Jay Leno on Monday addressed the recent announcement that there have been numerous layoffs at NBC's Tonight Show forcing him to take a pay cut to save some of his staff.
Feeling the need to take a cheap shot at presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Leno quipped, “Turns out now we've been taken over by Bain Capital" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Leno began his opening monologue saying, “Welcome to the Tonight Show, or as Comcast calls us, The Expendables. That's right.”
After some laughter and applause, Leno continued, “As you may have heard, our parent company has downsized the Tonight Show. You know, and we've consistently been number one in the ratings. And if you know anything about our network, that kind of thing is frowned upon.”
I guess if you're a late night television host, it's imperative that every gag involve Romney somehow.
But Leno wasn't finished.
“See, I knew something was going on,” he continued. “Friday morning, I woke up and there was a peacock head in my bed.”
“But the good news,” said Leno, “the Tonight Show, it's still free to get into the Tonight Show. Bad news: it’s 100 bucks to get out. Okay? So please, have your money ready. Exact change if possible, though.”
