tavis: good eving from los anges. i'm tavis smil. tonight an exclusive conversation with median and ta show host jay leno. heicks off a bold experent when he debuts a nrimetime variety sh weeights at 10:00 on nbc. in may he stepp down from "the tonight show." we're glad you can join us. jay lenooming up right now. >> there are so manthings that wal-rt is looking forward to doing, like helping pele live

better b mostly we're looking forward to buildg stronger commities and relationships be. etcoo me. >> nationwide surance proudly suppor tavis smiley. tavis and nationwi insurance working tomprove financial litera and the economic empowerment that comesit it. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ >> and by contributis to your pbs station from viewe like you. thank you. [captiing made possible by kcet public television] tavis: please welcome jay leno to this program. the popular comedian hostedthe toniht show" for 17 years. he spe his entire tenure as

the undisputed king olate night tv. on september 14,he day after birthday. >> that's right. tavis: had to remind you of that. moving to primetime, as t host of "the jay leno show" at 10:00. just one of the many promotional spots the network is airing for the new series. >> what ideas haveou g? >> we have som great ones. start off withhis one. it is called lo man. we'llrobably d some merge -- the len man at 10: p.m.. he'll h you with his joke ray. what do we do wh your voice? punch of hilarity. spread laughter d saves everyone tavis: there is so much writing. >> sadhing was that was a real pitch. [lghter] tavi first of all.

go to see you. >> gd to see you. thanksor having me on. tavis: my delight. there is so much wting on is. do you fee pressur >> not me. write joke, tell joke, get check. that's whai do. no matter whahappens, i did "the tonight show" for 17 years. it was giv to meumber one. i handed it off number one. no matter wt else do, they ll goe also "the jay leno show". at my age i'm glad i'm still in it. tavis: a beautul answer. i expect no less knowing you. no different, should say. but the talk is if you can pull this off, it revolutionid primetime testify. >> no, idoesn't. it's justv. tavis: noby has done this in a talk show format in pmetime.

>> see, it is not a talk show. we're doing a comedy show. there will be me talk but it is not an earlier version of "the tonight show." we'll still have a monolue. weuilt a racetrack bind the studio. we're going to do th green card challge thing. it willust be more lital. so iwill be -- it will be a comedy sw with somealk elements. theris nothing new with tv. this all harkens bk to t bennshow and the steve allan show. people forget and then it comes back again. theris nothing revolutionary. it iust within the last decade or so it seems like a new idea. tavis:f this -- and all my money is on you. >> that's why you hav no money. tavis: youe right abouthat part. if this we not to work o, how would you handle that

personly? it's ok. whatever it is. i'm not one of those people th dwells. i wod feel bad if i didn't give it my best shot. if i wen intot halfhearted an my heart wasn in it, i would feel like i left pple down. whenou work in a nightclub, like i look around your studio if i see a guyot laughing there, i kind of aim myaterial that guy. a after a while you see him go. then you say iot him. it took mtwo minutes but i g him or i got him rig from the beginng. it is always a matter o literally tting the whole room. when i g on tv, realid quickly, youan't get the whole room. there is somody who doesn't like you because you look like their bther-in-law. you can't g the wle country. you can get a good part of it

bu you can'tet them all. that w the frustrang tng. you realize l right, i've got enough to keep everybody happy and worki. that is the key to it. if you thi you're goin to make the whole world laugh, that is truff. tavis:ver 1 years you became an iconic figure in this country. >> not rlly. it ireally television. we do -- people go io show business bause of a genetic fault. they feel the need to go out and t stupid. if we lived in a different period of history, we just happ to be in a time wre it pays greatividends too ts. but no, you really c't put that mucheightn this. people come upith phrases lik that. you tell mend i go y. i don't need you anymore. you're fired and then you're back to square one again the real trick is not -- you know, grew up.

myother was one of these people who is jt very -- like the reason it said "the tight show with jay leno" she sai oh, starring. mr. big sho. it has to be starring. i said all right, mom, i will just mak it wh jay leno. my mother kt the whole thing inerspective. tavis: i want to come back to your mom and dad in a second. the reason i use the word iconic. i' not throwing smokeour way. it is impossibleo be number one, for come on now, you're numb one for all of these years. th's why i say ike onic. the point i want to gt to that, why after that kind of run why en take the risk? and do prime? >> i like to work. if i had gone to another twork, against conan and the other shows then i looks like

bitterness. th it looksike oh, he's trying toeat "the tonight show." yocan't be bitter. i always tl young perrmers, the reason showusiness pays a lot of mon is when you get screwed, you he something left over. something will happenhatill seem terribly unfairnd instead it is here is a big pile of cash to get you through that. that's why it pays a lot that's what i tell peopl i like to work. i don't have a agent or a mager. the network came upith this idea i like to work. is a handshake and wll do it. tavis: how close were you to leaving nbc? >> was gone. i walet go from "e tonight show ok fine. then you sit down for a while and other people express interest. you go oh, ok. c is likeho issking my

ex-wifout? wait a minut ok. how about this idea? yeah, fine. we want you back? u want me bac you wanted me to leave whatever y want. i like to tell jok. you tell me whereo stand. it is really that simpl tas: when i was goi through -- i was going through a difficult period in my career and y and i were sitting there talkg one day and youave me me gat advice and it had to do with acting like you have some class. just be clay because even if yo lose you'll still have class. you gave me some great advice. you make jokesll the time but i wonder how you dealt with what many perceiv as the insult of nbc aing you to step down? >> well i mean, you're in a very insulting busess. [laughter] why are yo surprised? mean, it is not like, i always

tell guys about show business. don't fl in lovwith a hooker. ok? have a good time. enjoy yourself but don't falln love with her. he will kill you and break your heart. that's what tv. i ve been mared to the same woman for 2 years. it is fun toome into show business and look at tt and watch that andaybe go to a party and see whoehaves badly. d do all that kind- but just don't immerse yourself in it because there is nhing there. i mean, it is f. it is great business to be in. you ow, you're not ruining the environment. you're just telli jokesut you can't bece so immersed it that you start to believe it. that isot a real city. people, thais a fake tng. tas: no, it is not. that is not true! >> b if you really believe -- tavis: that is real! >> if i g up and r into the lights i'm going to het my head.

it is not a city out there. it lookseal and it isun but at is the trick. alws tell people lead a rmal life and me show buness money and you'll be the happiest person inhe world. tavis:ow did you develop that phosophy. my grandther says it makes perft sense. but a lot of folks in ts business don'tet it. >> i am a great believer in low self-esteem. only the ones with hig se-esteem are actor and criminals. that true. i wasyslexic as a kid. myother said to me you're going to he to work a lot harder than thether kidto get the exa same thing that waslways my attitude in life. i never aumed i was better or smter. i just figur if i worke harder i would at least sta equal to the other kids. that philosophy works for me. i ow i'm not the smartest person inhe world. you wk around and s and gure what your strengths and

weaknesses are andou obviously have aot more weaknesses than strengths. that's what gets me through. tavis: you have been workingn e nu new sw. you might not have hea "the toght show" has lost two million viewers. >> to be fair, con is ing through the exact samthing i was going through wheniook over from johnny. it i a travesty that they replaced johnn with someone. whoever has the job goes thrgh this. it is all part othe growing pains. it goes down for ahile and then it comes up again. i don't think it is fair t judge conann whahappened in a month or two. i got beat up forour or fe months a you still go out with yo chin up and thenne day newsek had a story, what is so bad about leno? that's wt happened. i dot think it is fair to kind of judge the whole tng.

conan w number one for 17 years a row in his spot he mes to anoth spot. takes a whi to find yourself. vis: what are your expectations for how- what the ride is going to be like onhe new show you expect to srt high and come back downnd go back up? >> obviously i don't expecto beat "c.s.i. miami." that's the mt popular show in the world now. wean probably do seven or eight shows forhe price of one of tho shows. but we n get them on t reruns. that's kind of the attitude i have. those shows are2 weeks a year. we're on 46eeks a year. to me, the future of television is what's happening no the ideal story isrobably wha happen with the plane that landed in the hudon river. "the tod show" gets it literally as it's happening dateline does a han ierest, the people onhe pne and then late night doe jokes about it.

heres an event that happened and nbc had it throughou the day. the human angle, the new angle and the fun angle. that's what i think we n do in primetime. we're not going to te three or four shows ahead o time. we're going to tape, watch t ne, boom. yo give people your taken what theresident did or didt do that day. tavis: saking of your take. i was dng without you over the summer because the were so many things i wanted to hear your take on. can i throw aew things at you? >> sure. tavis:n no particular order, what did you make over th beer mmit? >> i come from boston. so it is jus like a funny place to -- younow, it is better than it used to be. iean, ihink this is just a case o you know who i am. i'm a boston cop. sometimes it is just guys being ys. you know, that's what would

likeo think. that's whai go into itith. if i g into it with any other titude then i go to a negative place. it seems to he worked itself out. they both seem thave -- i understand ty are going to a red sox ga or something. ah, fine. tavis: bl clinton bringing those journalis back to burbank of all places? >> that's what h does great. he is great diplomat. he doesn'tepresent the government. he wt on aumanitarian mission. the fact that they were two attractive women. i'm not sure he would ve rescued helen thomas. my favorite is governor mark sanford. that's the guy. tavis: i was gng to go there. >> honey i'm goingor a wal and you go to argentina tsee your girlfend and then wt do you do? you call her yr soul mat ! , when you're married you don't call your girriend your

soul mate, you idiot! yor a dead man! tavis: you mentied sanford. was there somethingeyond that. you're in e garage and this ory is breaking thisummer. that was the story. the perft sry is where men behaving badly, especially conservative os who espoused those views. amicans will accept ything but hypocrisy. you can do anythg in america d get awa with it a long as you're not a hypocrite about it. when you lie lik thi u lie aboutt, it hilarious. my soumate! no! you don't call your girlfriend ur soul mate. i'm getting backith my wife althou she is my soul mate! no! idiot! tavis: i hav read more stories over the years where pple have trd to literally analyzed yr

monologue months and yea trying to figure out jay lens politics. >> yeah. tavis: what do you make of that? >> wel that is not my job. i felt gd when the media people said wwere about 50/50. th funny thing was wl, mr. leno, yound your rpublican riends. then i had president obama you and your liberal democratic frnds. that means y're doing your job. i'm aomedian. if you read into the jokes, it is more a humanis point of view. you sort of side othe human spirit side. not necessarily repubcan or mocrat. so, no,'m not a bigan of -- i don't think anybody turnsn a comedy show to hear my particular point oview. i ca do a joke about president oba and president bush. that's what they ar just jokes. tavis: tre are two shows. you mentned president obama.

you did the show for 1 years. opposite ends of the spectrum. two of the biggies that com to mind. the hugh grant momt. >> ok. >> tavis: andhe barack obama moment. the first sitti president to sit on a le nht show. what is bigger than that andan you justify tho two? >> i think president obama is a lot bigger than hugh grant. hugh grant d not getnough credit there. he came in. no publici. no support. he said look, was stupid. ask me whatever youant and he was ver open andonest. nowadays you have- i can't remember, we had somece skate on. she had been famousike seven or eht years ago and she was naked in playboy we puter on. america's sweethea. then in the dressing room. hi, nice to see you. thanks for comg.

are not discussing playboy o me being naked why don't you take your client home? your clit hasn't said anything. they cald us bause she was naked. you say don't mention it. of crse we're mentiong it. what was yr question? tavis: i was just askgco wha you thought were the b moments on the show. >> tt was great having the president on. i hadad him on twice befores auest. the diffence, each time he would come, he would have his jacket over his sulder. one person, maybe ather aid and cell phone. that was it. when h came back as predent, oh, my god, the parking lot was tented. snipers up in the -- and you ow what they do is they come in, secret svice comes in a week before and go up to members of my staff. don't come in tomorrow. ifou had a joint in yr sock

backn 1979 a you got arrested for it. they have everybody's -- like oh, my god. tavis: it is amang you got thathow off the grod. >> the funnit thing, i said to someone, got hisumber. i dialed hisumber. hello. i sai yes, barack obama? this is barra. hey, it is jay leno. i had a direct line! tavi one other story i want to ask you aut,arah palin resigning a governor of alaska. >> i don't quiteet that one. i don't -- i wan to be president s i quit m job. i don'tuite understand tt. you're governo you don't wan to be a lame duck but erybody's a lameuck. i'm still mystified by that one. i don' quite get that one.

but i guess she is traveling around the country now and she is goingo run for presidentn 2012? you ow, as a former beauty qun, think it would be histic the first time a beauty queen could actuay bring about worl peace. theyll talk about it. here is one tt actually -- beuse they all want world peace. here is someon that could -- tavis: ye, i get it. i have seenou -- your standup a couple of times in vegas. >>orry about that. tavi and learned manufacture out you. and learn more about you. jay leno. >> what didou learn from watching? i'm curious. tavis:or those that have seen you in snd up. i have never heard yo talk so ch about your parents and growing up a what it was like

the little household. you took me inside -- it wa funny but you took me iide your life and mad me think jay don't do interviews. you d't talk about yourself. en you ask jaybout himlf he defers with a joke. we watched you every night for 17 years and nobod freaking knows you. >> oh, well, wha do you want to moe? i talk about my folks quite a bit. its not -- now what do yo want t know? i'll answer any questio tavis: forhose who don't know even where you were bor or rais. >> i was born in new rochelle, new york. 1950. my mother s from scotlan sheame to this country by herself en she was 11 because the family was too big. they h to give one awa my dad was italian.

it was a veryunny household growing up. my mom saido matter what you do don't draw attention to yourself. my father always said y make sure everybody knowsou're anglo leno's boy. when i wasike 5 o 6, we would be in the superrket and i would run away from m mother. i would say i'm lt. could you page katheri lone? fo my mom to hear her name on the speer. this was the mos embarrassg thing. when iirst madet in show businessi bought my dad a cadillac and of course being italian, ihad to be a white cadill. my mother, so embarrass by this stuff. she woulsit low in the seat like this . so people couldn't see her they

would say i saw yr dad yelling at himself. no, my mom was there. she was just sitting low in the seat. e would motion to pple to roll downhe window. she would go, we're not really cadillac people. our s got us this. my dad would go of urse we're cadillac people. we're driving a cadillac. to me tvesue a fny -- they loved eachther. they were wonderf parents. cod not have en more different in their viewpnts. i ink i get some of the sensitivity things from mother and the outwardness comes from my dad. tavis: since jay rarel does inrviews it became obvious that we were going to need more time. next time partwo of jay includg advertise parents and th stats of his rationship wi david letrman. anks for wching and as

always keethe faith. >> when was a kid, we were not allowed to ha -- see my folks group duringhe depression so consuencely they make you fee very guilty about everything. even now i go home for the ekend, hey, dad, pass t assault. we didn't have salt. when ias a kid. we didn't have salt. your mom and i hunted wild dog fo foo we had notng when we were you age. >> for more information on today's show, vit tavis smiley on pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tis smiley. jn me tomorrow with part two of my conversation with jay leno. that's next time. we'll see you then. >> there are so many thing walart is looking toward to doing like helping peoe live better. but mtly we're looking forward to helng build strongerantired p

because of your lp, the best is y to come. >> natnwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insuran, rking to improve financial literacy and t economic empoweent that comes with it. ♪ationwide is on your side ♪ >> andy contributions from -- to your pbs stationrom viewers like you. thank you. >> we are pbs.