Jay Leno’s Last “Tonight Show”

Jay Leno’s Last “Tonight Show”

Friday night, Jay Leno will say goodbye to The Tonight Show he hosted for the past 17 years - which is only a temporary good-bye, considering he'll emerge from hibernation on NBC this fall at 10 p.m. for a daily prime-time show.

In an interview about leaving The Tonight Show, Leno, 59, said,

"Will I miss it? Yes, terribly. It's the most wonderful job ever in show business."

On the eve of his last episode, Billy Crystal, who was Leno’s first “Tonight” guest 17 years ago, returned to the show to salute him with a musical medley.

Conan O'Brien will serve as Leno's final guest. The show will also feature musical guest James Taylor.

Starting Monday, Conan O’Brien will take over The Tonight Show at a newly built studio at nearby Universal City.

Mr. Leno ended by asking viewers to “please give Conan as much support as you’ve given me throughout the years.”

After 17 years as the host of “The Tonight Show,” Mr. Leno’s final show on Friday night, his 3,775th, was much like many of the others, filled with monologue jokes and some of his signature comedy pieces. He presented highlights of many of those pieces during his last week, but saved perhaps the most popular, “Jaywalking,” for the finale.

The segment consists of Mr. Leno asking basic questions of people in the street, who come up with mind-boggling answers.

Among those in the final collection: a woman asked to identify the French emperor whose name is also a pastry answered, “Crème brûlée?” Another woman was asked what the initials D.C. mean after Washington. Her answer: “Da Capital.”

The last night’s audience greeted Mr. Leno with what was most likely the most sustained ovation of his career, and he had to insist they sit before he could begin. He talked about changes he and the show had gone through, noting that when he started his hair was “black and the president was white.”