BEHIND THE CURTAIN BEHIND THE CURTAIN BEHIND THE CURTAIN (16 page)

Now that Teri was re-booked, I returned to the most pressing matter: what should we ask the president of the United States? Working with political guests was always tricky for an entertainment show like ours. We couldn’t look like we were shilling for the White House. The Washington press corps would have a field day. We also couldn’t pretend we were
Meet the Press.
The challenge was to come up with some topical and newsworthy questions—maybe even make some news—but to have a little fun along the way. I didn’t get much sleep for the next week.

Jay had lots of questions about his favorite subject, automotive technology—enough to fill the entire show several times over. He was especially interested in a local research facility the president would be visiting where they were working on batteries for electric cars. He was also incensed about the millions of dollars in bonuses bankers and others who had been bailed out by the government were getting and wanted to know if somebody should go to jail.

I also added a question about plans to set up a basketball court on the south lawn of the White House, hoping we’d make some news with this small but fun scoop.

I ended up making more revisions to President Obama’s notes than I had for any other guest—at least ten rewrites, adding and deleting questions and changing the order, right up until just before the president walked out on stage. I even reworked his introduction numerous times before settling on the simplest one, which reflected Jay’s true feelings: “I’m excited and honored to introduce my first guest . . . the forty-fourth president of the United States. Please welcome . . . President Barack Obama.

When it came time for Jay to read those words on the show, I watched from the wings in disbelief as the president entered the stage and took his seat next to Jay. The audience sprang to its feet, cheering wildly. And I noticed that everyone on the crew was dressed up in suits and ties. Something they had never done before.

The Secret Service agents were spread throughout the studio, all doing their jobs in the shadows. Nothing escaped their attention. One of them even had the task of filling and refilling the president’s water cup to make sure he was not poisoned.

The president opened the interview with a joke: “I do think in Washington it’s a little bit like
American Idol
, except everyone is Simon Cowell.” Then he brought up the story about the Secret Service he had told Jay in the dressing room. The audience loved it.

Most of the interview covered the faltering economy, as planned. Mr. Obama said he was “stunned” by the bonus payouts. When Jay asked him if someone should go to jail, he replied that “the dirty little secret” of the mortgage crisis was that “most of the stuff that got us into trouble is perfectly legal.” He said laws needed to be changed.

The interview ran about twenty-five minutes with commercials, although it seemed like only a couple of moments to me. I thought it was excellent, but I was a little concerned about a question Jay threw in at the end. He wanted to know if the bowling alley in the basement of the White House—installed during the Nixon administration—had been taken out. It was a dated reference to the presidential campaign when Mr. Obama bowled a dismal 37 (out of 300), worse than most kids. I couldn’t hear all of the president’s answer in the studio because Jay was talking over it. What he said was that the bowling alley was still there, and he had scored a 129. “That’s very good, Mr. President,” Jay said, mockingly. “It’s like the Special Olympics or something,” Mr. Obama shot back. The president was just going for a joke, but it was a potentially offensive remark.

I learned about the president’s gaffe right after the segment but didn’t worry too much about it. The audience didn’t seem to be bothered, and neither the president nor his staff brought it up. So I decided to go to dinner with my wife and some friends. I was ordering my second margarita about an hour later when I got a call on my cell phone from the executive producer, Debbie Vickers. She told me Keith Olbermann had just reported the president’s Special Olympics remarks on his MSNBC show.
The Tonight Show
had not yet aired, but Olbermann had seen the internal NBC feed.

Debbie said some of our colleagues were suggesting we edit the president’s “politically incorrect” words out of the interview before airing it. We occasionally did this for guests who made gaffes. In this case I thought it was a very bad idea. Olbermann had already broken the story, and the traveling White House press corps had watched the feed, as well, from an adjoining studio. Debbie agreed with me and asked me to check with Robert Gibbs.

When I reached Gibbs, he was already aboard Air Force One with the president en route to Washington, DC. He emphatically asked that the show not make any edits and said the president and his staff would deal with the problem, which they summarily did. While still en route home, the president called and apologized to the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver. And the next day Gibbs put out a statement that President Obama believed the Special Olympics were “a triumph of the human spirit” and that he understood they deserved better “than the thoughtless joke that he made last night.”

The president’s Special Olympics joke became a big story. While we were hoping to make news with his appearance, this is not what we had in mind. However, the story had no legs, and it was gone within a day because of some very efficient damage control.

The interview with President Obama on that day will always be remembered as Jay’s crown-jewel show and my crown-jewel booking. It resulted in our highest ratings in four years. President Obama eventually showed up on other late-night programs and would make three more visits with Jay, for a total of six. During the president’s final appearance in August 2013, he gave Jay a special parting gift. Referring to Jay’s legendary car collection, Mr. Obama said: “Well, there’s one piece that’s missing.” He then handed Jay a Matchbox replica of his limo, “the Beast,” describing it as “the one I drive in.” “I assume the real car will be at my garage after the show,” Jay said, as the president autographed the roof of the miniature limo.

The mini-Beast, a
1
⁄
43
scale model of the 2009 Cadillac DTX, was actually only worth $29.99, as listed on the website of the manufacturer Luxury Collectibles. But since it was a gift from President Obama and features his autograph, it is one of the most valuable possessions in Jay’s extensive, rare collection of expensive vehicles.

Chapter Ten

Political Moments

In 1979, Johnny Carson agreed to a rare interview with
60 Minutes
correspondent Mike Wallace, who asked him why he didn’t deal with controversies on
The Tonight Show.
“That’s not what I’m here for,” the King of Late Night said.

Johnny referred to comedians Jack Benny and Red Skelton, neither of whom ever dealt with issues on their television shows, and cited the danger of an entertainer becoming self- important and using his or her show as a forum. Johnny’s concise, thoughtful answer revealed the essence of his late-night format.

While he did monologue jokes about politicians, including seven presidents, he never pushed a political agenda and generally avoided political issues. In his thirty-year reign as
The Tonight Show’s
host, Johnny interviewed only four political guests: John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, and Ronald Reagan. In the beginning, we—like Johnny—didn’t feature politicians. But that would change—out of necessity.

In its first two years, Letterman’s show was consistently drawing larger audiences than Jay’s. Our strategy to overcome the CBS late-night show was to book the biggest stars we could. But they were never a ratings guarantee, even if we booked them first. They invariably showed up on Letterman and other shows shortly afterward to promote their multi-million-dollar films, thus diminishing their value to us.

So we turned to politicos to boost our viewership and to attract attention in the press. Jay enthusiastically supported the idea from the beginning. Next to cars, politics was his favorite subject. He was already doing far more political jokes in his monologue than Johnny or David, and he loved the idea of interviewing the leaders of our nation and the free world.

In the beginning, we didn’t know if adding politicians to
the guest mix would pay off. It seemed risky because, after all, Johnny
didn’t do it. But as time went on, it would be the political guests, combined with Jay’s heavy reliance on political jokes in the monologue, that would be the biggest factor in establishing Jay Leno’s
Tonight Show
as truly unique.

Our foray into political bookings started with former president Jimmy Carter in February 1993. Working with him the first time was a bit nerve-wracking. While he comes across as an affable grandfather, privately he’s all business. In our first phone conversation, he tersely instructed me to be direct and get to the point, which was unnerving, to say the least. On the day of his appearance, I was there at the studio entrance to greet him and his retinue of Secret Service agents. As we walked down the long NBC corridors, we were silent; I was afraid to make small talk with him for fear of being lectured.

When we reached his dressing room, Jimmy walked in and the Secret Service agents motioned for me to follow him while they waited outside. This surprised me. Stars were often joined in their dressing rooms by large contingents of agents, managers, publicists, executives, makeup artists, hair stylists, friends, family, boyfriends, girlfriends, and self-important people whose title or role was never clear.

When the door closed, it was just Jimmy and me. I nervously asked him if he had any questions. And he said, “Yes, where is the little boy’s room?” I pointed out that it was right behind him and started to leave, but he told me to stay as he entered the bathroom and closed the door.
There’s something wrong about this,
I thought.
Should I be listening to presidential tinkle?
But I had no choice. Besides, it didn’t sound presidential, and for some odd reason I felt more relaxed after that.

Still, I was concerned. We never had a former president on the show before, and he was quiet and business-like. I couldn’t help but wonder if he understood that our show was different from CNN.
What if he started talking to Jay about
something dull like foreign policy?
I thought. Then Jay stopped by to visit with the thirty-ninth president. When he left the dressing room, he motioned for me to follow him to a place out of earshot of the Secret Service agents. He asked me what I thought of Jimmy, which was code for “Are you sure this is gonna work?” “Terrific,” I said, but I had no idea.

As it turned out, Jimmy came alive onstage, proving to be a talented raconteur with some great stories, including an “embarrassing moment” at a recent book signing. A “very nice young lady” approached him, saying: “Mr. President, if you still have lust in your heart, I’m available.” No one saw that coming, and it brought the house down.

Jimmy seemed to have a magnetic effect on women. In 1996, he was on with actress Jamie Luner, who was noticeably smitten and gave him an awkwardly long hug after her entrance. During her interview, she couldn’t keep her hands off of him and kept touching his arm and grabbing his hand. After that appearance, we advised all political guests to leave the stage after their interviews.

Jimmy’s candor as a guest was a refreshing change. While many actors shied away from personal questions, Jimmy didn’t hesitate to tell Jay he and his wife Rosalynn almost got divorced over a dual electric blanket that wasn’t working properly. And he was serious! On cold winter nights, he was too hot and she was too cold. The dual controls were mistakenly reversed, and when he turned down the heat, her side of the blanket got cooler and his side got hotter.

Rosalynn made her own visit with Jay to talk about another sticking point between her and Jimmy. She thought her husband should never have told
Playboy
magazine that he, a Christian, had lust in his heart in the middle of his 1976 presidential campaign against President Gerald Ford. When the magazine came out just two weeks before the election, his support in the polls dropped precipitously, and he almost lost.

It was fascinating to work with Jimmy as a person and not as a public figure. He had grown up during the Depression, and like many from his generation he did not believe in wasting anything. We had several thousand guests on our show over the years, but he was the only one who left with the complimentary dressing room gift basket and refreshments, including water, soda, and snacks.

He also didn’t believe in wasting time, and did everything as efficiently as possible. At book stores he was billed as the “fastest book signer alive,” autographing twelve hundred books an hour (which he considered to be a record). When Jay told him Colin Powell could beat that, Jimmy quickly replied that his autographs were more legible.

After Jimmy’s success, we put a priority on political bookings. Republican senator Bob Dole came on in 1996 as our first presidential candidate, enduring Jay’s jokes about his age (seventy-three). His wife, Elizabeth, appeared in the first comedy sketch ever done by a politico, riding onto the stage on the back of a motorcycle driven by Jay. Before mounting the bike, she said, “Yeah, rev it, baby. Let’s get out of here.”

By 2000, the major presidential candidates were making regular stops on Leno and, to a lesser extent, David Letterman, who had followed our lead into the political arena. They saw late-night shows as an opportunity to come across to viewers as a regular guy in a way that news and political shows did not afford them. Commentator Christopher Buckley wrote in
TV Guide
that talk shows (especially Leno and Letterman) had become “essential milestones on the road to the White House.”

In the presidential contest of 2000, both major candidates, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush, were booked separately as guests on Leno only one week before the vote on November 7. These historic bookings would become an important part of the story leading up to our nation’s most controversial presidential election. Originally, only Bush was scheduled to appear. The Gore campaign had no plans to come to California, as polls indicated Mr. Gore was a shoo-in there. But on Friday, October 27, I got calls from both the
Chicago Tribune
and the Bush campaign saying they heard the vice president was doing the show on October 31, one day after Bush’s scheduled appearance. When I checked with the Gore campaign, they denied the rumors at first but then confirmed them. Later that day, they again said they couldn’t commit to the date.

By that point we had already begun recording our Friday show, during which we always promoted our scheduled guests for the coming week, and we made the decision to announce that Gore would be appearing on October 31. This upset the Gore campaign, but they changed their tune later that weekend and once again committed to the date. I learned later that the internal polls, conducted by the two campaigns, were showing Bush had moved significantly ahead of Gore. This may be the reason the vice president came in at the last minute.

While I was exchanging calls with Gore’s people, I began getting calls from reliable Clinton insiders. They said President Clinton wanted to make a November 2 appearance with Jay on Gore’s behalf. I tried to find out more from White House sources, but I got nowhere. When I checked with the vice president’s aides, they abruptly said they hadn’t heard about the idea and that Gore wouldn’t like it.

In politics, ideas are always floated before being introduced. If that’s what was going on, the chilly reaction from the Gore camp to Clinton’s offer may have been the reason he never came on the show. I can’t help but wonder: What if he had? Clinton is known as a legendary campaigner. Could he have changed the election’s outcome? We’ll never know.

It was now time to prepare for the two shows, starting with Bush’s segment. Jay had final say about all questions, but we usually discussed them with the guests or their people. We weren’t really a news show where guests are rarely informed about specific questions beforehand. While that never stopped Jay from asking presidential candidates tough questions, he just didn’t believe in playing the “gotcha” game.

My pre-interview with Bush’s staff took very little time. I worked mostly with strategist Mark McKinnon, a low-key, former Nashville songwriter, who said any serious “news” questions Jay wanted to ask were fair game. So we focused on some lighter material about Halloween, which both Jay and Bush signed off on.

The Texas governor was willing to do a comedy sketch poking fun at his tendency to utter gaffes, so we opened the show (cold open) with a pre-recorded bit. It started with a shot of Jay lighting a candle in a jack-o’-lantern.

Bush: You can’t do that. It’s flammablebablebable.

Leno: I think the word you want, governor, is “flammable.”

Bush then pointed to a sign on the wall, which read: “Warning: Highly Flammablebablebable.”

“You know, sometimes my mind gets ahead of my words. . . .” Bush said during the interview.

Later Jay pointed out Halloween was the next day, putting on a Bush mask. “That’s scary, but this is more scary, Bush said, putting on a Gore mask.

Jay asked Bush about Gore’s charges that he wasn’t ready to be president. He replied that President Reagan received similar criticism and said, “The more time you spend in Washington, the less qualified you are.”

The two also discussed the closeness of the race in Florida,
where Bush
’s younger brother, Jeb, was the governor.
Governor George W. Bush jokingly said: “[Jeb] recognizes that
Thanksgiving might be a little chilly if things don’t go well.” Obviously, neither Jay nor Bush
had any way of knowing just how tight and crucial the Florida vote would be.

Getting ready for Gore’s segment was a little more challenging. I dealt primarily with his speechwriter Eli Attie, a future Emmy-winning writer for NBC’s
The West Wing
. He made it clear that Gore wanted no serious questions, summarily rejecting my entire list of about thirty topics. I understood what Attie was trying to do. Gore had a reputation for being stiff and humorless, and his people saw
The Tonight Show
as an opportunity to showcase him as a down-to-earth, funny guy to millions of potential voters.

We didn’t have the luxury to ask Gore all puff-ball questions one week before the election. Some two hundred journalists would be at the taping, as they had for Bush’s. They would eat us alive if the segment was all fun and games. Besides, Jay had definite questions in mind, including President Clinton’s role in the Gore campaign in view of the candidate’s strained relationship with the president and a recent
Rolling Stone
cover photo of the vice president in very tight, khaki pants. He also had some fun topics.

The Gore team eventually signed off on the questions. Of course, they didn’t really have a choice. We opened his October 31 appearance with Halloween stories and pictures. The Gores were known for throwing elaborate Halloween parties in Washington, and we had some great pictures of them in costume. The best one featured Gore made up as Frankenstein while taking a call about national security. Buckley’s
TV Guide
article described this picture as the “defining moment of the campaign.”

Gore deftly handled Jay’s serious questions about Clinton and the
Rolling Stone
cover. He said he decided not to appear with the president at rallies because he was running his own campaign. And he dodged Jay’s reference to the “very sexy” photo with a clever one-liner: “I thought people read that magazine for the articles.”

Interestingly, just before the show Gore cleared everyone out of his dressing room except for his twenty-three-year-old daughter Kristin, who was then a Hollywood writer, and myself. Together father and daughter went over the topics, and she gave him some jokes. In most cases he took her advice over his campaign staff, despite all their efforts. She also advised him to go with a casual look by wearing cowboy boots, which he did. And when he sat next to Jay, he crossed his legs several times to make sure they were noticed.

How much impact did Jay’s Halloween interviews with the candidates have on the election? One can only speculate. Both were outstanding guests, and their appearances got extensive—and mostly positive—press, but I would give the edge to Bush. He seemed a little more relaxed and natural than Gore, who may have come across a bit contrived with his heavy reliance on written “funny lines.”