If you didn't see Jay Leno's final Tonight Show, or as he called it, "The Series Finale," I can sum it up in two words:
Class Act
He started with his monologue, went to a commercial, then did a best-of compilation of his Jay Walking segments.
Then Conan was the only guest to grace the couch and it was a very nice interchange or a passing of the baton, so to speak.
Then the show took a personal turn as Leno spoke of the time in his life when he decided to make the move from Boston and drive to Hollywood to pursue his career a a Stand Up Comic. He mentioned that as he started this drive, he heard a James Taylor song on the radio (Sweet Baby James) and remembered the lyrics "...ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go."
He stated that those lyrics stuck with him during his career as that's exactly how he felt back then. He then announced that James Taylor moved Heaven and Earth to juggle his schedule to appear on the show and then performed that same song.
In the final segment, instead of doing an emotional speech while sitting on a stool on a dark stage like Johnny Carson did during his final appearance, Leno spoke of a question he was asked repeatedly by the press during his most recent round of interviews. The question was:
"What is the legacy that Jay Leno is leaving behind with The Tonight Show."
That question led to a response that was the closing of his final night as Host of The Tonight Show.
Over a 17 year period he's created a family. He started rattling off the names of employees and staff members of the show who had met on his stage and became married and had children. The list seemed endless and needless to say amazing. He started with his trombone player who during the first couple of weeks of the show, had to leave suddenly as his wife went into labor with their first child. A few days later, they placed a camera in the recovery room and showed Mom, Dad and their new Daughter all doing well.
17 years later, that same baby walked on stage as a young adult.
Then the curtain opened to reveal all the children that were born due to their parents meeting on The Tonight Show.
68 lives were created due to this relationships created during Jay's watch.
This is what Jay Leno called his legacy on The Tonight Show.
Yes Jay, you are a class act. We'll see you in September.
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