Behind the Curtain: An Insider's View of Jay Leno's Tonight Show Hardcover - 2014

From the rear cover

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno comes alive in this book by insider Dave Berg, who spent eighteen years as Leno's co-producer. Leno's penchant for topicality and Berg's news background successfully combined to add a political sensibility and relevancy to the monologue and guest bookings unique to late-night television. Through a revealing personal narrative full of never-before-told anecdotes about Leno and his guests, Berg divulges intimate information about himself and Leno along with the trade secrets that led to Leno's phenomenal two-decade reign in the ratings.
With an uncanny ability to read America's pulse better than any of his competitors, Leno and his team recast the format of The Tonight Show. They made calculated changes to its structure and presentation, adding segments such as "Jaywalking" and "Headlines" and even dropping the number of guests from four to three to extend Leno's monologue. Berg insightfully tells the story of how they did it.
Weaving what happened on the stage with what went on behind the scenes, the narrative features the show's most legendary moments, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger's shocking political announcement, Hugh Grant's game-changing mea culpa, and the historic booking of Barack Obama as the first sitting president ever to appear on a late-night program.
A highly entertaining and revealing look at an iconic show and the man who contributed to its legacy, Behind the Curtain: An Insider's View of Jay Leno's Tonight Show invites you to take the ultimate VIP backstage tour.

Dave Berg was co-producer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Jay Leno Show and also appeared in numerous comedy sketches. A producer for The O'Reilly Factor, he served as a writer for NBC News and as the Los Angeles bureau chief for CNBC. Berg has written for USA Today, Huffington Post, Reader's Digest, National Review, Christianity Today, Washington Times, Daily Caller, and Crisis Magazine. He has a BA in political science from Northwestern University and MS in journalism from Kansas State University. Berg lives with his wife, Mary, in Los Angeles, California.

Jay Leno was the popular host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC, where he led the late-night ratings for more than two decades. Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2014, Leno made his first appearance on The Tonight Show as a stand-up comic in 1977 and became a guest host for Johnny Carson in 1987. An avid car collector and philanthropist, he lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Mavis.

From the jacket flap

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno comes alive in this book by insider Dave Berg, who spent eighteen years as Leno's co-producer. Leno's penchant for topicality and Berg's news background successfully combined to add a political sensibility and relevancy to the monologue and guest bookings unique to late-night television. Through a revealing personal narrative full of never-before-told anecdotes about Leno and his guests, Berg divulges intimate information about himself and Leno along with the trade secrets that led to Leno's phenomenal two-decade reign in the ratings.
With an uncanny ability to read America's pulse better than any of his competitors, Leno and his team recast the format of The Tonight Show. They made calculated changes to its structure and presentation, adding segments such as "Jaywalking" and "Headlines" and even dropping the number of guests from four to three to extend Leno's monologue. Berg insightfully tells the story of how they did it.
Weaving what happened on the stage with what went on behind the scenes, the narrative features the show's most legendary moments, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger's shocking political announcement, Hugh Grant's game-changing mea culpa, and the historic booking of Barack Obama as the first sitting president ever to appear on a late-night program.
A highly entertaining and revealing look at an iconic show and the man who contributed to its legacy, Behind the Curtain: An Insider's View of Jay Leno's Tonight Show invites you to take the ultimate VIP backstage tour.

Dave Berg was co-producer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Jay Leno Show and also appeared in numerous comedy sketches. A producer for The O'Reilly Factor, he served as a writer for NBC News and as the Los Angeles bureau chief for CNBC. Berg has written for USA Today, Huffington Post, Reader's Digest, National Review, Christianity Today, Washington Times, Daily Caller, and Crisis Magazine. He has a BA in political science from Northwestern University and MS in journalism from Kansas State University. Berg lives with his wife, Mary, in Los Angeles, California.

Jay Leno was the popular host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC, where he led the late-night ratings for more than two decades. Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2014, Leno made his first appearance on The Tonight Show as a stand-up comic in 1977 and became a guest host for Johnny Carson in 1987. An avid car collector and philanthropist, he lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Mavis.