If you've ever wondered why Jay Leno hasn't hosted the Oscars, the reason is this: He said "No."

"I've been asked," Jay Leno told E! Online columnist Marc Malkin. "But you know, I have a job. I mean, it's nice to be asked, but I have a show on Friday, and I have a show on the day after the Oscars.

"Billy (Crystal) does it right," he added. "He takes a month or six weeks off before and prepares for it."

Next host Ellen DeGeneres has a daily chat show, too, of course, but obviously feels she can manage the intense schedule. And, by the way, Jay believes she'll do a good job.

"She has exactly the right tone," he said. "She has no agenda. She's just funny. She does great on her talk show. She's a real comic's comic. With some comics you just go, 'Eh! They're technicians.' She thinks like a comic."

Actually, the reason I thought Jay never hosted the Oscars was because he's a NBC star and the Oscarcast is on ABC. However, "Tonight Show" predecessor Johnny Carson did the emcee job five times successfully while working for a rival web.

Photo: A narrow escape? Looks like Jay Leno will be spared the kind of savage reviews received by recent Oscar hosts Jon Stewart and Chris Rock. But he probably wouldn't have gotten knocked, really. Jay would make an aces emcee, come to think of it — a humble, sly, warm-hearted, mischief-spreading everyman in the tradition of the ceremony's most frequent ringmaster Bob Hope (18 times — 11 solo, 7 as cohost).
(Photo: NBC)