America says Goodbye to Jay Leno as Tonight Show Host

http://www.independent.co.uk/


The Tonight Show is the crown jewels of American television. It has been called the most important slot in showbusiness, and a monument of US culture.

On Friday, after 17 years, its host will sit at the famous studio desk for the final time. Jay Leno is vacating the post he has held since 25 May 1992.

His final guest is the man to whom he is passing the baton, the strawberry-blond and elongated comic Conan O'Brien.

Their encounter will be a TV moment: the switch from Leno, 59, to O'Brien, 46, is a jump in generations. It is also a move away from Leno's ­gentler, more home-style comedy of the ordinary guy next door to the spikier humour of his successor. NBC has wanted to make the change for many years, ­actually laying down the terms of the transition as long ago as 2004.

Full story at http://www.guardian.co.uk