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Comedian Jay Leno replaced the legendary Johnny Carson behind "The Tonight Show" desk in 1992 and turned the reins over to Conan O'Brien in May. But he didn't go away for long. The 59-year-old is debuting his new venture, "The Jay Leno Show," at 10 tonight on NBC.
I'm guessing there were mixed emotions leaving "The Tonight Show," but was there also a sense of relief getting off that treadmill?
Well, you do kind of get into a rut. So, I think everything happens for a reason. We were lucky, "The Tonight Show" was No. 1 when we got it, and it was No. 1 when handed it off, so that's good. So now we'll move on and we'll try something else. "The Tonight Show" has always had a certain format, and you always had to stick to that. We can maybe try some different things here [on "The Jay Leno Show"] and see what happens.
We know the new format at the earlier hour will be different for viewers, but how will it be better for you?
See the It will be worse for me because there's a lot more work. When you do "The Tonight Show" you kind of write your monologue, and you have the comedy piece, and you have your guests, and it's pretty easy after that. This is going to be like doing three shows every day. The monologue takes five to six hours to put together. So whatever else happens during the day, you set aside that [to do] at the end. I always try to have half a monologue done before I go to bed, and you kind of augment it, add to it throughout the day. The signature pieces people like, like Jaywalking and Headlines and that stuff, we'll move to the back half of the show. When you do "The Tonight Show," you tend to front load. You do all the jokes at the top of the show, and you have that big break at 12 o'clock, and then you bring out the dopey actress, then you have a band and people go to bed. This, you've got to keep rolling for the whole hour.
I read that your mother was very insistent on her children getting an education as a way to success. You did that, but how did she take it when you saidyou wanted to be a stand-up comedian?
First of all, my mom came to this country [from Scotland] when she was 11. My mom never got past the second grade. To her, once you finish school, you can do whatever you want. That was her thing. The funniest time of my life was when I was like 11, and my mom would try to tutor me and help me with my school work. I go, "No, mom that's not right. Are you sure? I don't think so." And we would just both laugh hysterically, because my mother was actually worse than I was. I was always a little dyslexic as a kid. My mother would always say, "You are going to have to work a little harder to get the same thing as the other kids." I'm a great believer in low self-esteem. You know the only people who have high self-esteem are actors and criminals. If you have low self-esteem, and you just assume you are the dumbest person in the room, you'll hopefully keep your mouth shut, learn something. That always worked for me.
You've conducted the interviews for so long with an eye toward humor and entertainment. Do you think you were able to ask questions typical reporters couldn't?
No, my thing is to try and please people, not necessarily to get something out of people that they don't necessarily want to give. On our show, people come on because they want to be there. They understand it will be a pleasant experience.
But it's exactly that atmosphere of comfort that perhaps they say things they might not have said.
Well there's a reason we give them drinks before they go there. We had our Jay cart out there. "Can I get you another mai tai Bob?" [laughing].
Many comedians claim the humor hides a dark side. What about you?
I don't, but I think it's a legitimate claim. I mean, it's a genetic flaw that makes you become a comedian. It's not necessarily a plus. I think a lot of comedy obviously comes from anger and frustration or whatever it might be or hard times. But it's not necessarily always the case. I think Seinfeld had a pretty good childhood. I had a good childhood. It does tend to be one extreme or the other. Comedians tend to be total abstainers; no drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes, or they're just off-the-wall freaks. It's drugs, it's women, it's men, it's whatever, you know?
Are you having something on the new show where guests race a hybrid?
It's not a hybrid. It's called the Green Car Challenge. What we are doing is, we work with Ford. They are building a couple Ford Focus race cars, rally cars and converted them to electric drive trains. We are putting a race track in behind the studio, and we will see who the fastest green celebrity is.
Is it like the British show "Top Gear" that you appeared on?
Yep. It's much like that. That's where the idea came from.
Being a celebrity, is it going to be hard to give up the spotlight you've been in so long when the time comes?
I think the trick is to make celebrity money and lead a normal life. Then you will have whatever you want. I enjoy observing show business and dabbling in it. I don't necessarily live it. I mean I don't go to parties in Vegas and hang out in celebrities' homes. But I enjoy being around them and seeing them. That's the way it works. I have the same friends I had in high school. When I go home I am the big shot in my own family. "Oh Jay's here. He gets the big meatball everybody. Don't touch the big meatball. That's for Jay." You are making crazy money compared to normal people and you try to live a normal life. You always have something in the bank. You can be there to help people when they need you and it's not a big burden on you. If you live in Hollywood where you have to have the big mansion, and you have to do this and you have to do that and "Oh, everybody's doing coke, and oh, this is your third wife" and all that nonsense it gets a little crazy.
Well, you've done a great job. Same wife, same life.
Same car! I'm still driving the same car we dated in, so there you go. My '55 Buick.
