He was part of a weekday talk-variety lineup that included "Big" Wilson, Robert Alda, Mimi Benzell, Sterling Yates, Bill Mazer, Brad Crandall and Long John Nebel and hosted a competition/quiz show for listeners called Fortune Phone.
As producers changed, Leonard and Whitaker were eventually succeeded by The NFL Today with Brent Musburger, Phyllis George, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder and Irv Cross on one of network TV sports' longest-running studio-based programs.
[4] A year later (1980), Leonard moved to CNN, where he hosted People Tonight, the network's first Los Angeles–based live entertainment news talk show.
The show was groundbreaking in its coverage of Hollywood red carpet premieres and many important breaking stories including the deaths of John Lennon and Natalie Wood.
Robin Leach cut his teeth as a New York–based correspondent before signing on to do Entertainment Tonight and later launching the pop culture hit series, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.