-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com america's late night leader, going out on top. >> thank you, folks. >> a winner. that is jay's legacy. >> the journey. from comedy club kid to the throne of king johnny. >> the young man's name is jay leno. >> the rivalries -- >> i love letterman. he is great. nip at my heels, and make me work harder. >> and the triumphs. >> what the hell were you thinking? >> and the jay you didn't know. >> and probably more sensitive than people would think. >> tonight, the blue collar guy -- >> the guy in the jean shirt and

jeans. and that is him. >> who became an entertain meme giant. jay leno, mr. comedy. >> and now, jay leno. >> the man of 1,000 monologues is down to his final cue cards. >> katy perry said that when she was a young girl she prayed to god to have huge boobs, so atheists, your move. >> jay leno departs the "tonight show" number one, where he has been for years admired -- >> let me say that i think that the jokes are just as funny -- >> -- by comedy cohorts. >> he has done a tremendous job all of these years. >> and long time friends who know another side of him. what is private jay like? >> probably more sensitive than

people would think. if there is somebody in the family that is suffering some bad health, he'll make shure tht he calls, and anything i can do, and ki refer you to somebody, and just let me know. >> and the first place i i went to when i came to california -- >> and a guy that many say has not changed a bit on the rise up the kcomedy ranks. >> and come on, guys, let's get the picture. >> and it is a journey that begins pretty much at the bottom. >> who is going to hang out with this guy. >> right. >> and the first time i met jay was in new york city, and it was a 44th street and 9th avenue of the original improv was. >> comedy impresario bud friedman knows jay from the early 1970s. jay then in boston with dreams of breaking into comedy drives down the new york city, over and

over. >> and so, the young man comes up to me at the club, and he says, excuse me, mr. friedman, but i have been waiting three nights in a row where i have been coming down here for three nights in a row from boston where i go to school, and when can i get on. i said, wait, you come down to new york from boston and then go back home and you don't get on? he said, yeah. and i said, you are on next. >> jay is an instant success. >> he did great. he was a regular like that, and special. >> you notice how all of the news men use the same metaphors. >> there are comics that have worked hard and honed their craft, and they are great. >> another senseless killing earlier today. >> and there are comics that are just born hilarious, and jay was born hilarious. >> who knew? >> 1973, jay graduates from

emerson college and moves to los angeles. he performs anywhere and everywhere he can. ultimately, he finds a home, once again at bud friedman's improv on stage at shows like this one. freddy prinz and prince. >> it is hard to believe people sit here to drink wine. how much is that? $1.07. >> oh, sure, he roasted me a few times. they were pretty funny. >> such a tacky club the improv. thank you very much. you are very nice. >> and with the improv on the resume, he is booked into another prestigious venue, l.a.'s comedy store. >> and he had a night that was jay and robin and pryor and elaine u boozeler and billy

crystal all in the same show, and it was unbelievable. >> it is 1977, and jay's career is booming. then, he gets the call. the "tonight show" with johnny carson wants him. >> this young man's name is jay leno, and this is his first appearance. >> that performance in front of johnny is life-changing. >> i'm originally from the united states. any united states people here tonight? and then big screen roles follow like "american hot wax" and comedy career on track, and off stage, leno finds love with a brunette named may vvis nichols. >> she is a bright and wonderful person. >> i would say we make a good couple. >> they married in 1980, and never parted since. with her by his side, jay

devotes much of his time to his other passion, cars. >> when you work with your hands, you realize how easy it is to make a living on television. >> jay is a guy when he was in high school, he was tearing apart cars and seriously tearing apart cars. >> it is fun to restore cars. >> he is a world class mechanic. >> and i have studied it for years, and it is as if i didn't know how the turn a wrench. >> and then jay is making strides by the 1980s. >> he was on top. probably the top stand-up touring in the '80s. he was huge. >> he lands the first cable comedy special "jay leno and the american dream" and he is a regular guest on "tonight show" and "late night with david letterman." >> please well come jay leno. >> it is 1985, and leno and

letterman have no idea how often their paths will cross. >> i bid you a very heartfelt good night. >> and next, the king of comedy steps down, and the heir apparent is on his way up. i'm randy, and i quit smoking with chantix. as a police officer, i've helped many people in the last 23 years, but i needed help in quitting smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced the urge for me to smoke. it actually caught me by surprise. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking, or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away.

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here's jay leno! this is 1987, a milestone for jay leno named permanent guest host of "tonight show." >> do you believe the trouble in the soviet union -- >> and subbing when johnny carson takes a break. and there is a new slogan, we

have fallen and we can't get up. >> and he is ready to take over if carson retires, but so is another guy. >> will you please welcome mr. david letterman. >> and letterman has his own show following carson on nbc. and then in 19. -- 1991 comes the inevitable announcement, the king of late night is going to leave his throne. carson's bombshell. >> and johnny carson has made it official. >> it immediately sets off speculation on the successor. will it be letterman or leno? >> it is sensational, and jay is the permanent guest host, but we have not made that announcement yet as to who the successor to johnny is going to be.

>> and secretly it had been made. >> and quietly with nobody in the business knowing it, they had a private meeting with the nbc hierarchy and jay's manager, and they guaranteed him the show. it was a huge blowup. >> just how pissed off are you? >> would i be angry at jay leno about this? no. would i like to have the show? oh, yes, sure. >> and nbc also calculated that dave is very hard to work with. >> and we have no guests on the show, do we? just jerky activity, don't we? and he did not play ball with them, and jay did, so they felt more comfortable with jay, and jay got the show. >> and his night show debuts may 25th of 1992, the middle of the presidential election campaign. >> all we know for sure is that

ross perot has not said anything, and be bush has not done anything, and clinton has not inhaled anything. >> and despite the a-list guests, execution in the early days was an issue. >> yes, it was bumpy, and he had the absolutely unlovely task of following johnny carson's footsteps. >> i bid you a very heartfelt good night. >> there was no way it would be, and oh, then we moved smoothly to jay leno. >> big gun. i will give you a refund on your ticket. >> i thought that he was off of the game a little. he was not as confident, and one thing, he was too far from the audience, and it felt like he was separated completely from the people. >> i never liked that distance of standing there with the lights in your eyes and hearing the laughs and not seeing the faces. >> and with the tonight show struggling creatively, nbc toys with replacing him with letterman, but in tend thhe end

decide -- >> the host of the "tonight show" will be jay leno. >> okay. what we are celebrating is that i have not been fired. okay. i have not left. >> and that sets up head-to-head competition against dave. and leno tells journalists, this is going to be fun. come on, isn't this going to be fun? >> if you think about it, all i did was to take the summer off. >> and dave comes on and it is an absolute sensation s and he crushes him. >> and fans are responding to jay including his signature headlines bit. >> there is always a high-rated segment of the show, and jay had a great time with it. and he has another great time with the popular segment "jay-walking." >> this is something we can do which is to go out to test people's knowledge of what is in

the news and things they should know and they don't. >> who are those two people? >> from the "love boat." >> from the "love boat"? >> yes. >> no. >> and then in the mid-1990s, the pivotal moment in jay's battle for rating supremacy. >> let me start with numb be ber one. >> and the pivotal point was hugh grant coming on in 1995. he had been busted for solicitation. >> and everybody was watching and anxious about what was going to happen. >> what the hell were you thinking? >> jay delivered that night, and it disarmed everybody, and it felt like, oh, we can be relaxed to this guy, and talking to a person who got busted with a prostitute, and feel relaxed with jay asking the questions. >> although i have never been one to blame my own compass as

they say -- >> that hugh grant booking did turn the tide. >> and everybody said that jay was good, and so it was a crucial thing for him, and not that he had hugh grant, but that he paid it off, and he had monster audience that night, jay. >> and that night, leno seizes nu number one, and pretty much never looks back. as the years go by, memorable moments keep on coming, and one with the future governator. >> and this is why he needs to be recalled. >> and it shocked everybody, including leno. >> and that is why i am going to run for the governor of the state of california. >> it was like one of those really great live tv moments that don't happen all that often. >> and jay welcome the president of the united states, barack obama. >> and no sitting president had ever come on a late night show. >> was jay nervous?

>> everybody. everything was shutdown, and you know, it with was, huge, huge deal. >> let me just say that i think that kevin looks good in a suit. >> thank you, sir. thank you, sir. >> and secure atop, leno does not rest on the laurels. >> and everybody i talk to say nobody outworks jay leno. >> i have seen it. he loves the work. >> but in 2004, nbc makes an unusual decision. >> i want to elaborate on an announcement made earlier today. >> and they promised conan o'brien the "tonight show" in 2009. >> and they sea say, okay, jay, we will extend you for five more year years, but that is when we give the show to conan. and jay was hurt. >> hurt. >> i was cleaning out the office today -- >> and ever the team player, leno goes along. >> and then i realize that i am not spending enough time with my cars. no. but anyway. you know, when i took the show over, boy, there was a lot of animosity between me and dave

and who is going to get it, and quite frankly, a lot of, what i thought, well, good friendships were permanently damaged, and i don't want to see anybody ever have to go through that again. good luck next week, my friend. >> and the five years rup, b but -- five years are up, but in the handoff, a fumble. ♪ we are one, under the sun ♪ under the sun... [ female announcer ] fiber and protein. together as one. introducing new fiber one protein cereal.

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you were the only choice, and the perfect choice. >> and may 2009, leno hands over the reins of the "tonight show" to conan o'brien. >> thank you, everybody.

thank you for watching. please give conan as much support as you have given me throughout the years. >> publicly the transition is positive, but behind the scenes tumultuous. and nbc's contracts had guaranteed him the show, but they don't want to lose jay. >> he is number one. nobody wants to take the number one guy off of the air. >> and it is jay's show. >> and the solution, to give jay a show in high time to save the network money to come up with a new show. >> it was not weird, because it was not something that has been done before. >> and i have been off of the air for three months, and as most people in hollywood call it, rehab. >> it premiers in 2009. >> and while the government is starting a program to give money to the old cars, i made $5

billion. >> and leno was back with the monologues and the headline m l humor, but not all of the fans follow him. >> how breezing for him to go to 10:00 p.m.? >> it was breezing for all of us, because we had to figure out what to do just like that, and we thought that we were doing a pretty good job at 11:30. >> what is the biggest challenge for him to succeed at 10:00? >> well, it was, i mean, challenge is the word. ? . >> a rating challenge for the nbc affiliates, too, because the nbc newscasts take a hit from the lead-in. >> and they were in a panic, and by october, they were ready to remove jay if nbc didn't. >> and ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the "tonight show" with conan o'brien. >> and meanwhile, conan's ratings are not meeting the expectations. >> it was a huge transition from jay leno to conan o'brien, and

stylistic cl stylistically, they were different, and jay was macaroni and cheese, and you knew what you would get. >> and they had lost the number one spot. >> and then to stop the ending, they asked o'brien to do a show at 11:30, and push it up, and jay agrees burk conan declines. >> then it was the jay camp and the conan camp. >> and the back scenes had become front scenes, and it was just a di ssaster, and when the curtain of reality and perception is torn, everybody is uncomfortable. and that is a real problem for the host. ? and the uncomfortable situation resolves when nbc pays conan and the staff $45 million to step aside. jay resumes his role as host of "tonight show" in march of 2010. ♪ get back to where you once belonged ♪ >> when he came back, was he number one almost automatically?

>> no, there was a hangover. and it damaged jay. >> what had happened ran absolutely counter to his brand which is that i'm not a hardball player, and yes, you are. and of course, they all are, and you have to be a hardball player to succeed in that arena >> and jay takes the criticism that he receives over the controversy in stride. >> yeah, you get beat up for a while, and you try to get your version of the story out there, and with all of the serious things in the world, this looks like fun, and rich white people arguing, and you know, you have earthquakes and disease, and rich white people arguing, and it gets people's mind off thing, and that is fine. >> and it points out -- >> this is a decision of nbc and not me. you cannot snap your fingers and say, my tv show failed and i want that one. it does not work that way. >> it is "the nigtonight show" h jay leno. >> and he aims his sight to reclaim the late night ratings. he gets back on top, and it is a

position he has kempt ever since. >> and chelsea handler sent me a bottle of vodka and said, you need this more than i do. that is how bad it was. >> and many alongside him relate his success to the hard work and relatability. >> he is the hardworking guy, and the hardest working guy that i know. he is always gracious and kind and always time to sign the autograph, and what he shows is the regular guy aspect is the guy in the jeans and the blue shi shirt. >> that is an approach that works. and now nbc is betting on another good guy to carry the torch. in a comedic duet last spring, leno and fallon announced, there is a new heir apparent. >> they think that i can woo -- >> and everyone is on board. >> we are still friends, right? >> yeah. of course, of course, we are

still friends. >> and being friendly this time around is great to jay and ji y jimmy. >> and jimmy has learned a lesson from jay that nice guys can finish first. >> and after 22 years and thousands of shows, leno is finishing as number one. >> what do you think that jay's l legacy is? >> two words, a winner. that is jay's legacy. he against people's expectations always won. >> and if you want to succeed in life, all you have to do is to go to jay leno university, and he can take a punch. the guy can take a punch, and he may go down, but he gets right back up. >> and as for what jay is going to be up to next. >> whatever happens with jay, i hope it is something that he enjoys doing, and something that he wants to do. >> and now people who are in their 70s and 80s, and i'm 63, and i can't host the show. i'm going to the go to japan and

do porn. that is what i am going to do be doing. >> still drawing the laughs and it is a good bet that this mr. comedy may show up at a club near you. >> thank you. nice to have you all here. ♪ i found the greatest love >> unforgettable voice. ♪ the greatest love of all >> silenced after a troubled life. two years after her tragic death, a look at whitney h houston, her life, her music. ♪ above all this