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Jay Leno.

Comic

James Douglas Muir Leno is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, Leno was chosen in 1992 to replace Johnny Carson as the host of NBC's The Tonight Show; Leno hosted The Tonight Show until September 2009 when Conan O'Brien took over as host and Leno started a primetime talk show, The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET, also on NBC. O'Brien turned down NBC's offer to have Leno host a half hour monologue show before The Tonight Show to boost ratings amid reported viewership diminishing, which sparked the 2010 Tonight Show conflict that resulted in Leno's returning to hosting the show on March 1, 2010. He hosted his last episode of his second tenure on February 6, 2014. That year, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. From 2014 to 2022, he hosted Jay Leno's Garage, and from 2021 to 2023, hosted the revival of You Bet Your Life.

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Upcoming shows

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Past runs

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Mentioned in our stories

The Room That Turned Stand-Up Into a Job: The Comedy Store, 1972 to 1979Sammy Shore opened a Sunset Strip club so he'd have somewhere to work out between road gigs. Seven years later the comics on his ex-wife's stage picketed it — and stand-up stopped being something you did for exposure.

Influences

Influenced by: Bob Newhart, David Brenner, Don Rickles, George Carlin, Johnny Carson and Mort Sahl and 2 more.

Influenced: Josh Peck.

Full influence page with sources · See the influence tree