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Jay Leno is teasing the future of late-night television by declaring an unlikely new frontman in a sit-down interview with Deadline published Wednesday.
“I mean, podcasts really are the new talk show. Joe Rogan is the new Johnny Carson,” Leno told the outlet.
While crowning the new king of talk, Leno pointed to Rogan’s ability to host interviews that included meaningful conversations — something that he believes is lacking in modern-day television shows.
“Joe talks to everybody about everything,” Leno told Deadline, adding, “There’s no FCC to step in and say what you say and can’t say, so you really do get an unfiltered idea of what everybody thinks. So yeah, I mean, to me, that’s what’s also changed late-night.”
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Although Leno departed the “Tonight Show” in 2014, the comic said he has remained busy while adapting to the changing media landscape — including hosting the YouTube show, “Jay Leno’s Garage.”
“The day ‘The Tonight Show’ ended, I was back on the road the next night in Florida for five nights, and that’s what I do now,” Leno said. “
So for me, nothing really has changed. People always think, ‘How’s retirement?’ Well, I’m not retired. I do 200 dates a year, and I do think I do a good show. I’ve got a few other things going on, like the ‘Garage’ show, that I enjoy. I have a good life after late-night.”
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Leno blames the loss in popularity of late-night television partially on the amount of ads aired during each show.
“Here’s the thing that I think hurt late-night the most: too many commercials,” Leno said.
“They passed some new rules before my tenure at ‘The Tonight Show,’ that after 11:30 at night you could add another five or six minutes to the hour,” he continued. “It came in waves, but by the end of my time [at ‘The Tonight Show’], instead of doing like 48 minutes of show, it was only like 42 and broken up more.”
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“Yeah, so when I turn on late-night now, regardless of how I’m watching, if I see Jake from State Farm again, I’m gonna shoot myself in the f—— head,” Leno said.
Leno also brushed off Republicans who criticized him over his cozy interviews with political figures, like Joe Biden, while speaking to “Deadline.”
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“They’ll write and say, ‘I will never watch your program again,’” Leno said. “Yeah, I got it.”
But here’s the thing, first of all, it’s free on YouTube. I don’t really care if you watch it or not, you know? But there’ll be all these people that you know will go on that Biden’s a crook, blah blah, That I just had his point of view on Trump, it wasn’t the whole gamut. Whatever. It’s just us driving around. I don’t really worry about it.”
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However, Leno acknowledged that while times have changed regarding the public’s tolerance level for political comedy, the sentiment does not bother him as he tries to stick to his roots.
“Like I said, we used to brag about the fact that Johnny and I would try to make fun of both sides equally,” Leno said. “Looks like that doesn’t work anymore. The audience is all over the place. I just think the most important thing is to remember [that] funny is funny.”
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