Jay Leno spent 17 years as host of “The Tonight Show,” but in his final episode on Friday night, the comedian still had laughs to spare.
“I’ll be going to a secluded spot where no one can find me – NBC primetime,” Jay joked about his plans for the future.
Jay is set to launch a new 10 PM show in September on NBC, but on Friday, he was focused on “Tonight.”
Jay entered to a standing ovation as the show began, telling the crowd, “We have a show!” to settle them down.
“I want to thank all the people who [made] it possible,” he said, citing some frequent objects of his punch lines. “Michael Jackson, Monica Lewinsky, Bill Clinton.”
Looking back at his lengthy late-night career, Jay said there had been one constant.
“The only thing that hasn’t changed in 17 years? The Clippers still suck,” he joked.
Even bandleader Kevin Eubanks got in on the fun, flubbing a joke about Jiffy Lube and the economy.
After the monologue, the show continued with a best of “Jaywalking” montage before Jay welcomed his final guest, Conan O’Brien.
Conan, who will be taking over the “Tonight Show” hosting duties starting next week, talked about the pressure of taking over Jay’s gig.
“Someday, I want to replace a local weatherman who has been on the air three months,” Conan joked.
The show then aired Conan’s first-ever TV appearance, which coincidentally came on “The Tonight Show” with Jay just after he landed the hosting duties for “Late Night” in 1993. Prior to taking over “Late Night,” Conan had been a TV writer with little performance experience. Now, 16 years later, he’s ready to step into Jay’s shoes as the “Tonight Show” host and he joked with Jay about adjusting to Hollywood paparazzi and testing his humor to the late night program’s older demographic.
And the pair paused their conversation for a moment to recognize one special audience member, Toronto native Christian Bobak, who traveled 4,000 miles to sit in the audience of the show 17 years after attending Jay’s very first episode as “Tonight Show” host. Conan gave the diehard fan tickets to his own first show as host on Monday.
“I flew down to be part of the last show so I could complete the circle, watch the changing of the guard,” Christian told AccessHollywood.com after the taping, calling his recognition “the biggest payoff ever.”
“Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno got up after the commercial break and they said my name, they heard about me somehow,” Christian added. “I guess somebody passed on that information that I didn’t have tickets for Conan. Conan got up with two tickets and walked up and delivered them to me in person at my seat on air and I’ve got to say, that’s about the biggest thrill of my entire life.”
Following Jay’s interview with Conan, James Taylor appeared as the show’s last musical guest, playing his 1970 track “Sweet Baby James” – a song that Jay had asked him to perform.
Finally, Jay offered his thanks — to the viewers, producers, writers, NBC, Jeff Zucker, Kevin and the band, John Melendez, and his wife, Mavis. In an emotional moment, he closed the show by raising a curtain to reveal all the children born to his staff during his 17-year run — a total of 68 people.
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