When Big Ears met Big Chin

It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last that a political leader has ventured into the shallow end of television interviews. Tony Blair, a pioneer in this field, gave prime ministerial chats to everyone from Michael Parkinson to Blue Peter. But in America, the Obama-Leno link-up prompted a fierce debate, with critics saying the president had the office into disrepute and was looking for an easy ride. His defenders insisting he was simply seeking a wider audience for his political message.

"We don't look at it as a process of demonstrating the President's sense of humour," said his spokesman, Robert Gibbs, which is just as well. America's late night chat shows are not very funny. Their stars - who include Leno, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien - may be fêted as the darlings of the TV networks but the casual observer will wonder what the fuss is all about. Designed to appeal to an audience that is half-asleep and not looking for anything challenging, these shows are the Horlicks of American TV. The creaky formats haven't had a touch of paint for decades (Leno took over the Tonight Show from Johnny Carson in 1992, Letterman has done his show on CBS since 1993). The interview questions are fluffy, the jokes pretty lame and scripted to death. As for the stunts, well, Leno likes to go out and quiz members of the public about current affairs, and he also likes reading out funny misprints or headlines from local newspapers. It's not exactly cutting edge, but the punters apparently love it and Leno is the market leader.

Much of adult America is in bed long before he comes on at 11.30pm, but he still attracts over five million viewers a night which, by the standards of the fragmented US TV audience, is good going.

Significantly, many are the sort of working-class, often Republican, viewers who don't watch the serious political shows on which Mr Obama would normally appear.

Heavy-set with bouffant, salt and pepper hair, Leno, 58, could pass for a mobster on The Sopranos if it weren't for his protruding chin.

He suffers from what is known as mandibular prognathism, but has wisely chosen not to have his trademark mandible surgically reset. He is known for an affable, observational style - the quizzical man-of-the-people.

Political candidates regularly appear on his show and those of his rivals - and also on the more satirical and politically-oriented Daily Show with Jon Stewart - to play up their lighter sides.

Mr Obama was a Leno guest two years ago, while, six years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on the show that he was moving into politics.

Of late, Leno's star has risen further with the news that, later this year, he will be promoted to primetime with a new talk show at 10pm. He is already on a five-year $100 million (£70 million) deal with NBC.

Born in La Rochelle, New York, to a Scottish mother and Italian-American father, Leno, who is dyslexic, reportedly announced his intention from a young age to succeed Johnny Carson, the king of the American talk show. As a student, he presided at campus talent shows and performed comedy in local clubs. After appearing in commercials for Doritos brand tortilla chips, he worked as a warm-up act in the 1970s for singers such as Tom Jones and John Denver. He still works as a stand-up comedian and continues to define himself as one.

But the easy-going host is not without controversy.

Leno appeared as a defence witness at the trial in 2005 of Michael Jackson on child molestation charges, where he suggested that the victim's family had been working from a script. As a result of his involvement in the trial, Leno was legally barred from telling any more jokes about the singer or the case.

During the Hollywood writers' strike in 2007 and 2008, Leno was accused of breaking union rules by writing his own script, although he claimed he had secured a deal with the union.

Howard Stern, the US "shock jock" radio host, has alleged that Leno stole his material, including the "Jaywalking" segment in which he asks people on the street basic current affairs questions.

Leno's acting career is somewhat more obscure than his TV presenting.

After a clutch of minor roles in little-known films in the early years, he has done voiceovers for animated shows such as The Simpsons and South Park, as well as making cameo appearances in episodes of Friends and The West Wing.

A classic car and motorcycle collector with multiple garages at his California home, Leno further indulges his passion by writing a regular advice column in the American magazine Popular Mechanics.

Earlier this month, Leno announced he would be performing a free show in Michigan to lift the spirits of unemployed auto-workers.

As for his secret to success, he said recently: "We try to do a broad spectrum of jokes. I try to do a clever one, then a silly joke then hopefully another clever joke and then maybe a corny joke."

And this comic gold dust? Sample jokes - not all written by him personally, of course - include: "One-third of all Americans are obese.

You know what that means? One out of every three people is three people"?

Or this one: "That's when you know the sub-prime mortgage market is bad, even brokerage houses are losing their houses. That's why they're called brokers. After they take your money, you're broker. You see?" Boom, boom.

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