"Tonight Show" Accused of Favoring the Governator

Usually actors use a late-night talk show to announce that they're engaged, or that their wives are pregnant, or that they're really, really sorry for having been caught with that hooker.

But sometimes, in Los Angeles anyway, actors use that stage to declare that they're running for governor.

That's what Arnold Schwarzenegger did in 2003, announcing his candidacy during a Tonight Show with Jay Leno appearance. And, in preparation for the Nov. 7 election, he sat down for another chat with his old pal Jay on Wednesday night. (He's also appeared four other times since that fateful night three years ago.)

Meanwhile, reps for Schwarzenegger's opponent, California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, said that they also tried to schedule an appearance for their guy but had not heard back from The Tonight Show as of Tuesday afternoon. In recent polls, Schwarzenegger is leading Angelides by a double-digit margin.

In turn, a California congressman filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday, accusing the NBC show of violating the equal time statute of the Federal Communications Act that requires electronic media outlets to grant the same amount of on-air time to rival political candidates.

"Use of the public spectrum is granted as a public trust," U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, wrote to the FCC. "It is not to be used to favor certain candidates. Clearly, an appearance by a candidate on an entertainment program that reaches all of California's voters [not to mention all the Terminator fans] provides favorable treatment to that candidate."

The Tonight Show sort of made amends for granting Schwarzenegger the platform on which to announce he was going to run during the 2003 recall election. Afterward, all 135 declared candidates, from porn star Mary Carey to Gary Coleman, were invited on camera and given 10 seconds to declare what they were all about. They all had to shout their ideas at the same time, but still.

Becerra pointed out in his letter The Tonight Show's 2003 action, using it as an indicator that he's right about the equal protection provision.

"The governor has spent $35 million in launching negative attack ads against Phil Angelides, and now NBC is just giving him further free time on national network TV to campaign," the candidate's spokesman, Brian Brokaw, told Reuters.

NBC has said that Schwarzenegger's appearance tonight falls under an exemption to the equal time clause, because it would count as a bona fide news interview.

"Consistent with The Tonight Show with Jay Leno's previous practice, NBC is following the news guidelines for interviewing a political candidate," Tonight Show spokeswoman Tracy St. Pierre said in a statement. "Under the news guidelines, the scheduled appearance of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Oct. 11 broadcast is not subject to the FCC's equal-time provisions."

Meanwhile, the FCC told reporters that it doesn't comment on broadcasts before they air. In the past, however, the government agency has ruled that politicians' appearances on entertainment shows such as Politically Incorrect, Howard Stern's radio show and The Daily Show have qualified as newsy interviews and therefore were exceptions to the rule.

"While NBC is claiming that the governor's appearance is technically a news segment, Schwarzenegger is sandwiched in between a supermodel and a Las Vegas circus act, which isn't exactly what we would see on Meet the Press," Brokaw said.  

Maybe not, but Leno didn't forget the tough political questions. And Schwarzenegger proved that, just because he's a high-powered public official, he hasn't forgotten where he came from.

When asked about Angelides' attack ads featuring the governor repeatedly endorsing President George W. Bush (as if that's a bad thing, or something), Schwarzenegger replied, "To link me with George Bush is like linking me to an Oscar."

"I mean, that's ridiculous."

And by the way, that supermodel happened to be Heidi Klum, which reminds us--the season finale of Project Runway is on tonight, too.