Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on June 1, 2009

An era in television has come to a close. Jay Leno, host of The Tonight Show for 17 years, has stepped down. His replacement, Conan O’Brien, will do fine. Conan is brilliant and will mold the show to his style. I’ll eventually come to love it, I’m sure. But for now, I want to mourn losing Jay Leno for just a bit. I mourned for quite a bit when Johnny Carson retired, but heck, he’d been doing the show for, what, 100 years? (Just kidding).

I could always depend on Jay making me laugh. Many jokes were corny, but his naughty-boy grin and self-deprecating attitude seemed to make them work. His “Jay Walking” and “Headlines” segments were among my favorites. Next to Johnny, Jay has hosted the Tonight Show the longest of any other host.

I’ve developed tremendous respect for Jay’s wife, Mavis, who was involved in helping the women of Afghanistan long before any of us could even SPELL Afghanistan. The week following the 9/11 attacks, Jay brought his wife on the show to be interviewed for the first time. No late-night comedy shows had aired for a week, partially out of respect and partially because the mood of the nation was one of deep despair and fear following the terrorist attacks.

When Jay introduced Mavis, he called her the smartest person he knew. She discussed the plight of Afghani women and what she’d been doing to make the American public aware of the atrocities inflicted upon them. A confident but quiet woman, one who was content to stay in the shadows of her husband’s fame and take up a cause that wasn’t yet “popular” with the Hollywood crowd. I remember watching his face as Mavis spoke earnestly, describing the cruel treatment of women in Afghanistan. Jay’s face said it all: I admire and adore you. And for that, I respected him even more. A remarkable interview following a national tragedy.

Back when Carson was preparing to retire, there was massive media coverage over who’d replace him: David Letterman or Jay Leno. And for a time there, it appeared Letterman was favored. But it was not to be. And some believe that Letterman became bitter after being passed over. I don’t know if he did, but he certainly seems bitter nowadays. And stuck in the past. Bush isn’t in office anymore, remember, Dave? We had an election back in November… no jokes about the new president, but yawn-inducing ones about the old president every night? Not a peep about Obama except to praise or swoon over him… nauseating, actually.

The better comedian won the coveted Tonight Show hosting gig. IMHO.

A lot of terrific tributes to Jay have been written this past week. Looking at photos of when Jay first started hosting the late-night show made me realize how much all of us have gotten older. Seventeen years, nearly my daughter’s entire lifetime. So many tragedies and catastrophes have happened during those 17 years (Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11 attack, Virginia Tech massacre, Colombine High School massacre, trillion-dollar bailouts, government corruption, and much more). Jay’s worked his amiable comedy magic to lighten the mood of the country when it needed humor the most.

Thanks for the laughs, Jay. I’ll miss you on the Tonight Show. You did Johnny proud. I’ll be watching your new show, you can count on it.

*****

Previous Frugal Café post of Leno’s jokes about this administration: Who Said Democrats Aren’t Funny? Jay Leno’s Top 21 Best Jokes about Liberals & the Obama Administration

Here are more of Jay’s political jokes that he’s told over the past few months… he’s about the only comedian on late-night television that sees the humor coming out of the Obama administration and mocks conservatives only once in a while.

“Economy’s so bad, I saw an illegal immigrant deport himself. That’s how bad it’s gotten.”

“Hey, President Obama has found a way to quickly close Guantanamo Bay. He’s going to turn it into a Pontiac dealership.”

“How could California be broke by July? What happened to all the money we gave them on April 15th?”

“An estimated 75,000 people attended a Barack Obama rally on the banks of the Willamette River. And if you believe the media, listen to this. After the rally, Barack Obama fed them all with just five loaves of bread and two fish. Amazing!”

“Vice President Joe Biden is on a trip to Bosnia, Serbia, and Kosovo. The White House is calling it ‘Operation Keep Biden Away From the Microphones.’”

“Oh, and speaking of torture, I love this. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now says the CIA and President Bush misled her on waterboarding. Yeah. Apparently, she was misled by the Bush Administration. So, she spends eight years telling everybody how dumb President Bush is, and the minute they’re in trouble, ‘He fooled me! I had no idea! He tricked me!’”

“The price of a postage stamp went up to 44 cents this week. Isn’t that unbelievable? They said they had to raise the price because fewer and fewer people are using the mail these days. That’s government thinking, isn’t it? ‘Hey, nobody’s buying our product. Let’s raise the price.’”

“Al Gore told Congress that global warming shouldn’t be a political issue, it should be a moral issue. And Congress went, ‘A moral issue? What’s that?’”

“President Obama, today, outlined his plan to deal with the mortgage mess and the housing crisis. The good news — he thinks he’s found a solution. The bad news — it involves arson.”

“As you know, Vice President Biden got in a little bit of trouble yesterday when he suggested that people should avoid commercial flights and subways if they want to stay healthy. Yeah. Today, President Obama recommended that Biden avoid microphones and TV cameras for the very same reason.”

“Earlier this evening, Barack Obama was in Hollywood at a big fundraiser, a sold-out fundraiser featuring Barbra Streisand singing. $28,500 a ticket. Barbra Streisand was singing. All the big Hollywood stars were there. It featured dinner prepared by the finest Hollywood chefs serving an array of gourmet food. I believe the topic tonight was how John McCain is out of touch with the common people.”

“Well, in a sudden reversal, President Obama now is fighting the release of dozens of new photos showing U.S. personnel allegedly abusing prisoners. The matter has not been decided yet. I understand the photos are now under review from Donald Trump. He’s reviewing them to see if they’re tasteful enough.”

“President Obama got some good news today. It seems so many of his cabinet appointees have been forced to pay their back taxes, he now gets a finder’s fee from the IRS.”

“Hey, I watched ‘American Idol’ last night, the Barack Obama show. Did you all see Barack Obama’s infomercial? It was called ‘American Stories.’ You know why they called it ‘American Stories’? I guess it sounded better than ‘Barack Obama Running Out the Clock.’”

“And yesterday at the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama said that the White House is a place where people should feel free to speak their mind. Except, of course, Joe Biden.”

“The economy is so bad, Bill Maher is going to church just for the free bread and wine.”

“Well, more problems with the Democrats. Republicans are now calling for the new Illinois Sen. Roland Burris to resign after he apparently lied to investigators about talking to Rod Blagojevich’s brother about campaign money. Rod Blagojevich has a brother? How bad is his hair? Geez!”

“Well, the big story is the Supreme Court. President Obama has found his nominee. She is a Federal appeals judge. Sonia Sotomayor, I think her name is. A Latino woman, how about that? So, you know what that means. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is no longer the hot chick on the court.”

“Barack Obama now says he is open to offshore oil drilling. So, apparently, when he promised change, he was talking about his mind.”

“Well, tomorrow, John Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth Edwards, a great woman, is going to be on ‘Oprah.’ How many of you are going to watch that? How many of would you rather see her beat the crap out of her husband on ‘Jerry Springer?’”

“Hey, last night at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills, people paid $30,000 to attend a dinner and a discussion with President Barack Obama. The subject of the discussion? The struggling economy. Let me tell you something, if you spend $30,000 on dinner, aren’t you legally a Republican at this point? I think so.”

“Barack Obama’s daughters are very smart. They told him they will take the same responsibility for the dog that he is taking for the economy. That way, if the dog leaves a mess in the White House, it’ll be cleaned up by future generations.”

“As you know by now, the government is now taking an active role in the auto business. President Obama offering hope, change, and 0 percent financing.”

“The big story here in California — the Supreme Court has decided to uphold the ban on gay marriage. However, gay unions are still legal. See, that shows how little I know about this subject. I didn’t even know gay people had their own union.”

“I tell you, the economy’s in bad shape. Oh, the economy’s hurting; economy is so bad, Joe Biden was outside the White House, selling maps to politicians’ secret locations.”

Related reading:
Chris Stigall, Big Hollywood: Remember When SNL Was Funny? (Obama Ushers in New Era of Comedic Irresponsibility)
John T. Simpson, Big Hollywood: Did You Hear the One About President Obama?
Tom Shillue, Big Hollywood: Who You Calling Republican?
Tim Slade: Political Late Night Winners and Losers
S.T. Karnick, Big Hollywood: O’Brien Plays it Safe, Smart in ‘Tonight Show’ Debut
Just Politics: Jay Leno Retires, I Think of Johnny Carson
The 9th Soul: I will miss Jay Leno…
Jim Blazsik: Obama states that the Constitution was written 20 centuries ago: why political satire and humor is important
Breitbart.TV: Obama is not too impressed with how he’s impersonated on SNL
I Think, Therefore I Rant!: Conan O’Brien is boring

Categories: Entertainment, Celebrities, Freedom of Speech, Funny Stuff - Free Laughs, Government, Media & Communication, Social and Political Climate
Tags: Afghanistan, comedian, comedy, Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, Heidi Klum, humor, Jay Leno, Johnny Carson, jokes, late-night talk show, Mavis Leno, Obama, Obama hypocrisy, political, political humor, politics, POTUS, Pres. Obama, president, retire, television, Tonight Show