Host Jay Leno is pictured with actor Billy Crystal during a commercial break, while taping his last episode of The Tonight Show. PHOTO: FILE
CALIFORNIA:
Comedian Jay Leno said an emotional goodbye to the Tonight Show on Thursday with a star-studded farewell led by actor Billy Crystal. After hosting the NBC late night programme for more than 20 years, Leno is now handing the reins over to Jimmy Fallon.
Leno, 63, who took over one of US broadcast television’s marquee programmes in 1992 from Johnny Carson, came out to a standing ovation from the audience of friends and family, shaking hands with many as he did in each show.
“I don’t like goodbyes; NBC does,” Leno quipped when opening his monologue, poking fun at the network that orchestrated his departure from the show in 2009 only to reinstall him back as host less than a year later.
“When I started hosting, Justin Bieber wasn’t even born. That’s why we call those the good ol’ days,” Leno said, poking fun at the troubled Canadian teen pop star.
The silver-haired host ended the show on an emotional note, saying, “This has been the greatest 22 years of my life,” as he rested his hand on his chin with tears welling in his eyes.
“It really is time for me to go and hand it off to the next guy,” the comedian added.
Leno’s departure and Fallon’s hire marks NBC’s second attempt to transition the Tonight Show into a programme appealing to the 18 to 34-year-old demographic coveted by advertisers, while still maintaining its top spot in the ratings.
Fallon, 39, will be taking the Tonight Show back to its New York roots for the first time since 1972; he will begin his new hosting duties on February 17.
Leno ended his long-running late night tenure with one of the guests from his first ever Tonight Show, which aired on May 25, 1992, actor-comedian Crystal, who praised Leno for giving a comic’s levity to current events and “making us sleep better at night.”
Crystal led a comic rendition of So Long, Farewell from The Sound of Music that included guest appearances from Oprah Winfrey, Jack Black, Carol Burnett, Sheryl Crow, Jim Parsons, NBA basketball player Chris Paul and Kim Kardashian. Country music star Garth Brooks was the musical guest for the night.
Leno also received pre-recorded farewells from celebrities, such as actors Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Charlie Sheen, sports broadcaster Bob Costas and his successor Jimmy Fallon. Even President Barack Obama, who in 2009 became the first sitting president to appear on a late night talk show when he joined Leno on air, delivered a pre-recorded goodbye.
The Tonight Show first aired on NBC in 1954 from New York with host Steve Allen. Jack Paar hosted the show from 1957 until Carson took over in 1962, and reigned the airways for 30 years, before departing in 1992.
Leno led the Tonight Show to the top of the late night ratings in 1995, and has held off competitors David Letterman’s Late Show on CBS and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. The show only lost its grip atop the ratings when Conan O’Brien took over the show for nine months from 2009 to 2010.
Over Leno’s 22 years, he has been joined on the couch by celebrities, politicians, athletes and pop culture figures. Notable guests include Tom Cruise, Betty White, Hugh Grant, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, first lady Michelle Obama, Arnold Schwarzenegger and most recently, Miley Cyrus.
The Tonight Show currently draws about 3.9 million viewers per episode. In Leno’s final week, the Tonight Show drew an average of nearly five million viewers per episode.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2014.
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