I can't stand Jay Leno

"Nauraushaun" (nauraushaun12)
03/19/2020 at 18:49 • Filed to: None

A Jay Leno video is half an hour of him cutting off his interviewee to chime in with his own anecdotes and absurd Americ anisms.

*cuts off interviewee* - I remember in 1980 blah blah blah

*cuts off interviewee* - I own and a Panhard and a Franklin and a blah blah blah

Watching him talk to an actual engineer is constant cringe. How he built an empire as a TV host is beyond me.

DISCUSSION (52)

RPM esq. > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 18:52

How he built an empire as a TV host is beyond me.

Apparently t he blandest imaginable comedy appeals to the broadest possible viewership. I can’t stand him either.

jimz > RPM esq.
03/19/2020 at 18:59

He had to follow Johnny Carson as host of the Tonight Show, so yeah, his schtick had to not scare off old people.

dogisbadob > jimz
03/19/2020 at 19:03

they should’ve given it to Letterman

dogisbadob > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:04

Leno should do an interview with Chris Matthews from Hardball. It would be a good cutting off match

TheRevanchist > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:11

I don’t know about now, but he used to frequent comedy clubs all over LA. Mainly the Comedy Magic Club from what I recall. He was kinda funny back then.

ranwhenparked > jimz
03/19/2020 at 19:13

Leno had already been hosting the show one night a week for 5 years, he was proven with the audience. And the nights Letterman had him on as a guest were consistently the highest rated Late Night episodes, so it was an obviously sound business decision. The Tonight Show was the single most profitable hour of TV on the entire network during most of his tenure.

Thomas Donohue > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:19

Could not fathom him as a comedia n/host.

As long as I’m interested in the car, I can actually get through his videos and generally like them.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:21

He's gotten worse as he's aged.

glemon > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:24

I never thought he was a great or even particularly funny comedian, but I enjoy his car shows. Like the eclectic mix of cars, it is not an engineering manual , it is a car show, Leno is pretty knowl edgeable and obviously a car guy, and I don’t mind the back in the day stories, makes him relatable, to me anyway.

ranwhenparked > TheRevanchist
03/19/2020 at 19:28

He changed his style when he became a full-time late night host, to appeal to a mass audience. When he was younger, he was actually considered pretty edgy. For the time, anyway, by modern standards, it would be pretty lame. Now, he’s too old and has too established of an audience to ever try to go back.

phenotyp > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:30

But, where else can you get videos of cars made of brass and leather?

(actually, I like his shop update videos; the rest I could take or leave)

HammerheadFistpunch > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:30

I agree with this assessment completely.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ranwhenparked
03/19/2020 at 19:34

Everybody “hates what he did to Conan”, but it was NBC’s franchise and their money.

The irony is that after they booted Conan and brought Jay back? The ratings went right back to where they were before he left.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:35

Out of curiosity, ever watch Matt Farah or Joe Rogan?

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Thomas Donohue
03/19/2020 at 19:37

I usually learn something about the cars from the guests. It is sometimes surprising how superficial Jay’s knowledge is of car tech though... which is weird for a guy who owns jet and gas turbine cars.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:41

I really do not find him likable at all and whenever someone shows him their car, he gets to drive it. Does the owner get to drive something cool of Leno’s?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RPM esq.
03/19/2020 at 19:41

I just do not find him likeable.

ranwhenparked > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
03/19/2020 at 19:42

I’m a Conan fan, I liked his show a lot more than Leno’s, so I was sad about how that turned out, but I understood it.

What people forget is that Conan’s Tonight Show was already in trouble for months before the Jay Leno Show debuted and tanked its ratings further. His ratings dropped behind Letterman in his second week, and fell off a cliff after NBC preempted him for a week of Wimbledon highlights, and never recovered. He refused every note the network gave him to turn things around. He prioritized guests that were longtime friends and supporters of his, even if they had nothing relevant to plug, while Letterman pulled out all the stops to bring in the biggest A-listers he could get. He kept his monologues short, even as Letterman intentionally extended his to replicate Leno’s format, and then there was the whole Sarah Palin thing. NBC CEO Jeff Zucker spent the summer defending Conan from affiliates who wanted him canned and replaced with Leno immediately, but even Zucker had to start backing off a bit after that.

When he refused to compromise on his time slot, even though his contract had no time slot protection clause, that was the end of it. Zucker only wanted to do it for long enough to let Jay’s contract run out, and Jay had told Jimmy Kimmel privately that he had planned on retiring then anyway, after his new show crashed.

Leno’s show never had a chance, anyway, with all the restrictions put on it to keep it off Conan’s toes. Only 1 interview guest per night, interviews could only be one segment long, sparing use of musical guests, Conan had first priority on guest bookings, and popular comedy segments had to be saved to the very end of the program. The rest of the time had to be filled in with scripted, filmed comedy segments with a new cast of correspondents. Leno ended up spending most of his time in the editing booth, instead of working on his own material. They had to produce about 40 minutes of original, scripted comedy per day, 5 days a week, when it takes SNL a full week do do about an hour of it, and they get loads of extended breaks during the year. The quality wasn’t there, and wasn’t going to be there.

diplodicus forgot his password > RPM esq.
03/19/2020 at 19:49

I used to not care for Leno at all. Although I found his Leno's garage videos interesting. But then I watched his joe rogan experience episode and it definitely gave me a new respect for him.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:49

I also can’t stand Jeremy Clarkson, but I get more pushback on that than you’ve gotten complaining about Jay Leno.

Chariotoflove > dogisbadob
03/19/2020 at 19:54

Still can’t believe they didn’t give it to him. He was a proven guest host who respected the history and would have continued the formula. On the other hand, Letterman got the chance to build his own show, which I think worked out better for him. Or at least for us.

Maxima Speed > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:58

I like the guys car videos. His stuff is really good IMO.

Chariotoflove > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 19:59

Forget Leno, how did anyone ever think Kimmel was a good idea? He wasn’t even the stronger of the hosts on The Man Show.

Cé hé sin > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 20:00

He does interesting things ( I saw his Briggs and Stratton hybrid one the other day) but I do find that a little of Jay L goes quite a long way.

Nauraushaun > HammerheadFistpunch
03/19/2020 at 20:01

Thank you.

I was a little scared I was slamming a beloved American icon.

Nauraushaun > RPM esq.
03/19/2020 at 20:01

I can see that working

Nauraushaun > jimz
03/19/2020 at 20:02

It’s weird being not of the Americas. I don’t know who Johnny Carson is. I’ve seen Letterman a few times. I’ve never watched Conan but he’s sort of a meme

Nauraushaun > Thomas Donohue
03/19/2020 at 20:02

He has some good cars on there and it’s good to hear anyone talk about them. I’d sooner watch Doug though. If Doug had done that Briggs and Stratton I’d have been much more satiated

Nauraushaun > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
03/19/2020 at 20:03

Totally! The guests know things, but he’s too busy cutting them off to really showcase them. And he doesn’t know shit!

It’s fine if you don’t know about the Briggs and Stratton thing. Nobody does, it’s been in a garage for 20 years and it’s a 1-of-1. So let the guy from Briggs talk!

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > diplodicus forgot his password
03/19/2020 at 20:04

Yeah, that fawn ing Joe Rogan vibe I find like Nails-on-Chalkboard. Leno asking dumb questions about cars seems mild by comparison.

Nauraushaun > glemon
03/19/2020 at 20:04

You’re right I guess. He is a car guy and that’s good. There are few enough of those . I just...don’t like watching him.

Nauraushaun > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
03/19/2020 at 20:06

I’m not a huge fan of either of those either! Actually on this big trip I did recently I listened to pod casts of both Rogan and Doug+Farah. It was good. They’re both sort of arrogant, you know? But they know car stuff.

I’m more of a Doug guy.

Nauraushaun > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/19/2020 at 20:06

I can understand both of those things you just said. He’s a bit of an ass. But people do love him.

Nauraushaun > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/19/2020 at 20:07

Haha, good point. Not in Doug’s case, though I guess Leno has no interest in an old Defender or GT

Nauraushaun > Cé hé sin
03/19/2020 at 20:07

That was an interesting thing, I couldn’t help but watch. But I’ve got my JL fix for at least 6 months as you say

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ranwhenparked
03/19/2020 at 20:10

I personally think Conan (who actually like, as well, even if mis-cast as Jay’s replacement) found his niche over on TBS. A smaller audience, to be sure, but who watches late night these days anyway?

ranwhenparked > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
03/19/2020 at 20:18

He was funnier on Late Night, though. He’s lost too many of his longtime writers who wanted to move back East. And TBS slashed his budget - no band, half hour format, smaller studio, smaller staff. He’s getting less than 300,000 viewers a night now, I think TBS keeps him around for the marquee name and because he loses only a manageable amount of money.

jimz > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 20:30

well that’s understandable, Carson was strictly a late night host and more or less a hermit otherwise. Leno is a legit huge car guy and despite the flaws you point out he does actually drive the rare and expensive cars he buys rather than just shoving them in climate controlled storage.

ranwhenparked > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 20:31

With Clarkson, I'm pretty sure 60% of it is a persona/character he's cultivated over the years. Either that, or he's just become more curmudgeonly with age.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Nauraushaun
03/19/2020 at 21:44

a lot of his car money is from shows in vegas (for old folks)

pip bip - choose Corrour > Nauraushaun
03/20/2020 at 05:08

i’m not a fan of him either

Justheresoidontgetfined > Nauraushaun
03/20/2020 at 07:34

Yea I totally agree. In your response please leave a link to your 30 year number 1 show , or even 5 minutes of you doing stand up, I can’t wait to watch it!

Justheresoidontgetfined > Thomas Donohue
03/20/2020 at 07:56

Well, that’s probably because you’re not very smart. He’s only worth $450,000,000, he didn’t build an empire by ruling on his phone.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/20/2020 at 10:09

I like Clarkson only when he is with at least one of the other two. All of his solo stuff is... bad . (Actually I think James May is the only one that is good solo...)

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/20/2020 at 11:57

Missus Vandura and I both like James May.

Have you seen his Cars of the People ?

Well worth the investment.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/20/2020 at 12:09

Oh yes. Very good stuff.

I wasn’t really into Man Lab or the wine show though...

Chadatya > Nauraushaun
03/20/2020 at 19:17

T he craziest thing about Jay Leno is he can make over a hundred thousand dollars for one night of stand up and when he was doing the tonight show he taped that in the day and still did stand up five or six nights a week. He’s made so much doing stand up he saved all his tonight show money for retirmemt. I get his popularity on the tonight show because he was great for old people that needed something to watch after the 10pm news what I don't understand is who would ever pay anything to watch him tell jokes on stage.

Just Jeepin' > Nauraushaun
03/21/2020 at 09:34

Timely: Carson once contributed to a toilet paper panic.

Nauraushaun > jimz
03/21/2020 at 16:49

That is true, and admirable

Nauraushaun > ranwhenparked
03/21/2020 at 19:40

In some of his Youtube vids he seems worse than on TG.

Nauraushaun > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/21/2020 at 19:40

Hammond solo is not good. The Morgan vid was good, but those fake ones with his family, ugh.

Nauraushaun > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
03/21/2020 at 19:42

ugh