Wrapping up his 17 year run on The Night Show, Jay Leno was greeted by a standing ‘O’ when he took the stage.  During his monologue he thanked all of the people who had helped make his show a success, particularly Michael Jackson, Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton.

Leno paid homage to his wife Mavis Nicholson by saying he was proud to be “leaving this dance with the same girl I came in with.”  See bio and photos of his wife here. 

Jay had some great one-liners, including a parting shot at O.J. Simpson.  He reported that while he was cleaning out his office, “I found O.J.’s knife.  I had it the whole time.”

Thursday night’s show featured Leno’s very first guest from 17 years ago – Billy Crystal.  Check out that video here.

Conan O’Brien was Jay’s final guest and James Taylor was the featured musician on the last Leno show – see Taylor performance video below.

O’Brien has a star-studded line-up for his first show.  His parade of A-listers includes Will Farrell, Pearl Jam, Gwyneth Paltrow, Greenday, Ryan Seacrest, Cheryl Crowe, John Mayer, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Bradley Cooper and Tom Hanks.  Wow!  See video clip below.

We’ve also included a 10 minute video clip of Johnny Carson on his last show with The Tonight Show below.

Check out video of Jay Leno’s last night as host of The Tonight Show below.

 Jay Leno talks about his last show

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOvJEOQLyuI[/youtube]

Jay’s interview with Conan part 1

 

Jay’s interview with Conan part 2

 

 Jay Leno’s legacy

 

James Taylor performs

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct_x1-fsjX0[/youtube]

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Filed under: Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Television