Prairie Public School District #2357 (GPPSD) operates 14 secondary schools including Grande Prairie Christian School and the Bridge Network Outreach,^[36] a school specially geared for students who cannot or will not attend the traditional high school education system due to various challenges or a need for alternative education.

Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools (GP&DCS) operates eight schools, including the St. John Bosco Outreach.^[37]

The Peace Wapiti School Division No. 76 (PWSD) operates two schools that serve students of the surrounding County of Grande Prairie No. 1.^[38]

Aside from the two outreach schools that provide alternative curriculum for high school students, Grande Prairie's three high schools are Grande Prairie Composite High School (GPPSD), St. Joseph’s Catholic High School (GP&DCS) and Peace Wapiti Academy (PWSD).

Post-secondary[link]

Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC), established in 1966, is the primary post-secondary institution in the city and offers degrees in a few programs. The present college campus was built in 1974 and expanded later in the early 1990s. Its unique architecture was originally designed by the renowned Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal.

GPRC recently adopted the Dean-system of administration. Its largest faculty, Arts and Education, is currently headed by Dr. Scott McAlpine. As of Jan. 2007, the college is administered by Don Gnatiuk, following the resignation of former institution President Jim Henderson.

Recreation and culture[link]

The city has a number of parks and golf courses including the large Muskoseepi Park in the Bear Creek Valley and the Dunes Golf Course south of the city. Muskoseepi Park has excellent bike trails extending nearly the entire length of Bear Creek within the city. Muskoseepi Park also has an outdoor swimming pool and a pavilion with a cafeteria and an outdoor pond which converts into a skating rink in the winter. Crystal Lake in the northeast part of the city also has parkland, preserved wetlands (great for birdwatching), and walking/bike paths around its entire circumference.

Live music can be found in several downtown bars and intermittently at all-ages locations such as Tito's Restaurant and the GP Curling Club. Summer-long music festivals have been organized by community-minded individuals and charitable organizations. Genre-wise the music scene is typically dominated by punk, rock, and metal bands. Well attended shows tend to be high-energy and mosh-pits are usually expected from engaged audiences. More established acts include This Conviction, Calculating Collapse, Reject, The Damn Plastards, Stacy Lloyd Brown / The Goodbye Generation, and Emerson Drive.^[39]

Cultural venues include the Bowes Family Crystal Centre (a concert hall and hockey rink — the local AJHL team, the Grande Prairie Storm, plays there), the Grande Prairie Museum, the Prairie Art Gallery (closed due to a structural disaster^[40]), The Rabbit Hole bookstore, Second Street Theatre, and Studio "Y?".^[41] Grande Prairie is also home to a professional musical theatre company, "Broadway Live Broadway", which engages equity actors and performs on the college campus.

Golfing is possible as late as after 11 o'clock in the evening in early summer due to the northern latitude. Grande Prairie has three 18-hole golf courses nearby (Dunes, Bear Creek, and Grande Prairie Golf & Country Club) and a couple of 9-hole courses as well.

Cross-country skiing and snowmobiling are popular activities during the winter in the Grande Prairie area. There is a local ski hill called Nitehawk located south of the city on the south bank of the Wapiti River. Aside from skiing, Nitehawk also has the only North American natural luge track certified for international events and over the summer months freestyle ski jumpers can practice using the Northern Extreme water ramp facility. It is also active in luge as a naturally refrigerated venue, hosting the FIL World Luge Natural Track Championships in 2007.

The foothills south of Grande Prairie and around Grande Cache are popular year-round for hiking in the summer and for snowmobiling and other winter sports in the winter. Kakwa Wildland Park on the Alberta-BC border, about 180 km south of the city, is a beautiful and mountainous natural area and is known for a beautiful waterfall called Kakwa Falls.

The Leisure Centre — formerly, the "Rec-Plex" — is located in the northwest side near the Bear Creek Reservoir, features a pool, an indoor soccer pitch, fitness equipment, and aerobics facilities.

There is a lot for families to do in Grande Prairie for little to no cost. Many families enjoy the free entertainment offered at Muskoseepi Park, Studio Y?, The Public Library, and at other city-run organizations.

Some thirty churches of various denominations can be found in the city.

In 1995, the city hosted the Canada Winter Games. The event was televised nationally on CBC Television. Hundreds of performers competed in the events and the city gained status and recognition as a result. The city played host to the 2010 Arctic Winter Games from March 6–13, 2010.

Media[link]

See also[link]

• List of communities in Alberta
• List of cities in Alberta

References[link]

External links[link]

• City of Grande Prairie
• Discover the Peace Country Visitors Guide – Grande Prairie Alberta

	Dawson Creek Hythe	Sexsmith Clairmont	Peace River Grimshaw
	Beaverlodge Wembley		Bezanson Debolt Crooked Creek
		Grande Prairie    East
		Grande Cache	Valleyview

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Jay Leno
Leno in July 2008
Birth name	James Douglas Muir Leno
Born	(1950-04-28) April 28, 1950 (age 62)[1] New Rochelle, New York, U.S.[1]
Medium	Television, Film, Stand up
Nationality	American
Years active	1973–present
Genres	Observational comedy, Political satire
Subject(s)	American culture, Everyday life
Influences	Johnny Carson, Robert Klein, Alan King, George Carlin,[2] Don Rickles, Bob Newhart, Rodney Dangerfield
Influenced	Dennis Miller[3]
Spouse	Mavis Leno (1980–present)
Notable works and roles	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (host, 1992–2009, 2010–) The Jay Leno Show (host, 2009–2010)
Signature
Website	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series 1995 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno /ˈlɛnoʊ/ (born April 28, 1950)^[1] is an American stand-up comedian and television host.

From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time, UTC-5), also on NBC. After The Jay Leno Show was canceled in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno returned to host The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1, 2010.^[4]

Early life[link]

James "Jay" Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York, in 1950. His mother, Catherine (née Muir; 1911–1993), a homemaker, was born in Greenock, Scotland, and came to the United States at age 11. Leno's father, Angelo (1910–1994), who worked as an insurance salesman, was born in New York to immigrants from Flumeri, Italy.^[5] Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, and although his high school guidance counselor recommended that he drop out of school, he later obtained a Bachelor's degree in speech therapy from Emerson College, where he started a comedy club in 1973.^[6] Leno's siblings include his late older brother, Patrick, who was a Vietnam veteran^[7] and a lawyer.^[6]

Career[link]

During the 1970s, Leno appeared in minor roles in several television series and films, first in the 1976 episode "J.J. in Trouble" of Good Times and the same year in the pilot of Holmes & Yo-Yo. After an uncredited appearance in the 1977 film Fun with Dick and Jane, he played more prominent parts in 1978 in American Hot Wax and Silver Bears. Other films and television series from that period include Almost Heaven (1978), "Going Nowhere" (1979) from One Day at a Time, Americathon (1979), Polyester (1981), "The Wild One" (1981) from Alice, "Feminine Mistake" (1979) and "Do the Carmine" (1983) from Laverne & Shirley.

[edit] The Tonight Show

Leno in 1993, shortly after becoming host of The Tonight Show

Starting in 1987, Leno was a regular substitute host for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. In 1992, he replaced Carson as host^[8] amid controversy with David Letterman, who had been hosting Late Night with David Letterman since 1982 (aired after The Tonight Show), who many had expected to be Carson's successor. The story of this turbulent transition was later turned into a book and a movie. Leno continued to perform as a stand-up comedian throughout his tenure on The Tonight Show.

In 2004, Leno signed a contract extension with NBC which would keep him as host of The Tonight Show until 2009.^[9] Later in 2004, Conan O'Brien signed a contract with NBC under which O'Brien would become the host of The Tonight Show in 2009, replacing Leno at that time.^[10]

During the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, Leno was accused of violating WGA guidelines by writing his own monologue for The Tonight Show. While NBC and Leno claim there were private meetings with the WGA where there was a secret agreement allowing this, the WGA denied such a meeting.^[11] Leno answered questions in front of the Writers Guild of America, West trial committee in February 2009 and June 2009, and when the WGAW published its list of strike-breakers on 11 August 2009, Leno was not on the list.^[12][13]

In 1998, Leno competed in a tag-team match at the WCW's "Road Wild" pay-per-view . In 2001, he voiced The Crimson Chin, a superhero in the Nickelodeon animated series The Fairly OddParents and continues to do so today.

Leno said in 2008 that he was saving all of his income from The Tonight Show and living solely off his income from stand-up comedy.^[14]

On April 23, 2009, Leno checked himself into a hospital with an undisclosed illness.^[15] He was released the following day and returned to work on Monday, April 27. The two subsequently cancelled Tonight Show episodes for April 23 and April 24 were Leno's first in 17 years as host.^[16][17] Initially, the illness that caused the absence was not disclosed, but later Leno told People magazine that the ailment was exhaustion.^[17][18]

Michael Jackson trial[link]

In the 2005 trial of Michael Jackson over allegations of child molestation, Leno appeared as a defense witness (many celebrity defense witnesses had been expected, but Leno was one of the few whose testimony was actually needed). In his testimony regarding a call by the accuser, Leno testified that he never called the police, that no money was asked for, and there was no coaching — but that the calls seemed unusual and scripted.^[19]

Leno in 2006.

As a result, Leno was initially not allowed to continue telling jokes about Jackson or the case, which had been a fixture of The Tonight Show's opening monologue in particular. But he and his show's writers used a legal loophole by having Leno briefly step aside while stand-in comedians took the stage and told jokes about the trial. Stand-ins included Roseanne Barr, Drew Carey, Brad Garrett, and Dennis Miller among others.^[20]

[edit] Succession by Conan O'Brien and The Jay Leno Show

Because Leno's show continued to lead all late-night programming in the Nielsen ratings, the pending expiration of Leno's contract led to speculation about whether he would become a late-night host for another network after his commitment to NBC expired.^[21] Leno left The Tonight Show on Friday May 29, 2009,^[22][23] and Conan O'Brien took over on June 1, 2009.

On December 8, 2008, it was reported that Leno would remain on NBC and move to a new hour-long show at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (9 p.m. Central Time) five nights a week.^[24] This show follows a similar format to The Tonight Show, tapes at the same lot, and retains many of Leno's most popular segments. Late Night host Conan O'Brien was his successor on The Tonight Show.^[25]

Jay Leno's new show, titled The Jay Leno Show, debuted on September 14, 2009. It was announced at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that it would feature one or two celebrities, the occasional musical guest, and keep the popular "Headlines" segments, which would air near the end of the show. First guests included Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey (via satellite), and a short sit-down with Kanye West discussing his controversy at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.^[26]

[edit] Timeslot conflict and return to The Tonight Show

Wikinews has related news: US TV host Conan O'Brien rejects NBC's offer to switch his show's time slot

In their new roles, neither O'Brien nor Leno succeeded in delivering the viewing audiences the network anticipated. On January 7, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that beginning March 1, 2010, Jay Leno would move from his 10pm weeknight time slot to 11:35pm, due to a combination of pressure from local affiliates whose newscasts were suffering, and both Leno's and O'Brien's poor ratings.^[27][28] Leno's show would be shortened from an hour to 30 minutes. All NBC late night programming would be preempted by the 2010 Winter Olympics between February 15 and February 26. This would move The Tonight Show to 12:05am, a post-midnight timeslot for the first time in its history. O'Brien's contract stipulated that NBC could move the show back to 12:05 a.m. without penalty (a clause put in primarily to accommodate sports preemptions).^[29]

On January 10, NBC confirmed that they would move Jay Leno out of primetime as of February 12 and intended to move him to late night as soon as possible.^[30][31] TMZ reported that O'Brien was given no advance notice of this change, and that NBC offered him two choices: an hour-long 12:05am time slot, or the option to leave the network.^[32] On January 12, O'Brien issued a press release that stated he would not continue with Tonight if it moved to a 12:05am time slot,^[33] saying, "I believe that delaying The Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t The Tonight Show."

On January 21, it was announced that NBC had struck a deal with O'Brien. It was decided that O'Brien would leave The Tonight Show. The deal was made that O'Brien would receive a $33 million payout and that his staff of almost 200 would receive $12 million in the departure. O'Brien's final episode aired on Friday, January 22.^[34][35][36] Leno returned as host of The Tonight Show following the 2010 Winter Olympics on March 1, 2010.

On July 1, 2010, Variety reported that total viewership for Jay Leno's Tonight Show had dropped from 5 million to 4 million for the second quarter of 2010, compared to the same period in 2009. Although this represented the lowest second-quarter ratings for the show since 1992, Tonight was still the most-watched late night program, ahead of ABC's Nightline (3.7 million) and David Letterman's Late Show (3.3 million).^[37] Ratings over the following summer, when compared to the same period in 2009 with O'Brien hosting The Tonight Show (including O'Brien's highly rated debut), showed that while total viewership was 12% higher for Leno, viewership in the important "adults aged 18–49" demographic was 23% lower.^[38] NBC ratings specialist Tom Bierbaum commented that due to the host being out of late night television for a period of time and the subsequent 2010 Tonight Show conflict, Leno's ratings fall was "not a surprise at all".^[39]

Public image[link]

Criticism of Leno[link]

Leno on The Tonight Show in 2005

Leno has faced heated criticism and some negative publicity for his perceived role in the 2010 Tonight Show timeslot conflict.^[40][41] Critics have pointed to a 2004 Tonight Show clip, wherein Leno claimed he would allow O'Brien to take over without incident.^[41][42] At the time, Leno stated he didn't want O'Brien to leave for a competing network, adding, "I'll be 59 when [the switch occurs], that's five years from now. There's really only one person who could have done this into his 60s, and that was Johnny Carson; I think it's fair to say I'm no Johnny Carson."^[42] Leno also described The Tonight Show as a dynasty, saying "you hold it and hand it off to the next person. And I don't want to see all the fighting..." At the end of the segment, he said, "Conan, it's yours! See you in five years, buddy!"^[43]

Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt was among the first celebrities to openly voice disappointment with Leno, saying, "Comedians who don't like Jay Leno now, and I'm one of them, we're not like, 'Jay Leno sucks;' it's that we're so hurt and disappointed that one of the best comedians of our generation... willfully has shut the switch off."^[44] Rosie O'Donnell has been among O'Brien's most vocal and vehement supporters,^[45][46] calling Leno a "bully" and his recent actions "classless and kind of career-defining."^[47]

Bill Zehme, the co-author of Leno's autobiography Leading with My Chin, told the Los Angeles Times: "The thing Leno should do is walk, period. He's got everything to lose in terms of public popularity by going back. People will look at him differently. He'll be viewed as the bad guy."^[48]

Support for Leno[link]

NBC Sports head executive and former Saturday Night Live producer Dick Ebersol spoke out against all who had recently mocked Leno, calling them "chicken-hearted and gutless."^[49]

Jeff Gaspin also defended Leno: "This has definitely crossed the line. Jay Leno is the consummate professional and one of the hardest-working people in television. It's a shame that he's being pulled into this."^[48]

Paul Reiser and Jerry Seinfeld are two of the number of celebrities to have voiced support for Leno.^[50][51]

Responding to the mounting criticism, Leno claimed that NBC had assured him that O'Brien was willing to accept the proposed arrangement and then would not let either host out of his contract.^[52] Leno also said that the situation was "all business."^[52] He appeared on the January 28 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in an attempt to repair some of the damage done to his public image.^[53][54]

Personal life[link]

Leno with President Barack Obama in March 2009

Leno has been married since 1980 to Mavis Leno; they have no children.^[55]

He is known for his prominent jaw, which has been described as mandibular prognathism.^[56] In the book Leading with My Chin he stated that he is aware of surgery that could reset his mandible, but does not wish to endure a prolonged healing period with his jaws wired shut.

Leno is dyslexic.^[6] He claims to sleep only four to five hours each night.^[57] Leno does not drink or smoke, nor does he gamble.^[58] He spends most of his free time visiting car collections or working in his private garage.^[58]

Leno reportedly earns $32 million each year;^[59] his total net worth is unknown, but has been estimated to be at least $150 million.^[60]

Charity[link]