But as Leno left his perch as the host of The Tonight Show for the third time last night–waved off the stage by a host of celebrity friends and MC’d in the most ridiculous music segment of all time by Billy Crystal–I just had to pause for a second. This is a time for reflection, to actually sit and look at the broad expanse of 5,742 shows (approximately) and ask “What the hell WAS that?”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omDcZT8MEwE]
Like, what is going on here? Someone explain this to me, I don’t get it. How much does Kim Kardashian care about Jay Leno? If the goal was to pick celebrities who have known Jay the longest, why go with a woman who says herself that their only interactions have been to be the butt (LOL) of his opening monologues? Why is this done in a Sound of Music parody? Who are these people, this self-selecting majority of the late-night viewing public, who have voluntarily watched routines like this for so many years?
Just to take another example, here was Leno’s final monologue:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTZHmD9im8c&w=560&h=315]
That drum-roll is so distracting. Was that always the drum-roll? Maybe I’m being too nitpick-y, but I watched half of the last The Tonight Show with Jay Leno yesterday for the novelty of being part of television history or whatever, but I couldn’t even make it through the whole thing. The only LOL-able moment of the evening was in the video segment of celebrities saying what Leno should do after he leaves the show, and Mark Wahlberg not understanding the question: “Why should I care what the hell he does?”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTZHmD9im8c&w=560&h=315]
Pretty much. Look, I don’t want to be flippant. I know Jay Leno’s legacy on The Tonight Show is the stuff of legend. But after this guy, Fallon’s pop-heavy sketches and social media-savvy are going to be a welcome relief. Goodbye, Jay Leno. I hope you get to continue doing whatever it is you love, like riding around in your cars, talking to celebrities. Hey, I might even know someone I can set you up with.