Jay Leno said goodbye to his popular NBC talkshow this Friday. This photo feature doffs a helmet to the comedian and looks at limelight moments for this car-crazy host
Jay Leno said goodbye to his popular NBC talkshow this Friday. This photo feature doffs a helmet to the comedian and looks at limelight moments for this car-crazy hostTHE man with the 'chin' just jaywalked out of his last Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Jay Leno bid goodbye to the show he'd hosted on NBC for the past 17 years, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, on May 29, 2009. "You realise, when I started this show, my hair was black and the president white," remarked the 59-year-old Leno on his last night.
Leno's guest for his finale was new The Tonight Show host and his successor Conan O'Brien, who Leno praised for his writing skills, living up once again to the 'nice guy' image that Leno has been famous for. As a goodbye, it wasn't maudlin or overblown just warm and funny, with Leno shaking hands with several guests and continuing his trademark monologue despite constant cheering.u00a0
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With California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger |
With then US Vice President Dick Cheney |
It's a job that Leno did for 17 years without ever canceling a show, except for two days in April this year when he checked himself into a hospital for an unconfirmed illness. It's also a job Leno loved; since he was growing up, the stand-up comic and host wanted to take over from Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and he ultimately did just that, in 1992.u00a0u00a0
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With comedian Jerry Seinfeld |
With US President Barack Obama |
Since then, Leno has hosted the show with a standard opening monologue filled with gags, followed by a hilarious back and forth with celebrity guests, including prominent US politicians like George W Bush, Bill Clinton and the present President Barack Obama. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno also featured segments like 'Jaywalking' where he tested America's current affairs knowledge by holding a mike in front of people on the street and quizzing them. There was also the humorous 'Headlines' - Leno would hold up cut and pasted newspaper gaffes from advertisements, headlines or classifieds, often dissolving into chuckles over how absurd they were.
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With then presidential hopeful George W Bush |
With Elizabeth Dole, wife of former presidential candidate Bob Dole |
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Standing by his Mercedes SLR |
Leno also devoted entire seasons of shows to jokes on Michael Jackson, Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton. The host found a loophole to continue poking fun at the King Of Pop when Leno was struck with a gag order, as he was a witness on the Jackson trial, by getting other comics like Drew Carey and Roseanne Barr to do a routine on Michael Jackson.
These comic sketches may not be part of his new assignment as Leno moves onto an NBC ten pm slot with The Jay Leno Show. Already, the US media is speculating that Leno will face stiff competition to grab eyeballs from the slew of crime shows crowding the 10 pm slot, like The Mentalist, Numb3rs and CSI: NY. But with a reputation of earning a show that had high ratings and leaving it with high ratings, Leno has had good practice.
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Releasing his book |
Angelina Jolie |
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With former presidential candidate Al Gore |
Laura Bush cracks a pretzel joke |
