Blog Archives
Jay Leno Was #1 in More Than Just Ratings
Somewhere between 44,000 and 60,000 jokes were told with great, widespread applause (millions of people each night) throughout the course of 22 years as Jay Leno not only took on the nearly impossible task of replacing Johnny Carson, but he entered and left the coveted Tonight Show stage #1 in the ratings. That is not an impressive feat…that is a damn impressive feat! It’s borderline surreal when his daily presence, changing dynamics of television and comedy, plus the vastly increased competition are considered from when he began in 1992 and signed-off in 2014.
In replacing an icon he became one.
Jay’s final monologue included some flashbacks to his favorite and most memorable comedic targets, like NBC, O.J. Simpson and, yes, a very clever Hugh Grant jab!
Last night, the show’s staff and longtime friend Billy Crystal had a circus of surprises ready for The Tonight Show host and dear friend Jay. If you saw the show, it was magnificent. A long list of Jay’s good friends offered him their advice as what to do next. This ranged from starring in a new Tyler Perry Madea movie to him finally %*!@$ inviting Matt Damon to his garage to Bill Maher welcoming Jay back to The Tonight Show for a third term. But the best advice may have come from Charlie Sheen who essentially told him to spend his saved Tonight Show money and buy NBC and then fire everybody!
All of which was done with great fun and laughter.
Jay’s first guest, Billy Crystal, was funny, smart and generous. He started by ordering the Burbank Moving Company around the stage to claim some necessary keepsakes for the road. This led him into his own monologue of sorts about his comedic colleague and friend of 40 some odd years that was sprinkled with Crystal’s own brand of pure class and humor.
This post will not recap the entire show, but there were humorous stories from “back in the day” between Jay and Billy Crystal, a Von Trapp-inspired tribute song, a Garth Brooks who sang for the heart and the party and a final heartfelt and tearful goodbye from the man himself. Jay’s speech at the end of the show was not only really emotional and tearful, but also deeply revealing to the casual viewer. He disclosed the fact that his mom died his first year as The Tonight Show host, his dad died during his second year and his brother died soon thereafter. He was, for lack of a more delicate way to say it, out of family. His writers, producers and everybody on his Tonight Show staff at NBC was his family.
And you’re always loyal and protective of your family.
Despite obvious and warranted friction with his NBC superiors, Jay made it clear that he was invested in more than just a job at NBC. It was something special for him, his staff and everybody who tuned in during the past 22 years.
What does Jay’s exit signify as for the future of The Tonight Show and late night comedy itself? A lot. In fact, it’s a seismic shift. Last night was not just Jay’ final bow to his loyal and always entertained audience, but also a generational goodbye, which is why his departure off the 11:35 p.m. time slot is proving to be such a difficult farewell. Jay is an old school stand-up comedian. There’s no political agenda or mean spirited attacks. He’s just funny. All he needs is a stage. And it’s truly sad he won’t have that anymore to make America laugh at the same time every weeknight after a long, stressful day.
His sense of humor and jokes are timeless.
We’ll especially miss Monday’s unbelievably printed Headlines, the hilariously unpredictable Jaywalking, those savvy gifts from The 99¢ Store and the surprising visits to Oakwood Apartments.
Throughout the post, I’ve almost exclusively written Jay and not his full name Jay Leno. There’s a reason. For most celebrities or personalities, we know them by their full name. But for the rare few where only a first name is the natural reaction to call someone, it usually means that we consider them as an extended member of our family. Whether it’s through music or a talk show, some entertainment personalities feel like that funny or inspiring uncle, aunt, brother or sister to us.
Jay was not just the #1 rated late night host…Jay was America’s stand-up comedian for more than two decades. As Jay alluded to last night, it felt a little like a high school graduation, except that everybody was held back for 22 years! But he’s right. We’ll still see him, whether it’s on the road, online in his iconic garage working on some steam-powered relic or on a television special, but it won’t ever be the same.
It’s the end of an era in too many sad ways to contemplate right now.
Jay ended his tenure as host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno with a shout-out to his wife Mavis, “I’m coming home honey.”
Jay, for 22 years, thanks for coming into our homes and making us laugh.
Tonight, We’ll Say Goodbye with a Few Laughs
First off, it’s my 300th Post on Jimmy’s Daily Planet!
Second of all, I want everyone to know that I wore a denim shirt to work today in honor of Jay Leno’s final show. His comedy style is unequivocally as strong as denim fabric. In fact, here’s a joke I made up, inspired by the style of the one and only Jay Leno:
“There was a recent report that 500 Radio Shacks are closing. Isn’t that unbelievable…I didn’t know there were 500 Radio Shacks still open!?”
At 12:37 a.m., Jay Leno will officially sign-off from his 22-year reign as The Host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. There are two guests booked for his final show (that we know about…), with his first Tonight Show guest and comedy legend Billy Chrystal returning, as well as musical guest and good friend Garth Brooks.
It will surely be an emotional day and show for Jay, his producers, writers, band, stage hands, cue card writers, etc. And let’s not forget about the final studio audience, plus the millions of viewers and faithful fans watching him for the last time on the iconic stage in the comfort of their own homes.
Tonight will be amazingly bittersweet, with several dynamics playing out, even if they don’t make the front-page headlines. However, these milestones and generational markers will be detailed and explored more in-depth in tomorrow’s post once the bright lights have been turned off forever in the Burbank studio along with Jay’s tenure as The Host of The Show.
For today, below is a video with some of the funniest bloopers or unscripted moments from Jay’s countless interviews and comedy bits.
Enjoy and have yourself a few good laughs this “Throwback Thursday!”
Be sure to stay tuned tonight because I think we all have a feeling that the Tonight Show staff have saved the best surprise for last…
When Trust Met the Unknown
“But I trust you.”
“No you don’t.”
“I don’t.”
Spoiler Alert: This is a recap of the February 4, 2014 episode of The Goldbergs
Trust.
It’s a tricky concept. Everybody says they want to trust someone and yet there is this natural instinct to abandon all of that supposed faith and replace it with relentless suspicion that takes oneself down to the figurative (and literal) level of the second floor corner next to an air vent that’s adjacent to your daughter’s room.
This specific condition is known as “Seal Team Beverly.”
The never-ending battle between a mother and her teenage daughter can shake and interrupt everything and everyone around them (like a classic ’80s television talent show featuring a one-legged model!) with their verbal spats that look and feel equivalent to volcanic eruptions. There are constant accusations and invasions of privacy, which Beverly cannot believe as she’s moved on from reading her daughter’s fake, planted diary to the real one she found hidden under the mattress.
Erica had faith her mom would find it…
The only relationship dynamic more entertaining than Beverly v. Erica was Adam + Emmy. Best friends since before they could even remember, these two neighborhood siblings were joined together by a shared love of movies, adolescent hijinks, worms and Big Tasty’s fresh beats (he’s always movin’ and groovin’ like a rad Ferris wheel ya’ll). But what Big Tasty Barry had in store for his much more innocent younger brother would send awkward shock waves into one of Adam’s most precious possessions: his friendship with Emmy.
Barry explained how it was only a matter of time before Adam and Emmy would finally kiss. And if there was one person who was uniquely qualified to give his younger brother advice on girls…it was not Barry. Why so harsh on the older brother?
Five words: Beaded curtains and whale sounds.
This harshness is underscored with great humor and admiration for a young man trying to figure the world out, as we all do. We’ve all been Barry at some point in our lives.
Anyways, Adam took Pops’ advice and invited Emmy over to watch When Harry Met Sally to see if they were more than friends. Unfortunately, Pops never finished the movie, which left Adam and Emmy not wanting what the movie had (ie-kissing or romance). This forced Adam to want to leave his own house. Within seconds, Emmy left his house in a sprint. Their relationship had changed as fast as Indiana Jones running away from a giant boulder in an ancient cave.
What was the only thing that could save Adam and Emmy? Ironically (and perfectly), a grand romantic gesture…
Between Erica fooling her mom into thinking she had eaten “the crack rocks” with a fake journal entry and Beverly listening in on her daughter’s phone calls, father Murray was rather relaxed. Although, he usually is with his daughter. They have a very special “don’t ask, don’t tell” kind of relationship.
But that was about to change.
Besides demanding he have peace and quiet to watch in awe as a one-legged model strutted down the runway, Murray was quite content to let life happen for Erica. Nothing to fear with his teenage daughter as she’s just having fun during her high school years. He kept insisting to Beverly that she was overreacting. Why was Erica’s bed sheet not tightly hugging the mattress? As far as Murray was concerned, it didn’t matter. That was, until his wife dropped this bombshell of reality on him that night…
“Your baby girl is at a college frat house wearing a thin layer of bedding.”
Content just met the burnout of a station wagon!
For Erica, being grown-up at a college party was supposed to be fun and transcendent with older, suave gentlemen. To say it was the complete opposite would be very accurate, especially after her friend bailed to check-out an aquarium. This left Erica stranded on “high school girl at a college party” island. This, plus bumping into the beer can mountain, solidified the fact that she couldn’t be trusted. Her mom was right. Erica wanted to go home. But that reconciliatory tone that left her feeling slightly embarrassed was replaced with complete embarrassment when her mom and dad showed up in a station wagon outside the bustling frat house.
After Murray was somehow distracted by the infamous “aquarium,” Beverly had a heart-to-heart with her dejected and angry daughter. What was said? Basically, every daughter wants freedom, but every mother won’t trust her daughter enough to give her that freedom. The opening quote of this post says it all. And with this genuine confession and realization came peace between mother and daughter…at least until the next weekend.
As for Adam, he watched When Harry Met Sally again and had an epiphany. In that instant, dressed to the nines as a game show host, he ran out the door and down a street of raining sprinklers to Emmy’s front door. When she answered, he pulled her down into the “rain” and confessed that every reason why Harry loved Sally was the complete opposite of why he liked her. Sally would never put a worm on her face, but Emmy would…and did.
Adam didn’t love Emmy and Emmy didn’t love Adam, but they liked each other as friends and partners in crime. It was one of the most romantic, yet unromantic confessions between two people (with help of “Kyrie” by Mr. Mister).
It was perfect. It was Adam + Emmy again.
Barry, in his unique effort to impress his crush, made sure he had the beaded curtains and a mustard colored shirt with small geometric shapes ready for an afternoon study session…in the kitchen…with his mom nearby. Even when Beverly with her new found sense of trust for her children (though temporary) told Barry they could move up into his room, his attractive study partner refused. She not only refused the relocation invitation, but more shockingly she wasn’t tempted by the whale sounds?
Weird.
All in all, parents and children alike must work hard to demonstrate a mutual understanding of one’s motives and reasoning for a variety of life’s complicated circumstances.
Trust cannot be found hidden in a journal or in a famous movie, but only in our hearts…until that 11:00 p.m. curfew Mr. Mister!
Three Men and a Man Child
There are some nights when we just can’t fall asleep. The cause could be a myriad of reasons, like stress for the upcoming day, nightmares from a movie or anxiety about taking over the most iconic late night show in television history.
All that needs to be said for the video below is that we’re never too old for our teddy bear and a nice, soothing nostalgic sing-a-long from the guys and days of “predictability, the milk man, the paperboy, evening T.V.”
A “Full House” is always the best.
Always!
Everywhere you look (everywhere)
There’s a heart (there’s a heart)
A hand to hold on to.
Everywhere you look (everywhere)
There’s a face of somebody who needs you
Now this is worthy of the top-shelf on Throwback Thursday!
Jimmy's Daily Planet 