Jay Leno Talks About Starting as a Regular Guest Host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Jay Leno Talks About Starting as a Regular Guest Host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - 08/07/1987
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Video Script:: 

[Music] okay Jay Leno was here tonight and he is one of the hottest stand-up comedians in our business and Jay made his first appearance on The Tonight Show about ten years ago and starting a next week Jay is gonna take over here on a regular guest host on Monday nights and throughout the summer he's gonna do a number of weeks as a regular guest host flitting it up with Garry Shandling so I'm delighted about that welcome Jay Leno about your locker and the key and everything I got some of the foot spray and everything you'll have to get your little pants and everything now you must promise me as we haven't talked since oh this really took place it went when you start doing this and you get an offer and you're gonna split call me just call me well judge that's written in anyway I'm delighted well thank you and thank you it'll be a lot of fun you know the strangest part about doing it is you know obviously when you get something like this you get a lot of press and whatnot and now press has all been very nice to me I think when I've been good they say you're good when I'm bad this here bad but the press they always sometimes can't help but put physical remarks you know like if they don't like your performance you can say well I'll do better but you can't change the way you look so these are actual clips that I brought this isn't one called cosmic pollen this is last month's Cosmo Jaylin I'm hosting the Tonight Show Jay Leno whose chin is the size of West Virginia they said that this is the LA Times Leno the Pelican faced comedian [Applause] the Birmingham News the anvil faced winner in both Asia here's one that was in 17 it says Leno looks like a guy who got to start performing in the lounge of psychos Bates Motel the real thing this is the Philadelphia dentists Leno about to be filling in I'm gonna go when those blue eyes dart like ferrets caged in a narrow face here's the Washington Post Leno might be intimidating if not for the friendly goofy look on his book what is my favorite one this one is from GQ last Leno whose head is ideal for a comedian it looks like a hunk of urban folk art I think if you dig under that that's all good sure it's all good stuff well this is the most interesting one you know with my local paper where I grew up in Andover Massachusetts the Lawrence Eagle Tribune they called my mother now some Dame I called your mom already well you know I always talk about my mom when TV and I do jokes about my mom and dad so they called my mom and they said oh now that Jays gonna be our Monday are you gonna come on this show and my mother it frightened to death I'm here she says God no I'm not gonna appear under any circumstances I don't wanna be on TV this is the headline the next day in the paper when O's mother shuns Tonight Show shuns TV appearance right away they get your own mother with you well you will find out as you praise you will once you're out here the exposure is tremendous and the shots will come you know oh yeah but that's part of it did you say nobody minds if you say use critique your performance rocky you know you weren't all under you when you say that that's fine Pelican headed comedian anvil face you have a strong you have a strong that's my mother you have Astra laughs she with you not is your mother funny I mean did you ever think your mother or your dad is my parents are very funny but not in any intentional way yo you know I mean just the other night my uncle John was visiting he broke his leg is it true my mother time but listen on the phone she was hysterical he broke his like so my mom thought since he had a broken leg maybe he need a little footstool to sit on down put on his socks so my uncle John hobbles into the bathroom my mother comes out puts the foot stool in front of the bathroom door he comes out falls on the Bravo my parents are strange because no matter how important you think you are or how much press you get mothers especially are always able to kind of level it real good remember when I got the Governor's Award from the television Academy in 1980 and I called my mother I said mom they're giving me the the Governor's Award you know it's for your body of working in the television industry and my mother said I guess they know what they're doing and all the sudden you go yeah mom I guess they do million and they have no conception um its financial yeah you know like when I I remember I would try to impress my mom sometimes their money people making sure I remember I actually said if I called my mom and I said I think I stalk about Rambo and I said no sir Festus along got 12 million dollars for 10 weeks work and my mother actually said but what's he gonna do the other 42 weeks you got that yeah your mother was get 12 million all at once I want that security every week a page have that day a paycheck is there anybody in your family that entertain performance well my dad my dad was a understand your material what do you do it kind of Leo kind did they do you know my mother will sit and you know sometimes it'll come to she'll sit right down in front my mother sit like this and people belie me she'll go as if she's annoyed but what she doesn't understand with you on there laughing especially if you're talking about your childhood or growing up yeah but my dad is a very funny guy you know my dad was an insurance salesman he was the guy that was always asked to get up and speak at the convention and tell a funny story and tell a funny joke you know so I think that's where I get it combined a little bit with my mom yeah but these these are these aren't so bad anyway oh no they're great fun it's a great fun it's right you got some big plans coming up for the show and there are you working on things yeah I want to see about you're gonna give me some jokes how do I handle it I was gonna give you some tips I guess you have now you have to write every day this is see that's gonna be the most fun sitting down on Monday afternoon and figuring out what I'm gonna do me that's the fun about it though that's the fun part well will sleeps a little battle every I know I know I think I'll be great okay we're gonna do this we're gonna come back and talk about some other things there we are [Applause] you