Jay Leno Fills In for Jimmy Falllon During Opening Monologue

Leno hosted the Tonight Show from 1992 to 2009, and then again from 2010 until Jimmy Fallon took over in 2014.

Fallon started off the monologue for the night, but a sudden, yet fake, hamstring pull led to the need for someone else to tag in and take over the segment. Jay Leno was telling jokes. “I never had any problems with the guy, but he chose to go after me”.

As they finished the one-liners, Fallon thanked his famous predecessor and asked: ‘Jay, would you like to hang around?’

After joking about Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden and the USA economy, Fallon returned to add a few jests of his own before thanking his predecessor. “The economy is so bad Hillary Clinton wants people to look through her deleted e-mails to see if there’s anything from that Nigerian prince”.

The long-time host’s new show, “Jay Leno’s Garage”, will debut Wednesday on NBC sister network CNBC.

After likening Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley’s 2% in the polls to “tying with two percent milk”, Leno pivoted to the crowded Republican field. In it, he attempted to explain why he didn’t show up for any of David Letterman’s final shows on CBS earlier this year.

Leno, looking slightly paunchier than when regular monologues kept him in fighting shape, even poked fun at neighbors of the former California-based “Tonight” show. O’Brien was embroiled in a war against Leno, who was embroiled in a war against Letterman, who was embroiled in a war against etc. etc. etc.

“The most element you can have in doing a late night show is kindness. It is amusing I guess, but it’s mean-based”, the veteran stand-up comic said. “I’ve got ideas”, he says. The host was very vocal in defending Kimmel and did not hold back when it came to outing Leno. I like Fallons monologues, but Jays jokes were a pretty nice change of pace.

During a chat with The News Tuesday, Leno said Kimmel, a longtime Stern pal, had treated him poorly when they competed in late night.

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Whether he’s exploring the history of an iconic brand, road-testing the newest super vehicle, or investigating the latest automotive innovations, there’s no wheel Jay won’t get behind to tell the story of our love affair with the auto.