[clip from TOW Joey’s Interview]
Leno: My first guest stars on the hit show, Friends, uh, Thursdays on NBC. Just got nominated for Best Actor. Matt LeBlanc!
[The audience cheers, the band plays the Friends theme]
Leno: Congratulations on an Emmy nomination. Are you excited?
MLB: Yeah...uh, yeah. It’s a little overwhelming. Like I said before, it’s really hard to think of the show as this big thing, and that we’re worthy of this kinda stuff. We just lock the door and try to be as funny as we can, and go home at the end of the day. So it’s, it’s kind of exciting.
Leno: Now, isn’t this more in the tenth year, the ninth year? I mean, all of a sudden, you guys come on and it’s been the biggest show for, what, nine years?
MLB: Well, we’re going into our ninth year.
Leno: Oh, ok. Ninth year. Ninth year. This is fast and furious. I mean, you feel like you’ve earned it, you’ve worked for it. You know what I’m saying?
MLB: Oh, it would’ve been great to get it right away.
Leno: Well, yeah. Yeah.
MLB: Well, I guess I didn’t put in enough time and stuff like that, and you know, just to be recognized, that’s just great. It’s the greatest gig ever.
Leno: Yeah.
MLB: It’s fun. I love those five actors and the writers are great - you just have to say it. But the writing is so good.
Leno: Yeah, I guess people - I guess the show has one, but this is your first individual actor, not an ensemble cast, right? By yourself...
MLB: Yeah. Yeah.
Leno: So, when did you get - did your agent call on the phone in the morning? How did this work?
MLB: Uh, yeah, it’s so not like that in my [something]. I was way out in the mountains. I had bought this piece of property really far out of town and I’m standing there interviewing this guy to like kinda look after the place while I’m in town working. So, when I go in the weekends -
Leno: Right.
MLB: ...so, I don’t have to cut the grass and stuff.
Leno: Right.
MLB: So, uh, I’m talking to the guy, and it’s going good, and his wife says, “Oh, by the way, congratulations.” “To - what are you talking about?” And she says, “You got nominated for an Emmy.” I go, “Oh - ” (hears a whine) What was that?
Leno: What was that? I don’t know, must be a, must be a screw up. Go ahead.
MLB: Uh, “Well, see, you got nominated for an Emmy.” I said, “Oh. Oh, you mean the show.”
Leno: What is that?
MLB: What have you got going on over there? Anyway.
Leno: Go ahead. (They hear a whine) Ok, I have no idea what that is.
MLB: All right. (makes the noise)
Leno: Ok, I’ll, I’ll tell you what we’re doing before we get that. You just had a birthday.
MLB: Yes.
Leno: Now, was there anything you wanted for your birthday?
MLB: Um... (thinks) You know, not particularly. I’m always good for a Craftsman, you know, tool kit kinda thing.
Leno: I heard you got a dog, a chihuahua or something.
MLB: When I was a kid, I had a chihuahua.
Leno: But you don’t have a chihuahua now.
MLB: Hell no. No. (laughs)
Leno: But why don’t you have a chihuahua now? In case we get you one.
MLB: Are you kidding? It’s this big. You trip over it, you fall on it.
Leno: But do you need a big dog because you feel there’s some kind of masculine thing attached to it? Well, I’ve got this stupid dog, so let me get it out of here. [takes out a chihuahua puppy from his desk] Well, I know you like chihuahuas, so I had to get you one.
MLB: Oh my God! Hey!
Leno: I heard you wanted one. Here you go.
MLB: Hey. What are you doing? [It starts “kissing” him on the lips. The audience aw’s.] Aw!
Leno: Let me tell you something. That dog has been in my pocket all day It hasn’t said a word. So it’s been perfect. So it’s been perfect all day, so it was calling your name. It was calling your name.
MLB: [something.] How are ya?
Leno: I thought - do you want, would you like one of these?
MLB: Who cares - yeah!
Leno: Well, he’s your dog.
MLB: Well, thanks a lot. That’s great.
Leno: Sure. Now you gotta finish the story. The Emmy story.
MLB: Oh right. Um, so - so you took out for a walk recently?
Leno: I did walk her recently. Listen, I’ve got these new batteries that go with it. These batteries. [hands him two batteries] It’ll run down, but you’ll see.
MLB: Ok. Where do these go, in the back, right?
Leno: Yeah. [they laugh] No, you see, no you see, you have this thing where you have to have a manly dog.
MLB: This is very manly.
Leno: No, but your firends - this is the dog you want, but you don’t want to get one because people think you’re a wienie.
MLB: Well, it’s a good thing we’re keeping this quiet.
Leno: Yeah! See, that’s how it works.
MLB: He’s cute...
Leno: Well, let’s take a break so they can bond.
Commercial break
(When they come back from break, the puppy is wrapped in a white towel.)
Leno: Welcome back, just talking about training hunting dogs with Matt.
MLB: Yes.
Leno: Where were you, where did you go, Alaska, recently? How was that?
MLB: Yeah, uh, I go to Alaska every year. That place is - I don’t know if you’ve ever been up there.
Leno: I’ve been up there.
MLB: It’s so fantastic. I go to snowboard every year.
Leno: How does that work? Do you jump out of -
MLB: No, they kinda put the edge of it on the snow, and you kinda get out and you, it just kinda disappears, and then you -
Leno: Wow.
MLB: It’s really, really amazing. Alaska is just, so untouched my man. It’s like, special. It’s really cool.
Leno: Yeah, yeah.
MLB: I highly recommend it. You going? You should get out there.
Leno: Well, are you like on the top of a mountain? How high up are you on the snowboard?
MLB: Well, the thing is, the tree line in Alaska is like 2,000 feet, 25,000 feet. And here, if you go to the local mountains, it’s like 9,000 feet. You can be at 6,000, where there’s plenty of oxygen. It’s just giant powder balls, really fun, and there’s no trees to hit. So you clonk your brains out, it’s like falling in the pool.
Leno: No, no avalanches or anything? You know -
MLB: Yeah, they’re out there. You wanna try and stay away from those...
Leno: What are you talking about, tell somebody to stay away from them?
MLB: You’re a natural!
Leno: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, are there eagles flying around all those -
MLB: Yeah.
Leno: No, no, they just -
MLB: It’s funny, because the first time I went up there, the lodge I was staying in - there was a newspaper clipping on the door. I was like “Local news, what could that be?” They had this, this couple who came up in their RV and they opened the door to let the little dog out, and uh, go for a walk. And the eagles, they’re like this big. They’re like prehistoric, they’re huge. They swooped down and take the thing away and that was like the front page of the newspaper. Hey...
Leno: To pick up and SUV, that’s a big eagle.
MLB: Yeah. Took the whole motor home!
Leno: It was a pterodactyl.
MLB: They’re gigantic.
Leno: Maybe you should go back in time instead of to Alaska.
MLB: With my new buddy!
Leno: There you go.
MLB: Hey!
Leno: Yeah, you should name him.
MLB: Um. I don’t know. How about Jay?
Leno: Jay is good. You know, because of your Emmy nomination, this has moved you to a whole other level. So we put together a kind of Tonight Show biography. People can take an overview of your career. Let’s take a look. Let’s take a look.
[Clip]
Narrator: Matt LeBlanc. Born outside of Boston, Massachusetts.
His childhood dream was to race motorcycles.
But a head injury caused Matt to wander around town thinking he was a mysterious French artist named Fromage.
Following his parents’ wishes, he tried working as a veterinary dentist.
But soon gave it up for his love of just hanging around, trying to look like the Fonz.
This quickly led to a role in the blockbuster “Baseball Playing Chain Smoking Monkey Movie.”
As well as in the hit sitcom, Friends.
Where he and the other cast members spend their days...
...counting their millions.
We salute you, Matt LeBlanc.
[end of clip]
Leno: Now, it’s the time to tell me, cause I like these things, about the psychic for the stars. You know what I’m talking about? You went to see a psychic early in your career?
MLB: Oh, right. Uh, this is kinda freaky. [something.] I had done a couple of bit parts not worth commenting on, so I had a friend who said, “You should see this psychic to see how your career will turn out.” I’m like, “How much does that cost?” It wasn’t that much, so I went for it. So, she said, “Oh, I see you in the future doing something with your friends.” With your friends. I’m like, “What the hell does that mean? I’m doing plays in my buddy’s backyard?” I don’t know. I didn’t know what to make of that. So, then, looking back on it now, it’s kinda creepy.
Leno: Well, it seems a little vague. Something like “I see one day the sky will be blue. The sky will be blue.” I mean, couldn’t you be a little more specific?
MLB: I mean, the name of the show, Friends, in retrospect, you can draw all kinds of [something.]
Leno: Yeah. How much was it?
MLB: I think it was eight bucks.
Leno: I was going to ask how that Emmy thing’s going to work.
MLB: Yeah, it should.
Leno: That’s pretty cool. Is this the last year of Friends? Cause I keep hearing - we have nothing. They keep sniffing around and - do you think you guys could be enticed to come back, you think? Another year?
MLB: As far as I know, this is it.
Leno: Yeah.
MLB: As far as I know. Unless you heard something. Did you hear something I didn’t know?
Leno: You hear things. You hear things. I mean, I’d love to have you guys back. It’s kinda your decision as a group, right? You know, do you guys think you’ll go here and you’ll go there...?
MLB: The executives probably think this is a good time to end things. Uh, it just seems, that with all the conversations we’ve had, boy, we’re out on a limb here. Let’s change the subject.
Leno: All right. We’ve got some audience car questions.
MLB: Aw, I love this.
Leno: “How are you doing? What car would you choose if you had only one in your lifetime, and would you take me for a ride in that car?”
MLB: You? Would I take you for a ride?
Leno: Well, I guess they’re asking you.
MLB: Will I take who for a ride? Is it a guy or a girl?
Leno: I don’t know. “Are over 18?” That’s more important, you know. Well, if you could have only one car, which would you choose? There you go.
MLB: Um...I’d say maybe a pick up truck. Practical, right? Practical...carry my big dog around.
Leno: Carry your dog around. Yeah. You can get a mini with that dog. [looking off camera] What is that, Mike? Oops, we’ve gotta, we’ve gotta walk the dog.
MLB: Gotta walk the dog? [lifts it off his lap] Ooh.
Leno: But thank you. We’re really excited about your Emmy nomination. Good having you, Matt. Good luck. Good luck.