At the start of the interview (which has not yet been posted in its entirety on Mr. Leno’s official Web site), Mr. Kimmel’s answers were merely snarky. He said that his impression of Mr. Leno was equal parts Curly Howard of the Three Stooges and the cartoon characters Sylvester the Cat and Scrappy-Doo. And when Mr. Leno asked, “Besides impersonating me, what’s the worst idea your writers have ever pitched you?”, Mr. Kimmel replied, “Actually that was my idea.”About half of that video is here, and here and here are more compiled highlights from last night's shows. Among other things, Dave's enjoying this and Conan's putting the show for sale on Craigslist. Meanwhile, NBC's Dick Ebersol has finally tried to turn the PR war in their direction, stating that O'Brien is “chicken-hearted and gutless to blame a guy you couldn’t beat in the ratings" and that “what this is really all about is an astounding failure by Conan" to maintain the Tonight Show's ratings.
But as the interview progressed, Mr. Kimmel’s responses became more scathing. Asked what was the best prank he ever pulled, he answered: “I told a guy that five years from now, I’m going to give you my show. Then when the five years came, I took it back almost instantly.” And when Mr. Leno inquired if there was anything Mr. Kimmel wanted to host but hadn’t yet, Mr. Kimmel replied, “Oh, this is a trick, right, where you get me to host the ‘Tonight Show’ and then take it back from me? Listen, Lucy, I’m not Charlie Brown - I don’t fall for that trick.”
Even when the interview appeared to be over, Mr. Kimmel made one last appeal on behalf of himself and Mr. O’Brien. “Listen, Jay, Conan and I have children,” he said. “All you have is cars. We have lives to lead here. You have $800 million. For God’s sake, leave our shows alone.” Mr. Leno could not do much more than awkwardly thank his guest and go to a commercial break.
added: Via NYMag (via Fark), a 10-23-92 NYT article in which Leno explains what he would do if NBC tried to bump him backwards from his 11:30p slot. "I am disappointed," Mr. Leno said. "I feel like a guy who has bought a car from somebody, painted it, fixed it up and made it look nice and then the guy comes back and says he promised to sell the car to his brother-in-law."
