Anyone who’s familiar with Jay Leno (who recently cameoed on Shifting Gears) and David Letterman is almost certainly aware of the drama that unfolded between the talk show hosts in the early 1990s. After Johnny Carson retired from NBC’s The Tonight Show, Leno was tapped as his replacement despite the fact that Letterman had been hosting Late Night in the following time slot, and Carson had thought he was his natural successor. In the decades since, Leno and Letterman haven’t exactly been chummy, and though the former recently shared why he thinks a reunion with the latter would be “awkward,” it’s actually making me hopeful that it will actually happen.
During an extensive interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, the title host mentioned that’d been speaking with the executive producer for Jay Leno’s Garage, who said it would “bring him no greater joy in life” then to see Leno and Letterman reunited. Here’s what Leno had to say to that:
Oh yeah. I would like to do that. I think I have no problem with it. I think Dave might be awkward… Dave’s a quirky guy. I don’t mean that in a bad way.
Max subscription. I’d like to think enough time has passed that in the right environment, they could have a thoughtful and compelling discussion for others to enjoy.
New episodes of Jay Leno’s Garage can be found on YouTube, while David Letterman’s current talk show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, can be streamed with a Netflix subscription. And hey, if by some chance Leno and Letterman do reunite onscreen, maybe that can help with getting Leno and Conan O’Brien in a room together… or is that asking too much?