I had a long conversation with my roommate this morning, after Jay Leno's return to production of the Tonight Show. I rarely stay up for late-night TV (I'm more of a morning person...), but something made me want to see how he'd approach this. I appreciated his emotional soliloquy, and I posited to my roomie that it was heartening to be reassured that the writers would continue with respect for the gravity of this situation.

My roommate said "Wouldn't it be enough if they just continued on and acted appropriately without having to tell us that they would act appropriately?"

Well, in a perfect world. The reality is that they've built their careers on nothing being sacred. I suppose I was drawn to watch the Tonight Show last night to make sure I would still like Jay Leno. I do believe that the reassurance needed to be spoken, because from a performer's perspective, there's nothing worse than feeling like the audience is just waiting to hate you. I expect some backlash on performers who will invariably insist on violating this "contract", but it's comforting to know that there is something sacred in the modern world.