appt: media

LOS ANGELES - ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson said Wednesday that he's interested in signing Jay Leno when the "Tonight Show" host is free from NBC in 2010. McPherson, responding to questions from ABC's current late-night TV host, Jimmy Kimmel, who was among members of the Television Critics Association, said he'll talk to Leno when he can. Kimmel had asked, "There are rumors ABC is actively courting Jay Leno. Is there any truth to those rumors? If you were even to talk to Jay Leno, wouldn't that be like contract tampering? Isn't that illegal? Can you go to jail for that?" Having Kimmel among the reporters made for a funny bit, but also took some of the edge off a touchy subject. The addition of Leno would move Kimmel's show, now on at 12:05 a.m., to a later hour. "I can't believe they're going to let this guy go at the top of his game," said McPherson of Leno. "If that happens, we'll look at it at that time, and Jimmy will be involved in those discussions." Leno, of course, is being replaced by Conan O'Brien at the end of 2009, but he won't be available until 2010. Since NBC announced the transition plan, Leno has become one of the most sought-after stars in television. The Leno-Kimmel speculation wasn't the only hot potato for McPherson to handle. He moved to squash talk that "Grey's Anatomy" cast member Katherine Heigl, who raised eyebrows by taking herself out of the Emmy race because she felt her story lines didn't merit an award, was leaving the show. "She's absolutely staying with the show," said McPherson. "There's an unbelievable story line for her this year which is really central to everything that's going on this season." Still, McPherson admitted he wasn't thrilled about Heigl's remarks. "I never like to see when anyone, in any way, takes show] lightly, so I think that was unfortunate." Elsewhere at ABC, McPherson said it was possible the coming season of "Scrubs," which is moving over from NBC, won't be the comedy's last. "When we picked it up, we had to make the decision based on this one season because there was a likelihood that would be it. But we do think there is an opportunity after that," McPherson said. "I still think there's a great amount of growth there, and hopefully it won't be a one-season situation. But we'll just take that step by step." He also said there would be a more discerning focus in casting "Dancing With the Stars" for the coming season. McPherson conceded that last season's cast wasn't as compelling to watch because of Kristi Yamaguchi's standout talent from the beginning. "Kristi was lovely, she was an unbelievable dancer, but there wasn't too much mystery to that and that takes away from some of the fun," said McPherson. "I think it's good to have some controversy and a little more competition."