'Stuttering John' lands 'Tonight Show' gig
After 15 seasons on Howard Stern's radio show, John Melendez, known to fans as "Stuttering John," will join NBC's The Tonight Show With Jay Leno as its announcer. He also will perform in sketches and contribute correspondent pieces. Melendez, who joins the show on March 29, replaces Edd Hall, who will leave the show after 12 years to pursue acting. link
John has been part of Howard's show since the late 1980's so this is going to be quite a change for him. It may be a sign of things to come for others on the show since Howard has been threatening to leave radio when his current radio contract is up in less than 2 years. John may just be the first person to find a job outside of the Stern Show in anticipation of Howard possibly bailing out.
Howard and the crew are on vacation all this week so we haven't been able to hear Howard's thoughts on all of this. It'll be interesting to hear what happens when they return from vacation on Monday, February 23rd. Will Howard freak out and not let John come back in the building or will he see it differently and congratulate John on his new job? We'll find out next week!
Seems an odd choice to me. I've never thought of John as a great speaker. LOL.
I don't like Jay Leno very much. I've always preferred Dave. And I gave up on Stern when there was just finally one too many biggest breast contests or some similar nonsense that he'd done a million times too many already.
David Letterman seems like a shell of what he was fifteen years ago. It seems like he is just going through the motions; playing the part he thinks we want to see. He was funny back in the 80's when he was like Conan O'Brian is now. It seems like getting older and taking the big bucks CBS threw at him have clipped his wings. I do not find him funny anymore. He is coasting on the reputation he built before.
Well, I think Dave became stale for awhile until he had his heart surgery, and now he's just had his first baby, or rather his girlfriend did.. so to me he seems more down to Earth, having more fun. I like him again.
Some folks will never like him, I understand that. He's one of a kind for sure. BTW, the letters he reads are real. I've had 4 of mine on the air :)