Commentary

A Q&A With Jay: Leno On Kimmel, Fallon, Colbert And Letterman

Jay Leno still keeps tabs on the current crop of late-night stars -- except for Jimmy Kimmel.

“Not Jimmy Kimmel” were the first words out of Leno’s mouth when he was asked if he checks out the late-night shows when he turns on his TV late in the evening. 

Leno, 65, avoids “Jimmy Kimmel Live” because ABC's third-place late-night star has been so vocal over the years about his disdain for Leno, even going so far as to brashly exclaim “F--- him!” when he was asked about Leno during an onstage interview in Manhattan in 2012.

“He got onto that bandwagon with Howard Stern – ‘Oh, I'm gonna get in with the cool kids and attack Jay’!” Leno said of Kimmel in a phone interview on Wednesday. “I never really knew what it was based on, but, you know, all this ‘F--- Jay’ kind of thing …  At least, when Letterman would joke about me, it would be funny. It wouldn't be just ‘F--- Jay Leno!’ I mean, that’s OK if that's what he wants to do. That's fine. I think it's why he's in third place. [Kimmel has] never won a week even, I don't think, in 14 years. And I don't think it's because he's untalented. I think it's because he has a mean streak … And that's that.”

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Leno, who hasn’t been seen regularly on TV since he left “The Tonight Show” in February 2014, has been all over New York the last couple of days promoting this week's premiere of his new show about cars, “Jay Leno's Garage,” on CNBC (it made its debut Wednesday night).

Television News Daily caught up with him for a phone interview while he was being driven around town in a Lincoln Navigator, a car that is not among the 140-some cars Leno owns, including a handful of ancient models powered by steam and electricity. “It's a little too practical,” Leno said of the plus-sized Lincoln SUV.

In the interview, Leno talked about cars, his new show, the late-night scene, and his surprise appearance Tuesday night on the “Fallon” show in which he took over for Jimmy Fallon to deliver the monologue after Fallon feigned a hamstring injury.

Here’s what Jay had to say:

TV News Daily:  How did it feel to be back delivering a monologue on “The Tonight Show”?

Leno:  That’s what I like to do. The difference between me and Letterman was Letterman was a broadcaster who occasionally did stand-up comedy, but didn’t really like it. I was a stand-up comedian who really liked it, who then became a broadcaster because that’s what the job entailed. But I love being a stand-up [and] I enjoyed going on the show with Jimmy.     

TVND:  Have you been in touch with David Letterman since he retired and grew his famous beard?

Leno:   No, I haven't talked to him.

TVND:  Why haven’t you grown a beard? Aren't you aware that this is what late-night hosts are supposed to do after they leave their shows?

Leno: I'm never that far in between gigs. I mean, the most it’s going to be is 72 hours away. And not being virile enough, I can’t grow one that quickly. 

TVND:  Why are cars so important to you?

Leno:   When I was a teenager, a car was the iPhone of the day. Now, you go places virtually. When I was kid, you had to go places in reality.    

TVND:   Why did you come back to TV? Are you just unable to stay away?

Leno:   [“Jay Leno’s Garage”] was just a little Internet show and it’s just me and a camera talking about cars and it turned into YouTube’s third-biggest automobile Web site in the world -- at one point, 4 million subscribers. So I thought this might be an interesting thing to do -- a network show. I got approached by a few of the cable channels and I thought, OK, why not? It’s fun to do something that’s different. And it’s something I’m really interested in. I’m not all that interested in celebrities.  

TVND:  What’s your take on late-night TV now in the post-Jay and Dave era?

Leno:   I turn on the TV to see Colbert and Fallon and Seth Meyers. Do I watch the celebrity interviews? Not so much because I’ve talked to all those people. I just like to see what’s happening comedically and what the topics are and who’s doing what. I enjoy the art of stand-up. I think Jimmy [Fallon] is doing a great job. 

TVND:  Your collection of cars and motorcycles is housed in a sprawling warehouse-type building. How do you keep unwanted visitors away? I assume it doesn’t have some huge sign identifying it as “Jay Leno’s Garage” …

Leno:   No, I’ve always had to have signs that discouraged [them] like the Acme Feces Removal Company, something like that.  

TVND:  What are your aspirations for the “Jay Leno’s Garage” TV show? Would you like to see it continue after its initial eight-episode run?

Leno:   If people like it, sure, why not. I’m a guy that likes to work. I like to make money for people and that’s what I do and if it works, great. It’s fun to be relevant. Who doesn’t want to be relevant? 

“Jay Leno’s Garage” airs Wednesday nights at 10 Eastern on CNBC.

 

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