The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Unplugged (lost “blackout” episode from American late-night talk show; 2001)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show that aired from 1992-2009, hosted by Jay Leno. The show aired over 4,610 episodes, and while many episodes have been uploaded, there exists a notorious episode that went wrong during its taping that hasn't resurface after its initial airing
Background
From 2000-2001, there was a rolling blackout problem in California, which resulted in a number of different problems exacerbated by a flawed deregulation scheme.[1] Anytime that there was a blackout during that time in California, millions of people were affected and dealt with no lights, air conditioning, and other necessities. However, Jay Leno decided in 2001 to have an episode while a blackout was happening.
Unplugged
Episode 2081, simply known as ”Unplugged” was an episode where Jay Leno filmed the show while a blackout was happening in an NBC Studio in Burbank. While it’s believed that this happened while a blackout appeared, the real reason was Leno wanting to show solidarity with the crisis by hosting a show in a set only lit by candles scattered and handheld flashlights around the studio.[2][3][4] During the episode, Jay had three nocturnal animals that joined him during a segment. Leno also talked about the blackout during the whole episode, having at least one joke during the late-night show for weeks, quote:
"God, this power crisis in California is still going on," Leno joked at the time. "Who would have thought the 21st century would be the dark ages? ... In fact, the only working lights we have now are from the Mir space thing burning up.”[5]
Arsenio’s “magic trick” incident
While the episode is memorable for what Leno did, it’s mostly infamous for an incident that was forgotten during its taping. According to people who watched it, magician, Arsenio Hall was a guest during a segment of the episode. He was gonna perform the “cut-the-lady-in-half” trick. The woman participant was lying down in the box, and as Arsenio started to cut the box, the woman screamed out that she’d been cut by the katana[6] before cutting to commercials.[7]
Availability
People after watching the episode were pretty disturbed by what happened, but many dismissed the incident as some dark bit Leno planned. Others, on the other hand, believed that the incident was real since Leno’s comedy is extremely bland and never dark, making a conspiracy theory that the woman was either injured or killed, and NBC never re-aired the episode due to the incident.[8]
As of today, no footage of the episode has resurfaced online, with only some archived photos existing to this day.
External Links
Reference
- ↑ PBS article on California’s blackout crisis Retrieved 17 Aug 2024
- ↑ Times article on the Unplugged episode Retrieved 17 Aug 2024
- ↑ New York Post article, calling the episode one of the greatest moments during the show’s run Retrieved 17 Aug 2024
- ↑ Hollywood TV article, mentioning the episode as “memorable moment” Retrieved 17 Aug 2024
- ↑ UPI article on the California blackout, mentioning Leno joking about the blackout Retrieved 17 Aug 2024
- ↑ 4Chan /TV/ archive, mentioning the incident Retrieved 17 Aug 2024
- ↑ Google Groups blog, mentioning the incident Retrieved 17 Aug 2024
- ↑ Another Google Group blog, mentioning a rumor that the woman died, making the episode never air again Retrieved 15 Aug 2024