Jay Leno: The Time Has Come To Say Goodbye
Jay Leno will host The Tonight Show for the last time on Thursday night, after weeks that have seen visits from his favorite past guests.
It hasn’t been too emotional, although the 63-year-old long time host is clearly not thrilled about moving on to the next thing in store for him.
Jay Leno has hosted The Tonight Show for 22-years — aside for the brief departure that had Connan O’Brien unsuccessfully try to take over in 2009– and he is exiting the iconic late night show on top. Not many can say that.
NBC not only selected 39-year-old Jimmy Fallon to take over the hosting duties, it will be moving the show back to its original roots, from Los Angeles to New York City.
The new version of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon will make its debut from Rockefeller Center — where Fallon is based — on February 17.
On Thursday night Jay Leno will welcome actor Billy Crystal — his first guest in 1992 — to take a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
This follows a wrap up of sorts in the last few weeks which have seen a look back at the best jokes, best guests, best headlines, and other moments recapped.
In an era which has seen a huge shift in viewership behavior with all the different medium in which to watch television, Jay Leno has maintained high ratings in a packed late night market, making him relevant still.
Following the spars he and O’Brien traded in 2009, when he left the host chair for seven months, Jay Leno has aimed for a subdued farewell, rather than a dramatic, emotional one.
Jay Leno made a name for himself with guest appearances at another long-running late night show, Late Night With David Letterman in the 1980s and managed to secure the chair at The Tonight Show.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, a friend to both Leno and Letterman said:
“Those two guys both wanted that show and one guy got it. If you have a talk show on a major network at 11:30 at night, who cares what it’s called?”
Jay Leno wanted this job so badly that he went as far as sneaking into a closet during a top network executives meeting to eavesdrop.
He recounted the episode for the first time in 1993, once he had secured the much desired chair. Rather than being ashamed of his actions, Jay Leno was proud of that moment as he took his destiny into his own hands.
Jay Leno has made it clear that he would rather stay as host of The Tonight Show, just so he can outlast Letterman.
He wanted to leave the show on top of the ratings and he is doing that — ready or not — the numbers have been climbing as the final night approaches and we will soon find out just how many people will watch The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. When he departed in 2009, 11.9 million viewers tuned in.
[Image Credit: Andrew Eccles/NBC]
