VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Leno’s work ethic no laughing matter

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 | 10:52 a.m.

VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at tim@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4096.

When Jay Leno comes to work Las Vegas, he works in Las Vegas.

"No gambling or shows for me tonight," the "Tonight Show With Jay Leno" star told VegasBeat late Monday after taping the first of a week's worth of shows at Le Theatre des Arts at Paris Las Vegas. "The Tonight Show" airs nightly at 11:35 on KVBC Channel 3.

"After we're done down here, I am going back to my hotel room to read your paper and catch up on the news. I have to write fresh jokes for tomorrow's show."

Some of his guests on the first Vegas show did, however, partake in some of the local entertainment.

"I lost $1,500 gambling last night," offered "American Idol" meanie Simon Cowell.

"I turned $200 into $2,400 -- and then I stopped," chirped in Paula Abdul.

"Atta girl," said "Idol's" third judge, Randy Jackson.

It didn't take Leno long to feel the Vegas vibe at Monday's taping.

When Leno came out to warm up the audience, dressed in jeans and a denim workshirt, he asked if anyone had any questions for him.

"Ooh! Ooh! I do," immediately said Madam Suzette, an employee of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, a Carson City brothel. She then bolted from her second-row seat and ran to Leno, who was onstage.

"My question is, 'Will you wear this on the show?' " she said as she presented him with a white terry cloth bathrobe with the Bunny Ranch logo and Leno's name stitched on the front.

An amused Leno politely refused her offer, but kept the robe.

The next woman he called on walked up to Leno and presented him with a pink rose. He asked her what she did for a living. She whispered into his ear.

"I sense there is a trend developing here tonight," he said to gales of laughter.

Leno's monologue, appropriately, was all about Las Vegas.

The hotel was nothing like the real Paris, he said. At the hotel, he said, everyone he had met who worked there was happy to see him -- they were all fluent in Spanish.

But he was a little concerned, he said, when a Hummer drove up to the front of the hotel and two bellhops surrendered.

Leno cited a statistic that 151 people a day get married in Las Vegas.

"Shouldn't that be an even number?" Leno joked.

Perhaps the show's highlight was the mortified look on Abdul's face after Larry Edwards -- the Tina Turner impersonator in "An Evening at La Cage" at the Riviera -- mimicked Abdul doing a dance number dressed as a member of the Laker Girls.

The pop star started her career as the choreographer for the famous dance team.

"That was Simon's idea!" Leno said to Abdul afterward.

Celine Dion is still scheduled to be a guest on Wednesday's show, despite her health issues.

She has canceled "A New Day ..." performances Wednesday through Friday because of a sprained neck, her spokeswoman Kris Lingle told us Monday night.

"Celine is still going to talk to Jay, but she is not going to sing," Lingle said.

Lingle said that Dion has been instructed by her doctor to rest for five consecutive days to ensure a full recovery from her ailment.

Dion will appear along with frequent Caesars headliner Jerry Seinfeld.

King of all media

Howard Stern was greeted with a standing ovation from about 500 party revelers at the pool party called "Rehab" as he walked to his poolside cabana at the Hard Rock Hotel on Sunday afternoon.

Earlier, Stern and the gang from his radio show -- Gary DellAbate, Artie Lange, Fred Norris, Ralph Cirella, Benji Bronk and E! producer Doug Goodstein (who videotaped the whole thing) -- flew in from New York on hotel owner Peter Morton's private Gulfstream 450.

The group was met by hotel veep Phil Shalala and comedy headliner Jeff Beacher, who escorted Howard to the pool. It took at least a dozen security guards -- plus the portly Beacher -- to keep the hordes of female admirers away from Stern.

TV genius Sam Simon, a pal of Lange's, joined the Stern gang at the pool. Simon developed "The Simpsons" with Matt Groening and also had key creative, development, writer and producer roles in shows such as "Cheers," "Taxi," "It's Gary Shandling's Show" and "The Drew Carey Show."

Most of the group had dinner Sunday at Nobu, and then hit the strip club Spearmint Rhino.

Stern sidekick Robin Quivers arrived separately, joining the gang Monday, as they prepared for their broadcasts at the hotel today through Thursday.

Lively error

A report this morning from KLAS Channel 8 that Stern's sidekick Lange had died at the Hard Rock Hotel has been proven false.

KLAS originally reported this morning on its Web site and in an e-mail alert that Lange "was found dead in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel.

"Lange was in Las Vegas for the taping of Howard Stern's show. The hotel has confirmed his death, but offered no other details," the CBS affiliate reported.

The KLAS report of Lange's death was removed later in the morning from the station's Web site, and the station then sent out an e-mail advisory retracting the report.

"A person claiming to be from the Hard Rock Hotel called media outlets reporting the death. Once again the report is unfounded," the e-mail said.

"Artie Lange is alive. He may be dead tired from partying, but he is not dead," Shalala told us this morning. "If he had died, someone would have woken me up before you did."

Hotel prez Kevin Kelley also confirmed to VegasBeat that Lange was alive.

KLAS vice president of news Bob Stoldal did not return a phone call this morning asking what happened.

VegasBits

Score: New UNLV head hoops coach Lon Kruger is spending some of that five-year, $3.84 million contract. County assessor records show that his purchase of an eight-bedroom, 7 1/2-bath home in Anthem Country Club for $1.4 million was recorded on April 15. ...

Sip: Sandra Bullock and her boyfriend, Jesse James, stopped into 55 Degrees, Andrew Bradbury's sleek wine store at Mandalay Place, on Sunday afternoon. They picked up a bottle of a California cabernet from Napa called Hundred Acre, which is considered a cult wine. A bottle of the 2001 vintage sells for $500. The couple also hit the Reading Room and Samantha Chang, where Bullock bought two swimsuits ...

Knot: "Van Helsing" star Kate Beckinsale and director Len Wiseman had reserved a suite at the Four Seasons to get married Sunday. Didn't happen. Instead, US Weekly reports, they tied the knot at the Bel Air Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

From Sun wires

Campbell pleads guilty: Country singer Glen Campbell, 68, pleaded guilty Monday to extreme drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

Under the plea agreement in Maricopa County, Ariz., Superior Court, Campbell faces 10 days in jail when he is formally sentenced June 14.

Nelson cancels: Willie Nelson has canceled concerts for the next two months to have surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, a promoter said.

The 71-year-old country star, whose hits include "On the Road Again," was apparently in so much pain he couldn't finish a show Saturday at Sunset Station in Henderson.