John Melendez, THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO announcer: Mr. Media Audio Interview

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John Melendez has one of the most interesting careers in show business. During his 15 years as "Stuttering John," a punchline on Howard Stern’s radio show, he was the cast member you loved to hate, not for the stuttering but for the way he managed to piss off everyone around him.

Still, you couldn’t help but admire the way the kid grew up and emerged as his own person in the later years, a husband and a father, smarter than you thought, savvier, contributing more than just a disability and an intuitive sense of how to make celebrities ill at ease when he attempted to interview them.

Fast forward to March 2004 and almost overnight, the world of John Melendez changed. Jay Leno shocked everyone—Howard Stern most of all—by hiring Melendez to be his announcer on “The Tonight Show.”

You had to wonder: “Stuttering John” as the voice of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”? Really?

But it all worked out. Fans missed Melendez on the Stern show—and so, too, did Stern—but he earned the respect he’d never get on the air from Stern, by striking out on his own. He’s even launched his own online TV show at johnmelendez.tv.

Now, as Leno prepares to transition from “The Tonight Show” to a new, five-night-a-week program on NBC at 10 p.m., everyone wants to know: is Melendez going with him?

Let’s find out.

You can LISTEN to this interview with JOHN MELENDEZ, announcer on THE TONIGHT SHOW with JAY LENO, by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player above!

Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

You Said It! (Howard Stern)

"Between Obama and McCain, you want to throw yourself out the window!"
—Radio personality Howard Stern, discussing his frustration with both leading presidential candidates on his Sirius satellite radio show, September 18, 2008.

Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!