I don’t know if anyone’s been watching the last week of Jay Leno’s “The Tonight Show,” but it’s been a solid final slate of guests, culminating with Conan O’Brien’s appearance and a passing of the baton later tonight. I’ve got a longer piece about all of this I’m working on and will post it later this afternoon, but I thought this was worth mentioning separately, in case you missed it.
Billy Crystal was Leno’s first guest on “The Tonight Show” back in 1992 and the exiting host wanted to bring Crystal back as his final proper guest last night. To mark the occasion, Crystal got together with Marc Shaiman and put together a little sing-song number, much like the numerous similar numbers the duo has cranked out for the Oscars over the years. Sadly, the NBC website being as stingy as it is, I can’t find an embed of the performance (they just have a 90 second exchange mid-interview about Crystal’s recent surgery). But you can, however, watch the entire episode, which includes, of course, the full number, plus a glimpse of Crystal’s first appearance on the show 17 years ago when he belted out another tune. Always the showman.
Click the image below to watch the full episode, and stay tuned for that remembrance piece later today.
Comments
6 responses to “Oscar showmen Billy Crystal, Marc Shaiman bid Leno adieu”
Remembered… and then forgot about it… but I’ll be sure to catch tonight’s episode.
I always liked Leno. Though, I’m a bigger fan of Conan and can’t wait till Monday. I’ll definitely watch tonight.
Fallon, by the way, is pretty much crap. There are a few good moments with him, but mostly bad. Then again, so was Conan at first.
Guess who has tickets for Conan’s first show… ME!
A buddy of mine put in a request and got them. I guess it helps if he is an employee of the local NBC station here.
Billy Crystal is a great talent and should host the Oscars every year. I still can’t get over Leno doing five nights a week at 10:pm on NBC. It will be a landmark change for network television. Basic cable should reap the rewards with people looking for scripted dramas to watch. After 15 years its hard to believe there will be no more ER on NBC.
chuck
Interesting article. Keep rocking.
Classic song. Looked like a great send-off. It’s great to see Conan take over, he’s earned the move up from the 12:30 slot and his popularity should sky-rocket.