The Castle of the Harvard Lampoon

Zach Kanin is president of the Harvard Lampoon, the self-proclaimed "world's oldest humor magazine."

After commenting on the joy felt by him and his Lampoon colleagues at the promotion by NBC of Lampoon alumnus Conan O'Brien to the position of "Tonight Show" host-designate, this dialog ensued:

EMENN: Say anything you want to about the politics of this. Do you think, for example, that it was just a ploy to keep Conan from defecting from NBC and going to, I don't know, Spike or something?

Kanin: I don't know, I mean I think it's nice, it's optimistic, that Jay thinks he's going to be around for another five years.

EMENN: You think the transition could happen sooner you mean?

Kanin: Oh. I don't know about the transition

EMENN: Oh. Well, what do you mean that it might be optimistic for Jay to think that he, Jay, will be around for five more years (Kanin: Right) on the show?

Kanin: I had heard things about his health.

EMENN: Really?

Kanin: Uh huh.

EMENN: Anything you want to say on the air that's serious?

Kanin: No, I just had heard some things.

EMENN: Oh. OK.

A quick survey of the online material regarding the Leno-O'Brien transition nowhere contains reference to any health issues for Jay Leno. It's possible that an extremely well-connected member of the American humor establishment, such as Mr. Kanin, might have access to information not available, or not yet available, to the rest of the media and simply let it slip out during this relaxed and jocular interview, with its "local boy makes good" theme.

It's also extremely possible that, as president of one of the nation's foremost purveyors of parody "news", (only the ONION and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart are in the same class) Mr. Kanin is simply "having us on," as they say in the U.K., by feigning a tone of mild concern for the possibly-dire fate he hopes Jay Leno will be able to avoid.

In case Mr. Kanin is trying to instigate a hoax here, let us all be wary. But if what he said in his exclusive interview with Etopia Media Entertainment News Network reflects some aspect of the truth, then, of course, we can only thank him for providing us with this new and startling information, revealed here for the first time in print, and in audio.

This reporter is not an electronic stress-analyzer, but it's his personal view that the tone of Zach Kanin's voice was more that of someone sincerely concerned than someone trying to pull off another clever ruse. But, as he often says, "What do I know?"

Decide for yourself by listening to this exclusive interview in its entirety. Just click here.

Asked later in the day to comment on Mr. Kanin's suggestion that the Leno-O'Brien transition was health-related, a spokesperson for NBC Universal in Burbank said that there was "absolutely no truth to it."