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| Jay Leno appears during the final taping of NBC's “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," in Burbank, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014. Leno brings his 22-year career as the show host to an end Thursday in a special one-hour farewell broadcast. |
BURBANK, Calif.
(AP) -- Jay Leno has said goodbye to "The Tonight Show" before, but
not like this. The comedian became tearful and choked up Thursday as he
concluded what he called the "greatest 22 years of my life."
"I
am the luckiest guy in the world. This is tricky," said the emotional
Leno, stepping down for the second and presumably last time as host of
TV's venerable late-night program. Jimmy Fallon takes over "Tonight" in
New York on Feb. 17.
Leno shared that he'd lost his mother the first year he became "Tonight" host, his dad the second and then his brother.
"And
after that I was pretty much out of family. And the folks here became
my family," he said of the crew and staff of "Tonight."
It
was a tender finish to a farewell show that was mostly aiming for
laughs, with traditional monologue jokes, clips from old shows and a
wild assortment of celebrities helping to see Leno off.
Leno
first departure came in 2009, when he was briefly replaced by Conan
O'Brien but reclaimed the show after a messy transition and O'Brien's
lackluster ratings. In `09, he was moving to a prime-time show on NBC;
this time he's out the door, and has said he'll focus on comedy clubs
and his beloved car collection.
Looking sharp
in a black suit and bright blue tie, Leno was greeted by an ovation from
the VIP audience. The typically self-contained comic betrayed a bit of
nervousness, stumbling over a few lines in his monologue.
He didn't trip over his opening line, though - a final dig at his employer.
"You're very kind," he told the audience. "I don't like goodbyes. NBC does."
Leno
brought his show full circle with Billy Crystal, who was his first
guest in May 1992 and his last guest Thursday. Crystal played ringmaster
at one point, calling on Oprah Winfrey, Jack Black, Kim Kardashian,
Carol Burnett and others for a musical tribute to Jay with a "Sound of
Music" song parody.
"So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye. If Fallon tanks you'll be back here next year," sang Jack Black.
"The
Big Bang Theory" star Jim Parson's contribution: "We've watched you
when we're weary. Your great success is called the big chin theory."
In a videotaped segment, celebrities offered career advice to Leno.
"Why would I give a (expletive) about what he does. He's a grown man," said Mark Walberg.
President Barack Obama, like other politicians a favorite target of Leno's, struck back in his clip.
"Jay,
you've made a whole lot of jokes about me over the years, but don't
worry, I'm not upset," Obama said, adding that he was making Leno the
U.S. ambassador to Antarctica. "Hope you have a warm coat, funnyman."
Crystal
sang Leno's praises during the show, saying the late-night host made
America feel a little better at bedtime and invoking his predecessor,
Johnny Carson. Leno's "Tonight" tenure was second in length only to
Carson's 30 years.
"You were handed the baton
by one of the all-time greats. But once it was in your grasp, you ran
the race," Crystal said. He and Leno, longtime friends, reminisced about
the old days, with Leno recalling how Crystal and other comedians
visiting his town, Boston, stayed in Leno's apartment.
"You're calling it an apartment. I'm calling it a bomb site," Crystal joked.
Leno
told how he was poised to make his network debut on Dean Martin's show
in 1974 when news came that President Richard Nixon had resigned in the
Watergate scandal. Leno's appearance didn't happen.
"Making me the last guy screwed by Nixon," Leno said.
Garth
Brooks performed his touching song "The Dance" before Leno's farewell
remarks. "Now that I brought the room down," Leno joked, he asked Brooks
to lighten it up.
Another Brooks' song, "Friends in Low Places," closed out the show.
"It's
going to be difficult to not come in and do a show every day for our
audience who has been so great to Jay," lamented Vickers, the executive
producer. "And also hard for this group of people (the staff) who have
all been together for 22 years," said Vickers, who worked on Johnny
Carson's "Tonight" before taking the top job with Leno.
Leno,
63, said he plans to continue playing comedy clubs, indulging his
passion for cars and doing such TV work as comes his way - other than
hosting on late-night.
"It's been a wonderful job. This is the right time to leave," he said last week, and make way for the next generation.
Fallon,
39, starts his "Tonight" Feb. 17, with NBC hoping he rides the
promotional wave of its Winter Olympics coverage the next two weeks.
Closing
his final show on Thursday, Leno gave a final shoutout. It was to his
wife of more than 30 years, Mavis: "I'm coming home, honey!"
