‘Thank You, Jay’: Fallon Gives Leno a Classy Send-Off, Thanks Him for Advice

 

Jimmy Fallon, the heir to the Tonight Show throne, opened his show Thursday night with some kind words for his friend and mentor Jay Leno, with one or two jokes to lighten the mood. Fallon explained to the audience that ratings for Leno’s good-bye week have been so good, “NBC’s gonna extend it a week so we’re gonna have another week of saying good-bye to Jay Leno.”

A few minutes later, when Fallon went to the desk, he reminisced about all the times he’s spent with and talked with Leno. Fallon showed his enthusiasm for the history of the Tonight Show, saying it’s “so exciting that we’re taking it over and bringing it back here.”

Fallon just marveled at how, even on the day of his retirement, Leno’s still going to be doing stand-up comedy. He said, “The guy’s unbelievable!”

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will kick off on February 17th.

Watch the video below, via NBC:

[photo via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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Josh Feldman is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Email him here: josh@mediaite.com Follow him on Twitter: @feldmaniac