"The University of Wyoming is opening the Dick Cheney Center for International Students. And really, who loves foreigners more than Dick Cheney. Who is going to make you feel more welcome?"
Guess what? Andover's Jay Leno is back on TV.¬
By all accounts his first foray into primetime with the "Jay Leno Show" was a hit last night.
Guests on the show included Jerry Seinfeld plugging an upcoming reunion of the "Seinfeld" cast on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and a contrite Kanye West.
Of course, guests in the audience included his longtime friend Lew Trumbore.
"The show was awesome," said the admittedly biased Trumbore of Andover. "My hands hurt from clapping, my cheeks hurt from smiling and my stomach hurts from laughing so hard."
Trumbore and his girlfriend, Sue Armstrong, went to Los Angeles to see his friend of nearly 50 years on the eve of the show's debut last night at 10.
"He'll say, 'This is just another show. I did this for 17 years,'" Trumbore said.
Trumbore describes Leno as a humble, hard-working guy who hasn't changed much from the kid he grew up with in Andover. While Leno might not make a big deal of his latest career accomplishment, his friend wanted to mark the occasion with him.
Trumbore spent the weekend with Leno and his wife Mavis.
Leno wanted to have a low key weekend and managed it to some extent. Trumbore and Armstrong had dinner with the Lenos on Saturday at the legendary Dan Tana's, where they saw "Eight is Enough" star Dick Van Patten and "The Monkees" Micky Dolenz.
On Sunday, Leno, Trumbore and some fellow gear heads went on a food run to In-N-Out Burger in a converted 1941 fire engine. The hoots, hollers and cheers from the roadway proved they were noticed by locals who were ready for the return of Leno.
"A lot of them were shouting, 'Good luck tomorrow,'" Trumbore said.
But yesterday, Leno was in work mode.
Trumbore got a tour of the new set before the show, and was quite impressed.
"It's really cool. It's bigger," said Trumbore, adding that the studio seats more people than Leno's old "Tonight Show" digs. "They have a race track right outside. It's pretty hysterical."
The show is taped live at 4 p.m., Pacific time. Trumbore and Armstrong sat with Mavis Leno. Jay came over to give her a kiss at the first commercial break.
Trumbore loved seeing Leno's former "Tonight Show" musicians, including band leader Kevin Eubanks back. He called them phenomenal.
"You don't get to appreciate the band on TV, you have to be there," he said.
The show opened with a monologue, and included some pre-taped gags. In one, Leno "appears" on the reality TV show "Cheaters" to confront Eubanks about cheating on him with a look-alike.
The most talked about part of the show was Leno's short interview with West, who was scheduled to appear on the show with Jay-Z and Rihanna for weeks.
The hip-hop artist made headlines yesterday after an outburst Sunday night at the MTV Video Music Awards. West got on stage while 19-year-old country singer Taylor Swift was accepting an award for Best Female Video and told the audience the award should have gone to fellow nominee Beyonce.
Leno joked that President Obama has invited West and Swift to the White House for a "root beer summit."
West got booed at the awards show, and according to Trumbore, got booed before the "Jay Leno Show." However, Leno came out before the show and asked the audience to cut West some slack.
"He said, 'Booing doesn't solve anything. He came here to honor his commitments. He knew he made a mistake,'" Trumbore said.
On the show, Leno thanked West for coming and gave him a chance to say how sorry he was to have ruined the moment for Swift. West got emotional when Leno asked him what his late mother would have thought of his behavior.
"I immediately knew it was wrong," West said. "It was someone's emotions I stepped on."
A jubilant Trumbore planned to spend the evening with Leno after the show. According to Trumbore, the audience seemed to love every minute.
"It will be a huge success," Trumbore predicts. "He just works harder than everybody else."
