Jay Leno and Trump agree that this is the problem with late night shows today
 

Jay Leno may be off the air, but heâ??s not done giving monologues yet.

The former NBC â??Tonight Showâ?* host told NBCâ??s Al Roker on Tuesday that heâ??s over being on late night television.

â??No, itâ??s different. I donâ??t miss it. You know, everything now is, if people donâ??t like your politics, they â?? everyone has to know your politics â?¦ But when people see you as one-sided, it just makes it tough.â??


Jay Leno

Leno, 68, admitted that poking fun at politicians was easier while he was hosting â??The Tonight Showâ?* between 1992 and 2009, followed by a controversial run between 2010 and 2014 (a PR nightmare for NBC, which had promised â??The Tonight Showâ?* time slot to Conan Oâ??Brien before giving it back to Leno and attempting to bump Oâ??Brien back to 12:05 a.m.)

â??I did it when, you know, Clinton was horny and [George W.] Bush was dumb, and it was just a little easier. Now itâ??s all very serious. Iâ??d just like to see a bit of civility come back to it, you know?â?* he said.

Watch Jay Leno talk about how todayâ??s politics are changing late-night TV on #3rdHourToday âپ¦@TODAYshowâپ© https://t.co/3gTXvYCZsN

â?? Al Roker (@alroker) March 13, 2019

But attacking politics has been a winning formula for some of todayâ??s late night shows. Former â??SNLâ?* star Jimmy Fallon hosts â??The Tonight Showâ?* now, and was winning the ratings game against Stephen Colbert on CBS and Jimmy Kimmel on ABC when he made its debut in 2014. But once Trump entered the presidential race â?? and won â?? the national conversation became more focused on politics. And the satirical chops that Colbert had honed on Comedy Centralâ??s â??The Colbert Reportâ?* gave him the edge to move ahead of Fallon in total viewers for the first time in February 2017, a month after Trump was inaugurated. Colbert also recently grabbed more of the coveted 18-to-49-year-old audience from Fallon, averaging 692,000 adult viewers under 50 during the 2018-2019 season-to-date, compared with Fallonâ??s 686,000 viewers in the same demo during the same period.

But Leno argues that Trump jokes arenâ??t the low-hanging fruit that they appear to be.

â??People say, â??Oh, it must be easy to do jokes with Trump.â?* No, itâ??s actually harder, because the punch line of the joke used to be â??Thatâ??s like the president with a porn star.â?* Well, now the president is with a porn star. Where do you go with that? How do you get more outrageous than that?â??


Jay Leno

President Trump appeared to have caught Lenoâ??s quotes reported on â??Fox & Friendsâ?* Wednesday morning, tweeting: â??Jay Leno points out that comedy (on the very boring late night shows) is totally one-sided. Itâ??s tough when thereâ??s only one topic.â?* @foxandfriends Actually, the one-sided hatred on these shows is incredible and for me, unwatchable. But remember, WE are number one – President!â?*

Roker responded to that tweet to inform the president that Leno had actually been speaking the third hour of the â??Todayâ?* show, and invited the commander-in-chief to â??come on and chat about it.â?*

Actually, @realDonaldTrump , Jay Leno talked about the state of #latenight #comedy on #3rdHourTODAY @TODAYshow yesterday, and you are welcome to come on and chat about it. https://t.co/1YSERmIBAP

â?? Al Roker (@alroker) March 13, 2019

Leno credited himself with staying more neutral during his time on the air, however. â??I kind of used Johnnyâ??s model,â?* he said, referring to late night legend and his â??Tonight Showâ?* predecessor Johnny Carson. â??People couldnâ??t figure out â?? â??Well, you and your Republican friendsâ?? or, â??Well, Mr. Leno, you and your Democratic buddies.â?? And I would get hate mail from both sides equally.â?*









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