Jay Leno: No, I don't have an agent or a manager, but the nice thing is I get the unfiltered truth this way. No one says, "Look, Leno sucks. He stinks. We want him out of here. And that's-- that's what I prefer. He has never been the critics' favorite, particularly in New York and Los Angeles where some find him bland an unadventurous.
This "Duck Dynasty" thing gays are very upset with "Duck Dynasty" They are furious. But neither has Leno gotten his due. He's always had a feel for the audience in the middle of the country, and outside the major urban areas.
Jay Leno: Well, I think it's-- you're trying to appeal to the whole spectrum. If you look at the monologue for every smart, insightful joke, there's a goofy joke and a silly joke and a fun joke then a clever joke. That's the trick, you try to have something for everybody. Leno was one of the last people to find out. Jay Leno: Oh, "You're out. You got-- you know, gonna go with this and ba, ba, ba.
Jay Leno: --"I don't want to see you anymore. She doesn't want to see you anymore, OK? Steve Kroft: They didn't say that. They said, "We-- we don't want to see you after four more years. Jay Leno: "You're fired four years from right now. I mean, it's-- it's got-- what's more show bizzy than that? What's the funny-- "You're fired four years from now. Get out in four years. But it wasn't funny for NBC four years later when it was time for Leno to go. He was still a strong No.
Desperate to keep him from going to another network, and saddled with disastrous primetime ratings the network offered him a 10 o'clock time slot on its schedule. Are you going to go on vacation that kind of stuff? NBC primetime. Of course we're not really leaving we're coming back at 10 in September.
I'll admit it's a gamble, it's a gamble I'm betting everything that NBC will still be around in three months -- that is not given. Leno's ten o'clock show tanked and so did the ratings of "The Tonight Show" with Conan O'Brien, which dropped out of first place. Jay Leno: I said, "Sure. And I believe Conan was gonna follow later. He didn't want to do that. He quit. And so they gave me the show back. What was supposed to be an orderly transition instead turned into an unscripted reality show that played out every night on late night television.
And I just want to say to the kids out there watching: You can do anything you want in life. Unless Jay Leno wants to do it too. In an interview with Deadline, Leno said the attraction to him was the notion of trying to aim a new project straight down the middle.
That lasted only so long, and then people started yelling at you for not taking one side or the other. You Bet Your Life , whose episode run will be shot over 12 weeks, is expressly intended as an easygoing viewing experience.
Former Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks is reteaming with Leno as his on-air non-musical sidekick. They all kind of do that. This is almost exactly like the old Groucho show, because that show was about Groucho talking to people. And it was Carson, who, despite his own aversion to sentimentality, drew affectionate tears from viewers as his last shows aired. His penultimate show as host, featuring Bette Midler singing to him, was one of the most touching TV moments in history.
At least Leno's departure this time lacks the messy fallout that occurred during the debacle, when Leno was forced out of "The Tonight Show" seat to make room for. Since Leno was still drawing strong ratings, NBC gave him a five-night-a week show at 10 p.
That didn't last long, as the network and its affiliates weren't happy with the ratings for Leno's 10 p. Leno returned as "Tonight Show" host shortly after O'Brien's well-publicized exit. While O'Brien was seen as the hero of the saga, not wishing to besmirch the legacy of "The Tonight Show" by seeing it ejected from its decades-old time slot, Leno drew fire from many sources, including other comedians, notably ABC's late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel.
This time, following last year's announcement that made official what industry experts had predicted -- that Fallon would inherit "The Tonight Show" in -- the transition is proceeding in a more dignified manner. But where are the tears for Leno? Especially considering that, during most of his tenure, he's kept "The Tonight Show" as the top-rated late-night show?
Tuning into a recent show, it was strange how unremarkable everything seemed. Leno, as has been his custom for a while, made a crack about being aged out of his hosting gig. But then he moved along, the unstoppable motor of the monologue crushing anything that might feel like genuine emotion. Watching Leno do the show that he first took over back in , it felt like it could have been any night between then and now. Now Leno has one more stab at getting re-cast as The Good Guy. But mostly, Leno has been very careful not to let his sharp edges show as he slowly heads toward the door.
Sadly, though not surprisingly, the nearly 15 million viewers who tuned in learned almost nothing new about Leno. Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.
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