
Conan O’Brien may be gearing up to host this year’s Academy Awards, but apparently Hollywood’s biggest night is one gig Jay Leno isn’t interested in.
In a new interview with The New York Post, Leno revealed that he was twice courted to host the Oscars, but turned down the gig both times. The offers apparently came when Leno was hosting The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where he presided for a total of twenty-two years.
“I sat down with my staff and said, ‘What do we do? We have to do a show the day before the Oscars. We have to do a show the day after the Oscars. Do we save our best jokes for our show? Or do we give all of our best jokes to the Oscar show?’,” Leno recalled.
All those shows in such a short span of time may sound like a heavy workload, but it wasn’t the schedule that turned Leno off. It was a fear of over-saturation.
“We realized that when you see somebody on TV every night, it’s not special to see them hosting the Oscars,” he explained. “That’s my feeling. You’re on TV too much.”
Also part of Leno’s considerations was advice he says he received from the Johnny Carson, who had hosted the Oscars five times over the six-year span of 1979-1984. “‘You’re either too funny or you’re not funny enough.’ Leno recalled Carson saying. “This is the industry and now you’re here making fun of it. Johnny really felt it was a no-win situation.”
All that said, Leno—whose personal history with Conan O’Brien is well-documented—thinks the former late-night host’s prospects as emcee this year are good.
“I think Conan will be good, because he’s not on every night like he used to be… I think he’ll do fine.”
“I think he’ll be great,” Leno reiterated. “He’s a very funny guy. He’s very creative. I’ll watch, sure. He’ll do good.”
Leno’s take on hosting the Oscars is similar to one recently shared by another NBC late-night host. Seth Meyers preemptively turned down any offers to host when he was interviewed on the red carpet at the Golden Globes earlier this month.
Leno’s rival David Letterman did host the Academy Awards once during the pair’s late-night era—back in 1995.
O’Brien makes his Oscars hosting debut on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The ceremony will air live at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC.
Leave it to Leno to piggyback on Conan’s star to get any kind of attention. Just shut up and put some ice on that shiner of yours.