FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Show Discussion => Topic started by: LesSavyFan on January 15, 2010, 08:03:36 PM
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According to Patton Oswalt.
Comedian Patton Oswalt told a Los Angeles, California, radio station that Leno is "one of the best comedians of our generation," but that he "willfully shut the switch off" once he got on late-night, and "didn't do anything with [the show]." Comparing Leno to the guy he was up against for the "Tonight" seat, Oswalt said "the biggest difference between David Letterman and Jay Leno is, what kind of boss do you want?"
I can only imagine someone took his joking around seriously. Or maybe Leno used to be really funny and I've just never seen it. I'm confused.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/15/leno.conan.reputation/index.html
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Leno was truly funny in the 1980s.
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For the record, though, even the Jesus of funny shouldn't be forgiven for what he did to Letterman or what he's doing to Conan. Jay's always had the chance to say "No, I won't fuck that guy over, no matter how much money they throw at me." But he always does.
But yeah, Patton's mad that Jay sold out to a heretofore unimagined degree.
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Yeah, Patton was being very serious when he said that. Before the Tonight Show, Leno was pretty universally loved as a comedian, which is why it was so upsetting to people when he was so bland as a Tonight Show host.
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Patton is right. Jay Leno was once one of the best comedians of his generation. If you need proof of this, go to YouTube and watch some of his appearances on Letterman's old NBC show. The guy was genuinely funny. Plus, as others in this thread have pointed out, he was universally admired and respected by his peers.
Unfortunately, when he got the role of Tonight Show host, he dumbed down his act to a large degree and began to rely on schtick like "Jaywalking" and "Headlines" (a bit which he stole from Letterman).
He's basically the comedy equivalent of Rod Stewart.
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Leno killed it in the '80's. If you can find his stand up spots on Letterman from the '80's, he had impeccable timing and was way ahead of Seinfeld in the observational comedy department but as soon as he started guest hosting on the tonight show he slowed to a halt and started buying cars. I agree though that he's beyond forgiveness for screwing up late night talk so badly.
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Oswalt said all that stuff on last week's Comedy Death Ray podcast, in case you want to hear it first-hand. In context it's pretty clear that he's dead serious.
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damn that comedy death ray podcast is going viral because of this
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I'll have to check out some of his old stuff then. I just assumed he was always that unfunny because I've never seen anything from him but the horrible Tonight Show and that movie with Pat Morita.
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I'll have to check out some of his old stuff then. I just assumed he was always that unfunny because I've never seen anything from him but the horrible Tonight Show and that movie with Pat Morita.
Don't know if it will still translate as funny. You need to get in a real eighties mindset. He pioneered the "parents can't work the VCR" bit which has been ripped off a thousand times in a thousand different ways.
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You can tell he was funny then because he rolled up the sleeves of his blazer. See, sleeves hamper the funny. That's why Carrot Top only wears muscle shirts.
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I'll have to check out some of his old stuff then. I just assumed he was always that unfunny because I've never seen anything from him but the horrible Tonight Show and that movie with Pat Morita.
Don't know if it will still translate as funny. You need to get in a real eighties mindset. He pioneered the "parents can't work the VCR" bit which has been ripped off a thousand times in a thousand different ways.
I know there are many who are echoing this "he used to be hilarious in the eighties - I *SWEAR*" thing, but it really was true. It was him, Bill Hicks, Teri Garr, Jeff Altman, Brother Theodore, Larry Bud Melman, and a couple of others where if you saw in the listings they were gonna be on Letterman that night, you made sure to tune in. I remember thinking I was damned lucky to go to school in the Midwest in the Central time zone, 'cause it was possible to catch the first one or two guests on Letterman (since he was on an hour earlier) and you could still hit the bars. Whee!
I have no idea if the material translates, in fact, I"m watching some of the old shit on youtube, and it really doesn't. But his whiny "what is this all about?" regular slob thing is there in it's genesis, and what was once sort of cool and refreshing became the watered down, cafeteria-style denim shirt and jeans version of Jay we see now. He used to wear a lot of pseudo sleazy shawl collar lounge act blazers and shit like that, sort of as though, well, he had to put on a jacket so he's just gonna wear this crazy thing. He really was never very offensive or dangerous, but his observational style really was a cut above the generic guy in front of a brick wall comedy that was pervasive at the time.
Hicks slammed Jay non stop, even back then, if I remember his bits correctly. But then, Hicks was always way too principled, and Jay, well, not nearly enough. Obviously.
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I'll have to check out some of his old stuff then. I just assumed he was always that unfunny because I've never seen anything from him but the horrible Tonight Show and that movie with Pat Morita.
Don't know if it will still translate as funny. You need to get in a real eighties mindset. He pioneered the "parents can't work the VCR" bit which has been ripped off a thousand times in a thousand different ways.
I know there are many who are echoing this "he used to be hilarious in the eighties - I *SWEAR*" thing, but it really was true. It was him, Bill Hicks, Teri Garr, Jeff Altman, Brother Theodore, Larry Bud Melman, and a couple of others where if you saw in the listings they were gonna be on Letterman that night, you made sure to tune in. I remember thinking I was damned lucky to go to school in the Midwest in the Central time zone, 'cause it was possible to catch the first one or two guests on Letterman (since he was on an hour earlier) and you could still hit the bars. Whee!
I have no idea if the material translates, in fact, I"m watching some of the old shit on youtube, and it really doesn't. But his whiny "what is this all about?" regular slob thing is there in it's genesis, and what was once sort of cool and refreshing became the watered down, cafeteria-style denim shirt and jeans version of Jay we see now. He used to wear a lot of pseudo sleazy shawl collar lounge act blazers and shit like that, sort of as though, well, he had to put on a jacket so he's just gonna wear this crazy thing. He really was never very offensive or dangerous, but his observational style really was a cut above the generic guy in front of a brick wall comedy that was pervasive at the time.
Hicks slammed Jay non stop, even back then, if I remember his bits correctly. But then, Hicks was always way too principled, and Jay, well, not nearly enough. Obviously.
If I remember the bit correctly, Hicks once admired Leno as well but the Dorito's commercial seemed to be the deal-breaker. I believe the line went something like "Any creative person who does a commercial or endorsement deal is off the artistic roll call forever....except Willie Nelson."
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He's basically the comedy equivalent of Rod Stewart.
i'd take oswalt at his word. "the comedy equivalent of Rod Stewart" sounds right, but i'm only judging from what i've heard others say about leno, as i've only seen bits of old stand-up of his ... all us kids have is the youtubes for the old stuff ...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ei4rgiDveY
I don't think the CNN article linked to this but I assume this is the interview they took it from. Extra fun for FOTs, I'm guessing the breakfast date Patton mentions is with Tom, because the next thing he brings up is Nixonland!
PS I'm with Coco. And I miss him already.