Tonight is Jay Leno’s final night as host of The Tonight Show, so what better way to celebrate him than with a clip of him working at the top of his game: on Late Night With David Letterman
in the 1980s. Once upon a time, Leno and Letterman were pals, contemporaries who’d come up through the same L.A. comedy scene. The two enjoyed playing their roles: Letterman the upstart host, tweaking his network bosses; Leno the road-warrior comic, buffing his jokes like the wax sheen on one of his cars.
Note here how Leno gets a good laugh out of both Letterman and the audience by chiding Dave with the line, “I’m not one of your big-time comedy generals with a cushy desk job.” Oh, how the years changed things, eh?:
I love everything about this clip, including the punchlines about a Times Square that could still provoke laughs nationwide because it was famous as a grungy porn epicenter. As I said, how the years have changed things. And not necessarily for the better.
Happy last day, Jay; I’ll be watching as you, a Comedy General, pass the baton to Conan tonight.
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Dave was paying attention. Jay was funny. This was 25 years ago. And when was the last time either of them busted stuff up with a steamroller!
Saw Leno in college in ‘83 or thereabouts. His plane was 45 minutes late getting in, so he did an extra hour of improv for all the people who waited for him.
People who don’t know Leno except for the “corporate Jay” of the Tonight Show don’t know just how funny he can be. This clip is a good starting point.
I am so looking forward to Conan. Jay used to be a funny stand-up, but I never really found him to be a good talk-show host
Totally with you Ken. One of my favorite Leno on on Letterman moments was when he showed up with two different Philly cheese steak sandwiches, and just ate them with Dave as he made jokes. Simple, but incredibly funny. Once he moved behind the desk, he lost his funny bone.
lame..and boring… just like their recent shows…
i guess nothing has changed.
You made a big mistake of having Conan O’Brien taking over Tonight Show.He is so
boring to watch him we saw him one time. When he came on after Jay Leno We turn off the T.V. And now we just going to watch David Letterman Show
I stopped watching him because I got tired of his liberal agenda and political correctness, and his constant drooling love affair of Obama. C’mon, Obama is a huge joke, but Leno the coward never went there. He is a typical Hollywood hypocrite liberal. I hope Obama taxes Leno and all those Hollywood millionaires to 80%, and the government confiscates his car collection because it contributes to global warming.
Leno at 10 pm will be the biggest disaster since The Chevy Chase Show. Then we have to choose between 2nd-string Conan and tired, old Letterman.
I am so hoping Leno being on earlier will have to curb the insinuating remarks toward his female guests. (and some of his male ones, too.)It just gets old very quickly. NBC needs to remember that there are lots of other choices out there.
I would’ve rather watched the part of the show where they were running stuff over with a steamroller.
I hate to see Leno leave. He’s got more class than Conan (redhair geek).
It’s the end of Hollywood. I just can’t stand Conan. When Jay signed off tonight, so did the tonight show.
Sham on NBC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry to see Conan on Jays last show. Very unbecoming of NBC to (I think) insist that Conan appear. I will never watch again. I hope he jumps to FOX
I’m conflicted over the clip. On the one hand, I love watching these old Letterman clips and it’s good to see some vintage Leno. I particularly loved his “what’s your beef” bit that he did on the show where he would just bring out the faux outrage and go on a rant that would leave Letterman reeling with laughter. On the other hand, it’s just sad to see what’s become of Leno’s career. Sure, he’s been successful (read: popular) but he was so good as a stand up (maybe the “best” during the early-mid-ish eighties?) it just feels like he sold out and hasn’t been living up to his potential as an artist.
Anal, grouchy people like Mom and Jim just need to turn off the television and go to bed. If you are going to so uptight even about a light-hearted show you might as well stop watching television altogether. Idiots.