Jay's Last Day

Tonight is Jay Leno's last day as host of the Tonight Show.  Technically they had the show filmed and in the can yesterday afternoon so he was done yesterday, but it airs tonight.  I won't be watching it because I'll be working.  Otherwise I'd make the effort.

I liked Jay.  I liked Johnny Carson too.  Both of them were basically clean comics, who were funny.  Both men had the knack of drawing out one last chuckle at the end of the day.  Somehow The Tonight Show was the perfect night cap after the news.  No matter how hard of a day you'd had or how crappy the news of the day was, Jay was there to poke a little fun, get a little laugh and ease the tension.

A fact about Jay Leno that you may not know is that he is a lefty liberal.  He always has been.  You may not know that because he was a true equal opportunity comic.  I was reading a summation of his monologs yesterday and Bill Clinton was the subject of more Leno jokes than any other president.  That's not surprising for a couple of reasons, first Clinton was in office 8 of Leno's 20 years on the show, Second, no one in the history of the presidency has provided more comic material than Bill Clinton. 

It's easy to like a comic that takes shots at everybody, especially if you know the person he is taking a shot at deserves it.  Republicans had 8 years of cracking up at the expense of the Commander in Brief, Boxers.  When Bush part II came along Leno threw some zingers his way too.  Nobody got there panties in to much of a wad over it.  Everyone was fair game from Charlie Sheen to anyone caught in a Jay Walking segment. 

Carson then Leno, Jimmy Fallon has big shoes to fill.  Hopefully he will stick to their example and be clean, be funny and be an equal opportunity zinger.  Every time NBC has tried to get more "edgy" or "left wing" with late night comedy, its not worked out so well.  David Letterman was the left wing hater of record prior to Bill Maher.  He has increasingly mastered the art of boring.  Conan O'Brien sucks great freckled pale skinned comedy male reproductive organ.  How anyone at NBC thought he was "edgy" or "funny" is anyone's guess.  Apparently none of them ever watched his show before they kicked out Jay the first time.

I wish Fallon good luck.  If he stays the course of Johnny and Jay I think he'll do well.  If he doesn't we might get Jay back like last time.  I'm sure Jimmy is feeling the pressure of wanting to do great and live up to expectations as well as wanting to do his own thing.  Audiences like a mix of new and old.  I'm sure he's setting up his own format.  Getting his own band ready.  Likely they will have some new writers.  Maybe Jimmy could work in a putter as a prop for the monolog and a guest Jay Walking segment.  It would be hilarious to send Leno to Congress and have him wander the halls asking congressmen basic questions and watching them flub it up.

Then again that might not be so funny.