- Feb 15, 2000
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Leno meets the stig, talks to Clarkson
- Thread starter Demon-Xanth
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thescreensavers
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- Feb 15, 2000
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He did the Tonight Show for something like 15 years. He's known in the gearhead community for his collection of cars and the fact that he actually drives them. Including a steam powered car.
Don Vito Corleone
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It's funny how Leno manages to make everything kind of dull and homogenized. IMO he's a very talented standup - his appearances on Letterman in the '80s were amazing - but he's gotten far too settled into his whole bland Tonight Show persona. I don't know why he bothers to make these little videoblog-type shorts if he's not going to make them funny.
TehMac
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I like how Clarkson is sort of...he knows Leno is a legend in his own right, 15 years of the Tonight Show, and then some years previous to that as an entertainer. That's how Clarkson rose to fame, incidentally, and he respects interviewing talent, which Leno apparently has, given his status.
There's that, and Leno has probably the biggest collection of cars...in the world.
Well, here's a hint: not everything is glamorous and funny 24/7. Even pop stars get bored with their lives occasionally (I'd say especially, given they're all a bit dull).
When your profession is to be funny, sometimes you don't want to be funny. It's like anything else, you don't want to just do pie charts and graphs when you're out of work, so sometimes Jay just wants to be very matter of fact, belying his status as a comedian.
Personally, I enjoyed the clip, because it suggests there's a lot less glamor outside of the actual TV show. I also <3 Clarkson.
There's that, and Leno has probably the biggest collection of cars...in the world.
Well, here's a hint: not everything is glamorous and funny 24/7. Even pop stars get bored with their lives occasionally (I'd say especially, given they're all a bit dull).
When your profession is to be funny, sometimes you don't want to be funny. It's like anything else, you don't want to just do pie charts and graphs when you're out of work, so sometimes Jay just wants to be very matter of fact, belying his status as a comedian.
Personally, I enjoyed the clip, because it suggests there's a lot less glamor outside of the actual TV show. I also <3 Clarkson.
Don Vito Corleone
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In fairness, Leno's car collection is nothing close to the biggest in the world - the Sultan of Brunei has a car collection that is many times larger (albeit with a much greater focus on supercars). EDIT: Here is one of many articles about the Sultan's collection - they estimate nearly 3,000 cars with a total value of $4 billion.
As for Leno's talent, hmmm . . . I'm not sure. It's totally a question of personal taste, of course, but to me the reason he's so commercially successful is because he's so bland - he is always inoffensive to his guests and his audience. Clarkson is the 180-degree opposite in that respect, and that's why I find him a much more interesting and entertaining host.
TehMac
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yes, definitely, Clarkson is certainly more entertaining, not least to me because I am an anglo-phile, but also because a lot of what he says makes tremendous sense and he doesn't care about offending "eco-mentalists."
I enjoy Leno because he evokes a nostalgia for an older time period, the '50's and '60's with his TV show, at least that's how I feel. I watched a few months of the Tonight Show on Hulu, and it was entertaining, the interviews were definitely boring, but the standup was amusing. But I figured his writers did some of that. Or most of it, I don't know.
I enjoy Leno because he evokes a nostalgia for an older time period, the '50's and '60's with his TV show, at least that's how I feel. I watched a few months of the Tonight Show on Hulu, and it was entertaining, the interviews were definitely boring, but the standup was amusing. But I figured his writers did some of that. Or most of it, I don't know.
Don Vito Corleone
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Originally posted by: TehMac
yes, definitely, Clarkson is certainly more entertaining, not least to me because I am an anglo-phile, but also because a lot of what he says makes tremendous sense and he doesn't care about offending "eco-mentalists."
I enjoy Leno because he evokes a nostalgia for an older time period, the '50's and '60's with his TV show, at least that's how I feel. I watched a few months of the Tonight Show on Hulu, and it was entertaining, the interviews were definitely boring, but the standup was amusing. But I figured his writers did some of that. Or most of it, I don't know.
He definitely has a whole staff of writers, but he's a very talented writer in his own right. I used to tape Letterman every night when I was in junior high and high school, and looked forward to his appearances most of all (in those days he and Letterman were close friends). He was just side-splitting, and was fastidious about not recycling material on the show. He still performs 300 nights a year on the road and in Vegas, in addition to the Tonight Show, so I imagine he still has his chops. I just found the Tonight Show itself really boring with him as host. To each his own, though!
43st
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I really like the Jay Leno's Garage videos he does, he's really into the automobile from an engineer's perspective. It's not just about speed, it's about how problems were solved. I recall one episode where he talked about the Model T water pump and how it was designed to circulate water via thermosyphon (with no separate pump). That's a sick level of genious, and we'd all probably be riding horses if little things like hadn't made the automobile accessible to everyone.
Clarkson on the other hand.. doesn't seem to care about anything other than going fast, and of course shitting, humorously, on anything that doesn't.
Clarkson on the other hand.. doesn't seem to care about anything other than going fast, and of course shitting, humorously, on anything that doesn't.
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TehMac
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Originally posted by: 43st
I really like the Jay Leno's Garage videos he does, he's really into the automobile from an engineer's perspective. It's not just about speed, it's about how problems were solved. I recall one episode where he talked about the Model T water pump and how it was designed to circulate water via thermosyphon (with no separate pump). That's a sick level of genious, and we'd all probably be riding horses if little things like hadn't made the automobile accessible to everyone.
Clarkson on the other hand.. doesn't seem to care about anything other than going fast, and of course shitting, humorously, on anything that doesn't.
Clarkson had put out a TV show in the 1990's and early 21st century precisely what Jay Leno had been doing. Obviously, Clarkson was a bit more of an announcer, but it was his opinions and his way of wording them that made him brilliant.
Top Gear is more of a hobby thing for him, I think. He doesn't take it as seriously, it's just a chance to judge exotic cars and have fun.
The Boston Dangler
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that's because beneath clarkson's america-hating exterior, lies his america-hating interior. the only thing larger than his hatred for america is his love of his own voice.
quite.
Mr.IncrediblyBored
Lifer
- Jun 18, 2000
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Ditto.
Did anybody notice him digging into a Subway sandwhich. You're in England eating Subway fast food. With all those great restau.. oh. Right.
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