Jay Leno talks about the Death of Late Night, everyone gets mad
June 22, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readJay Leno told Deadline that late-night television has become boring, that podcasts are the new talk shows, and that Joe Rogan is the new Johnny Carson. The 76-year-old comic's comments, published under the headline "Death of Late Night," predictably set off a fresh round of debate about the state of the format he once dominated. Johnny Mac, host of Daily Comedy News, read through the interview cold on the air, reacting piece by piece to Leno's blunt assessment of the industry he left in 2014.
Leno on the death of appointment television
Leno's central argument is structural, not personal. He told Deadline that late-night shows are now unwatchable because of commercial load. "They pass some new rules before my tenure at The Tonight Show that after 11 you can add like another five or six minutes to the hour," Leno said. By the end of his run, the show had shrunk from 48 minutes of content to about 42, broken up more aggressively. "So when I turn on late night now, regardless of how I'm watching, if it's a Jake from State Farm again, I'm gonna shoot myself in the head," he said. The host comes out, does a monologue, then six minutes of commercials. "It's all cut up enough already. Why watch that when I can switch over to streaming or YouTube?"
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:39) **Jay Leno's "Death of Late Night" Interview** - Johnny Mac introduces a Deadline interview where Jay Leno discusses the decline of late-night TV, Joe Rogan, and John Oliver.
- 2 (05:51) **Leno on the Death of Appointment Television** - Leno explains why streaming and YouTube have killed the urgency of late-night TV.
- 3 (07:36) **Outside Tonight's YouTube Flop** - Johnny Mac critiques Bill Carter's fluff piece on the new YouTube show "Outside Tonight."
- 4 (08:53) **Josh Johnson's Half a Billion Views** - A Variety profile highlights Josh Johnson's massive YouTube success and unique approach.
- 5 (12:10) **Bert Kreischer on Luck and the Pandemic** - Bert Kreischer discusses the lucky timing of his "Hey Big Boy" special in a Flamingo Magazine profile.
- 6 (12:46) **Bill Lawrence on Scrubs Revival and Legacy** - A Variety profile with Bill Lawrence reveals details about the Scrubs revival and his thoughts on legacy.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
00:00 Jay Leno Sparks Episode
00:55 Leno on Leaving Tonight
01:25 Agent Drop and Conan
03:06 Why Late Night Faded
05:27 Podcasts Replace Talk
06:15 YouTube Late Night Experiments
06:52 Ben Gleib Numbers Jump
07:24 Josh Johnson YouTube Grind
09:11 More Comedy Industry Bits
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Daily Comedy News with Johnny Mac is a daily podcast covering comedians, stand-up comedy, late night television, and the comedy industry. New episodes every morning. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.
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