Guest host

:"Not to be confused with Guest presenter."

A guest host is a host, usually of a talk show, that substitutes for the regular host.

This phrase was popularized on "The Tonight Show" during Johnny Carson's 30-year reign as host from 1962 to 1992. Toward the end of his tenure, Carson was granted more personal time off, and these substitutes would be more seen on the air more often. "Permanent guest host" is an oxymoron that likely originated on "The Tonight Show". It is believed that Penn and Teller were the first to declare the phrase to be a "rare triple oxymoron."

At least four of the replacements went on to host talk shows of their own: Jay Leno, who of course was Carson's successor and still hosts "The Tonight Show" today; Joan Rivers, whose "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers" was the first show to ever air on FOX; David Brenner, host of the short-lived "Nightlife" in the late-1980s; and Richard Belzer, who hosted "Hot Properties" on the Lifetime network in the mid-1980s.

When Rivers was fired by FOX in 1988, "The Late Show" adopted a format consisting only of guest hosts. One of them, Arsenio Hall, went on to his own show, which lasted 1989 to 1994. Another, Ross Shafer, hosted "Match Game" in 1990.

"Live with Regis and Kelly" has also adopted a guest host format when either Regis Philbin or Kelly Ripa is away. Among those serving in that role have included soap opera star Susan Lucci and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.

In late 2004, between Craig Kilborn's departure and Craig Ferguson's hiring to CBS's "Late Late Show", "Late Late" rotated through several guest hosts, including Jim Rome, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, David Alan Grier, Ana Gasteyer, Drew Carey, Michael Ian Black, and Craig Ferguson.

"The View" first became popular with the guest host format in between the arrivals and departures of the program's youngest co-hosts. (Debbie Matenopoulos, Lisa Ling, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Although a variety of celebrities took turns in the chair, only the younger co-hosts were eligible for the job. Then, during its tenth season, "The View" began featuring a guest host each day regular Barbara Walters did not appear, with nobody yet eligible to replace Star Jones, who left the previous year. However, another search was conducted in the summer of 2007 after Rosie O'Donnell left the program and Walters' desire to return to a panel of five women. The moderator role was given to comedian Whoopi Goldberg in August and Jones' role was given to actress and comedian Sherri Shepherd the week following Goldberg's debut.

"The View" currently uses the guest host format in place of Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who is on maternity leave until January.

Rosie O'Donnell also used the format during the final season of her own talk show. Comedian Caroline Rhea was given the role of permanent guest host when receiving growing popularity for hosting when O'Donnell was on sick leave the previous year. Since then, she has hosted every Friday edition of the program until it went off the air. Like Joan Rivers with the Tonight Show, Rhea went on to host her own talk show the following year. It, too, was cancelled after only one season.

In radio, the concept of a guest host is known as a "swing jock".