'Big Jaw' vs. the World: A history of Jay Leno hate

[boston bean]

Fact #1: Jay Leno has been the most popular late night host in America for the majority of the past 19 years.

Fact #2: Comedians, Hollywood insiders, and laypeople alike just love hating on Leno, and have been doing so consistently for over 20 years.

Why? In their minds, the reasons are legion: Because he stole The Tonight Show from Johnny Carson’s rightful heir, David Letterman, way back in the early ’90s. Because he refused to simply retire when NBC tried to replace him with Conan O’Brien in 2009. Because his primetime Jay Leno Show tanked, sinking Conan’s Tonight Show before it had even really begun — and eventually forcing Conan to leave NBC for good. And most of all, because they say his jokes are broad, pandering, and eminently unfunny — which is a shame particularly because once upon a time, Leno had a reputation for being one of standup’s sharpest and edgiest comedians.

So as Leno prepares for his final few Tonight Shows, he finds himself in a unique position: More widely watched than any of his competitors, yet widely reviled by the majority of his peers. How widely, you ask? Let’s take a look back at the most notable jabs, slights, and straight-up insults famous people have aimed at Leno over the years — starting shortly after NBC revealed that he, rather than Letterman, would become Tonight‘s next host. (Insert “Jay takes it on the chin” joke here.)

Spring 1992
Leno is set to inherit The Tonight Show from Johnny Carson in May. Before the big premiere, he chats about his career in a 60 Minutes segment that also includes agent Helen Kushnick recalling all the rejection Leno faced in his early years — “He was too dark, he was too ethnic, he was too menacing — they actually did tell me that they thought he’d be frightening to children” — and his wife Mavis remembering a casting director who spurned her husband, then put out a notice for a “good-looking Jay Leno.”

http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/02/05/jay-leno-hate-history/

Pretty good timeline, if you're interested. With some pretty funny videos...

[Loaded Liberal Dem]

1. Leno is Lower than a Leech

[onehandle]

2. Now that Leno The Dinosaur™ is gone, I expect the world to progress a bit faster. nt

[Bandit]

3. The first four years of the Bush* Administration he was still doing Clinton jokes

He survived on Clinton jokes for eight years straight. And I have not watched him since.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. I don't think he ever stopped.

Whenever he would do a Bush or other rethug joke he had to 'balance' it with a stale joke about Clinton or a lame joke about another dem. God knows there's plenty to make fun of on our side but this has just been decades of pure pandering.

[PoliticAverse]

7. "Jay Leno's top joke targets were Bill Clinton and O.J. Simpson"

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-jay-leno-jokes-bill-clinton-oj-simpson-20140204,0,111657.story

[Blue_Tires]

12. That's why I stopped watching him

Still telling O.J. jokes 4-5 years after the original acquittal and Clinton jokes almost a decade after he left office

[Nye Bevan]

6. Hmmmm. He did tell the occasional Bush joke.

“President Bush announced he plans to help out homeowners in this mortgage-lending crisis thing that’s going on. He said millions of people could lose their house, and you know, he knows what he’s talking about. Last November he lost a house and the Senate.”

“Bush is upset, very upset that the Iraqi parliament has failed any major legislation since taking office. I guess, of course, on the other hand, it made him feel right at home.”

The White House announced President Bush is on the last page of the Harry Potter book. So, apparently, he's reading it backwards.

President Bush welcomed the prime minster of India to the White House today. Bush said, "While you're here, can you look at my computer for a second?"

One of the big problems in Iraq right now is agreeing on a constitution. They should do what the Bush administration does: Have a constitution, but just don’t use it.

Happy Birthday to U.S. President Bush, he’s 59. If you haven’t gotten him a birthday gift yet, I know he’s still looking for an exit strategy for Iraq.

U.S. President Bush met with Palestinian president Abbas. There was one embarrassing moment when he said to Abbas, “I love your hit, Dancing Queen.”

President Bush said he was anxious to see the film though he was a little upset when he heard it was in Aramaic and Latin. Bush said "Why make a movie only Arabs and Latinos would understand?"

According to a new poll, if the election were held today both John Kerry and John Edwards would beat George Bush by double-digit margins. In fact, the White House is so worried they're thinking about moving the capture of Osama bin Laden up to next month.

President Bush is now focusing on jobs. I think the one job he's focusing most on ... his own.

Some sad news, President Bush's lap dog passed away. I didn't know Tony Blair was sick. I was shocked.

President Bush was on Meet The Press Sunday, a lot of his White House staffers thought it was a bad idea …"Hey…better than him going on Jeopardy"…Be honest…He didn't seem very well prepared…actually there was a reason he wasn't prepared, see Bush thought he was just gonna to meet the press, he didn't know there was gonna be questions….There was one kind of embarrassing moment where President Bush was asked if he was ever AWOL?" and he said "No no no I have Earthlink…we use Earthlink, can't get AOL"

The Bush administration says it will file a brief with the Supreme Court over the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy, saying it's wrong to determine acceptance based on race. Bush said acceptance should be based on fair things like what private school you went to, who's your dad, how much money you gave to the alumni fund."

"President Bush has declared Sunday to be National Sanctity of Human Life Day. He said we have to protect the weak, the imperfect and the unwanted. But first, we have to give tax cuts to the rich."

This Sunday, President Bush will be at the Daytona 500 for the start of NASCAR season. President Bush is a big fan of NASCAR. Bush says if it weren't for NASCAR, man never would have stepped foot on the moon. Finally, somebody said, "Uh, sir ... that's NASA."

A Newsweek poll said if the election were held today, John Kerry would beat Bush 49 percent to 46 percent. And today, President Bush called Newsweek magazine a threat to world peace." -

Today President Bush said he was "troubled" by gay people getting married in San Francisco. He said on important issues like this, the people should make the decision, not judges - unless of course we're choosing a president, then he prefers judges.

I was watching TV last night and I saw an interesting documentary on TV last night about the ninja - you know, the Japanese soldiers. According to the legend, the ninjas were warriors who could make themselves invisible whenever we fought in a war. You know, kinda like George Bush in the National Guard.

In his annual economic report to Congress President Bush said that the transfer of American jobs overseas is actually part of a positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over time. So basically, losing your job to someone else can be a good thing - of course we'll see how he feels about that in November.

Happy President's Day everybody! Today of course is the day we honor our presidents. We honor Bill Clinton by having a mattress sale, and as most people don't have to work today, we honor George Bush.

Earlier today President Bush spent some time with National Guard troops in Louisiana. When Bush arrived, the commanding officer said, "You're a little late."

A retired Alabama National Guard commander says he remembers President Bush showing up there for duty back in the seventies. He says Bush used to come into his office and read. However, payment records released by the White House suggest that was not President Bush. Hey, the fact the guy was reading I think suggests it wasn't president Bush.

Yesterday President Bush stopped off at a bass pro fishing store to pick up a fishing reel, some line and some rubber worms. He's going to disappear and go fishing. So he must think he's back in the National Guard again.

Does this bother a lot of people? Who cares if Bush did his job in the National Guard 30 years ago - I'm more frightened about the job he's doing now.

Today in the L.A. Times, one critic wrote that the problem with John Kerry is "he looks like he thinks too much." Well, you won't hear anyone accusing President Bush of that.

[bullwinkle428]

13. NPR actually talked about a "joke count" from Leno's monologue -

he told significantly more jokes about Bill Clinton than GWB over the course of his "Tonight Show" tenure, despite the propaganda posted elsewhere in this thread.

[Rex]

5. If only the man was funny.

Part of his problem was that he replaced Johnny Carson. Carson was charming and hilarious, Leno was stiff and off putting. I don't hate the man, just wish he was actually funny.

[boston bean]

10. I think he is a total bore, too. nt

[Rex]

11. I tried watching Leno over the years

and I actually ended up LOVING the Craig Kilborn Late Late Show! So something good did come out of me trying to watch Leno.

[SoCalDem]

8. Aside from the obvious Letterman v Leno stuff,

what I loathed about him was the fact that when he did take over, he did not say much at all about Johnny Carson (probably because Carson was in the Letterman camp)... He breezed in like Carson had never been there..

[HappyMe]

9. I haven't watched Leno for years.

I quit watching because he's boring and not very funny.

[joeglow3]

14. Mind you, I don't watch or pay attention to the late night shows

But most of those people came across as petty as shit. here is what I got from the article:

Leno works much harder than anyone in the business, rarely taking vacations
Most people felt these positions are handed to someone and you cannot fight for that position
Leno got better ratings than any of them, but they are all better than him

Seriously, this came across like some college football poll where everyone is trying to tear down number one.

I can't say this doesn't surprise me, when you see all the nepotism in Hollywood. Of course they adopt the philosophy that the hardest working, best person for the job should not get it. Their friend/family member should. Sounds a bit like one of the political parties.

[clarice]

15. Yes it does. nt

[The Midway Rebel]

16. I quit Jay watching when he had Rush Limbaugh as a guest.

At least Dave Letterman uses his comedic powers for good things, Jay is an amoral joke peddler.