Michael Strahan is set to take the lead in a neck-and-neck race with John Oliver for the inter-network silver medal of late-night.
The Good Morning America host will visit Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show tonight for his 21st appearance, continuing his streak as Fallon’s most frequent guest. And he shouldn’t have any trouble getting into 30 Rockefeller Plaza. When Strahan made his 20th visit to the program last September, Fallon gifted him with his own Studio 6B ID badge.
Strahan’s visit will widen his Tonight Show lead over Andy Cohen, who has appeared on as a guest on Fallon’s show 16 times.
However, it’s a different TV host Strahan now finds himself in competition with. Just two weeks ago, John Oliver became the first 20-timer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (Perhaps it was LateNighter dubbing Oliver “the Michael Strahan of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show” that prompted Strahan’s latest visit to Tonight.)
Strahan also has four Late Night with Jimmy Fallon appearances to his name—but those don’t count toward his Tonight Show tally.
Regardless, any race between Strahan and Oliver would be for second place at best. Between guesting, guest hosting, and co-hosting, actor Anthony Anderson has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! a staggering 63 times. Of course, Kimmel has over a decade lead on Fallon and Colbert’s programs.
But even Anderson can’t hold a candle to David Brenner, who visited Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show more than 150 times in a similar 20-year span
Michael Strahan’s 21st visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs tonight. Also set to appear on the show is chef Giada De Laurentiis, and a performance from the new Broadway musical “Maybe Happy Ending,” starring Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen.
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