A current popular culture topic is the popularity of Jay Leno and the Tonight Show. Jay Leno’s chin is his famous trademark. His clean cut humor appealed to mainstream America. Jay Leno isn’t a good looking man, but he appeals to many people because he just seems like a nice guy. When Jay was a child, his humor was already a standout.
Jay’s career started in the 1970’s as a standup comic. He first appeared as a guest on the Tonight Show in 1977 and in the 1980’s made several successful appearances on other late shows. In the mid 80’s, Jay was made a guest host to stand in for Johnny Carson.
In 1992, Johnny Carson retired from the Tonight Show after hosting the show for over three decades. In a controversial move by NBC, they chose Jay Leno over Dave Letterman who had a show on NBC that followed the Tonight Show. Once Jay Leno took over the tonight show, Dave Letterman left for CBS and for the first year, Dave Letterman beat Jay in the ratings. However, after the first year, the Tonight Show led in the late night show ratings. In 1995, Jay won an Emmy for hosting the Tonight Show.
Jay is known for his famous one-liners, with jokes that openly made fun of celebrities and politicians. One of the most popular segments of the Tonight Show was “Jaywalking with Jay Leno”. Jay would walk the streets and ask random questions of people walking on the street. Some of his questions would be history questions, to popular culture questions. Some of the answers of these pedestrians are classic because their answers were often completely incorrect, which of course was the joke line.
On May 29, 2009, Jay Leno handed over the reins to Conan O’Brien after hosting the Tonight Show for 17 years. Leno’s departure has made headlines worldwide. He is scheduled to host the Jay Leno show starting in September every night at 10:00 p.m. on NBC. Jay Leno is a good example of someone who started out with nothing and went on to earn millions each year in appearances and hosting.
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