Jay Leno, after hosting The Tonight Show for 22 years, officially bid his goodbyes on Thursday night surrounded by a host of his celebrity pals.
Leno asked Bill Crystal to serve as his guest for his farewell show. Crystal not only was Leno’s first guest, but also his guest at his 2009 “last” show before Conan O’Brien started his unsuccessful tenure as Tonight's host. Garth Brooks, Leno’s favorite singer, was there to sing “The Dance.”
The most memorable music performance, however, came from Crystal and the band of famous faces he recruited to join in on a new version of the Sound of Music’s “So Long, Farewell.”
“There a sad sort of clanging
From the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too
And all the executives that run NBC
Are popping in to say you’re through.”
Among those that joined Crystal onstage to deliver verses of the song were Jack Black, Kim Kardashian, Sheryl Crow, Jim Parsons and Oprah Winfrey.
Pre-taped messages from those who couldn’t make it poured in as well. Steve Carell advised Leno to move on from the desk of Michael Scott. Kevin Bacon suggested he take up painting, while Martha Stewart suggested she give him a call if he gets a hall pass from his wife – and she’ll even don a homemade bacon bikini. President Barack Obama, claiming there were no hard feelings for the jokes Leno told at his expense, said he was making him ambassador to Antarctica. “I hope you have a warm coat, funnyman,” he quipped.
Olivia Wilde, Hugh Jackman, John McCain, Bill Maher, Cristina Applegate, Miley Cyrus, Mark Wahlberg and Kevin Hart all had messages for the departing host as well. The most serious message, the last, was from his successor Jimmy Fallon, who said Leno was welcome to come by The Tonight Show anytime to share some jokes.
Leno departed the show graciously, betraying emotion unusual for the comedian. “It’s fun to kind of be the old guy and sit back here and see where the next generation takes this great institution,” Leno told the audience. “But it really is time to go and hand it off to the next guy, it really is.”
He added, “This has been the greatest 22 years of my life.”
Fallon will make his Tonight debut on Feb. 17.
– Chelsea Regan
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