Can Jay keep this up? Can Dave step it up?

Paul Harris and I had a lively 17-minute discussion on KMOX today. I recommend you give it a listen.

As you may know if you are a reader of strike blogs, there is some question whether Jay Leno should even be writing any jokes at all so long as his show is being struck. I'm going to pass on that, though if I had to take a side, it would be with Leno, a hyphenate who is being forced back on the air, who has made his feelings known about the strike, but must now make the best of his situation and act professionally. (Also, I don't even think people within the WGA have made up their minds on this; they feel conflicted because of Leno's support for the strikers.)

No, the more interesting issue is: Can he keep up the level of joke production he churned out on last night's return program? And if so, HOW?

And then a secondary question: If he does keep it up, will David Letterman rise to the occasion and realize that NOW is the time to seize the late-night ratings crown back from Leno?

This was some of what we chewed over today, so give a listen.