Jay Leno says Bah! Humbug!

It’s that time of year where the season turns cold, Santa is getting ready to deliver his gifts and people tend to become a bit more generous than usual. Even in Hollywood. With the WGA strike in full effect, the networks have started laying off employees of shows that wont cross the picket lines.

Yet late night guys like David Letterman and Conan O’Brien are staying put and even paying their people during December.

So with Letterman and O’Brien leading the way by dipping into their own wallets to ensure their employees get paid, you’d think other would follow suit.

Nope.

We already know that Carson Daly crossed the lines this past week, but now Jay Leno, host of the Tonight Show, has done something even more damaging to his image.

With his employees out of work as of Friday, November 30th, Leno didn’t appear to follow through with earlier promises. Deadline Hollywood had the report, even stating that on November 5th, Leno assured his staff they’d be taken care of if the strike stretched into December.

Now they are wondering where he is. Or at least were. Yahoo has reported that with all the bad pub he’s getting, the late night host has changed his mind. It only took an entire weekend for him to do it.

The damage has been done though. From the Yahoo story:

“A lot of people don’t want to work for Jay anymore,” another staffer said. “His true colors have shown. We were told he won’t cross the picket line until David Letterman or Conan O’Brien do so that he can look like the good guy to the WGA.”

Leno may have his reasons for being upset, considering he will be replaced in 2009 by Conan O’Brien, but that anger should be directed at the network, not his staffers.

I’ve not liked Jay Leno for a long time. It still surprises me that his show is ranked #1 in late night viewing, because Letterman and O’Brien are so much better entertainment. Leno’s opening monologue is always ripe with sexual jokes, something I feel people resort to for cheap laughs.

And in watching him interview people, I don’t see him as involved with his guests and really into the discussion as others are, especially Letterman.

He just doesn’t make me laugh.

According to Deadline Hollywood, before he caved in and decided to actually pay his non-writing staff, he had his assistant notify them that they would still be receiving their Christmas bonuses.

Of course, the rumor is those are only $100 for every year employed on the show.

Now that’s a joke. But for some reason, I’m still not laughing.