Jay Leno in 2004

When I took this show over, boy, there was a lot of animosity, between me and Dave and who’s gonna get it — and quite frankly, a lot of — well, good friendships were permanently damaged. And I don’t want to see anybody ever have to go through that again. ‘Cause this — you know, this show is like a dynasty. You hold it, and then you hand it off to the next person. And I don’t want to see all the fighting, and all and “who’s better?” and nasty things back and forth in the press. So, right now, here it is: Conan — it’s yours. See you in five years, buddy. Clear enough? Enough said? All right.