[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.