I don't really hold against Leno anything he did in 1992 or 2009, but in 2004 he should have been a man and said, "No - this is a stupid idea. I am Number One in the ratings and should be able to retire when I want on my own terms." Once he consented to a bad plan, the wheels were set in motion for disaster.

No, he was found guilty of forcible rape. The victim has always said that it was against her will and she told him to stop. That she was thirteen (!) was just a compounding of an already horrific act.

I could have sworn that I had seen her - I remember thinking "Oh, of course, Bonnie Hunt" - but I can't find her now. Maybe she was in one of the montages that other programs have shown in recent weeks. Or maybe I had a brain freeze and temporarily confused her with Garr.

I think it is by far the best that any amateur fan could be expected to do. That any of them at all had dates or details (as some did) is impressive.

He looked closer in age to Bush 41 than to Bush 43.

She appeared on a CNN special about Letterman earlier in the week. I think Paul Shaffer was the only other person from the show interviewed - opposite extremes in terms of long-term relationship with Dave. (Other interviewees were Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Myers, and Bill Carter.)

He made a cameo in the next-to-last episode. I am surprised that he was not somehow worked into the final, though. He should have been in that Top Ten for sure.

By "her work" I guess I meant "the skits written for her" - she was indeed not a professional, and I doubt very much if she really has the dubious honor of being an influence on Lena Dunham (or anyone else).

I never really cared for her work that much, but the article is right that for a long period, she was the dominant second banana of the show, more prominent than Biff or Alan or Gerard or Rupert and almost equal even to Paul.

There was a U.S. telethon series in the eighties/nineties that used the name Comic Relief but not the name Red Nose Day. I wonder how many young Americans have even enough experience with the circus to get the joke. (I mean, everyone knows what a clown is, but they are not a popular culture presence the way that…

Hey, I actually was still awake when this was posted for once. Thanks, Dave! But I missed Jeopardy! last night. I feel like Alice when she looked up and saw that she had left the key on the table.

David Duchnovny (with X-Files theme music) also made an appearance if I recall correctly.

Hmm, really? I remember the captions as being perfectly straightforward and deadpan. (I certainly wouldn't have known that they were Canadian bishops if I hadn't been told.) Maybe he did it deadpan in one book and with a running joke in a different one.

One of these books had non-sequitur photos in the middle - ones I remember were the Great Triumvirate of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun; Grand Coulee Dam; and a group of Canadian bishops posing for a photo outside St. Peter's Basilica.

I turns out his real name was Jasper. (At least Wikipedia says so.)

Jack Daniel had no s in his name. The company is Jack Daniel's with an apostrophe. A rare case of a true error accepted (and maybe even the expected answer?).

I think the "twice" meant that Murray had been his first guest twice.

What was 7?

I think the relationship between the two words varies quite a bit based on time and place.

I think, as is true on The Simpsons and probably other animated shows as well, some episodes from this production order are being held over for the next season.