Jay Leno's Recent Take On Late Night's Political Humor Seems Prophetic Now In Wake Of Colbert's Late Show Cancellation
The world of late night TV was thrown into sudden upheaval when CBS announced The Late Show's cancellation, which sparked shocked reactions from Hollywood celebs, and was soon followed by the FCC's long-gestating approval of Skydance's merger with Paramount Global. So when Jay Leno's comments on late night's reliance on political humor caught my eye, I thought they were made in response to Stephen Colbert's current situation, but was surprised to learn they actually predated the Late Show news.
Leno sat with Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute's President and CEO David Trulio for an interview that, among other topics, covered the stand-up comedian's personal relationship with former President Reagan. The conversation also revolved quite a bit around the car enthusiast's long-harbored aversion to going hard on political commentary during his run as The Tonight Show's host. Despite always softballing such comedy, Leno joked that he still managed to stoke anger from both sides, saying:
Well, it's funny to me when I got hate letters — 'You and your Republican friends.' 'Well, Mr. L., I hope you and your Democrat buddies are happy.' — over the same joke. And I go, well that's good. So that's how you get a whole audience.
Leno brought up his professional and personal relationship with the late, great punchline mastermind Rodney Dangerfield as an example of how apolitical his comedy circle has been over the years.
Rodney Dangerfield and I were friends. I knew Rodney 40 years. I have no idea if he was Democrat or Republican. We never discussed it, we just discussed jokes. And to me, I like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from, you know, the pressures of life, wherever it might be. I love political humor don't get me wrong. But what happens is people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other.
Leno shared that Colin Powell told him during a Tonight Show guest spot that the day he'd decide to run for President would be his last day of happiness, because after that point, one section of the population would automatically go against anything he said. That exchange happened quite a few years ago, and in many ways, social media has only amplified the polarization in the interim.
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As the talk show successor to Johnny Carson, Jay Leno understandably would prefer to get an entire audience on his side, as opposed to purposefully only trying to appease a certain group. Sure, not every joke is going to land with everyone, but audiences are generally less likely to get vitriolic about terrible puns and sex jokes, while one-sided political jabs are more likely to rile people up.
Speaking to that, Leno continued, saying he appreciates someone who can take a partisan joke in stride, but that it's not worth taking the risk if comedy is the point. As he put it:
Funny is funny. It's funny when someone, when you make fun of their side, they laugh at it. That's kind of what I do. I just find, getting out, I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture. . . . Why shoot for just half an audience all the time? Why not try to get the whole [crowd]? I mean, I like to bring people into the big picture. I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group or…Just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what's funny.
Again, the comedian's comments were all made in an interview that happened before The Late Show's limited lifeline was unveiled, yet it sounds like he could be speaking in hindsight about Stephen Colbert's targeted subject matter on The Last Show reportedly stoking enough ire in Washington D.C. that the talk show's cancellation was a supposed must-do in order for the Paramount/Skydance merger to get the OK. Which isn't to say Colbert's job would have been safe if The Late Show never mentioned politics once.
As well, it's unknown for now exactly what Jay Leno would say in response to CBS cancelling its late-night staple. So I'm not trying to put words in his mouth. The only person who should be putting words in anyone's mouth is the edible cue card chef.
Jay Leno can currently be seen yukking it up in his stomping grounds (or would it be rolling grounds?) on Jay Leno's Garage, streaming on Youtube.
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