Ep. 70 - Dave Berg: Behind the Curtain – An Insider's View to Jay Leno

The James Altucher Show

James Altucher

Business, Education

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 December 2014

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

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Summary

Dave Berg spent 18 years as Jay Leno's co-producer of The Tonight Show. Everyone knows The Tonight Show; say the name and you immediately get an image to pop into your mind. But what was really going on behind the scenes? Today, Dave gives us all some great insight... You'll hear in his voice how much love and respect he has for Jay, who he called the hardest-working man in all of show business. The inside stories are fantastic, Dennis Rodman (the get), Bill Clinton (the get he never got), and the one person that took him six years to finally get on the show. Who were Dave's favorite guests? I bet you'll never guess his first response. Dave talks about what makes for a great show and who were the greatest guests. Click here to listen to Dave's stories. And in his new book, Behind the Curtain: An Insider's View of Jay Leno's Tonight Show, Dave reveals what it's like to produce a hit late-night entertainment show. ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This isn't your average business podcast and he's not your average host.
0:06.4	This is the James Altitor show on the Stansbury Radio Network.
0:11.7	So, I'm here with Dave Berg, author of Behind the Kern, an insider's view of Jay Leno's
0:26.6	Tonight Show. Dave, how long did you work for Jay Leno?
0:30.9	I've worked for Jay for 18 years.
0:33.8	18 years and the book tells, I read the book, it's all about the highs and lows during
0:40.6	those 18 years. I don't know if I could ever work for someone for 18 straight years.
0:45.7	Like why did you, I mean I'm sure it was an enjoyable, exciting experience but it seems
0:50.5	like a lot of work to put together a daily Tonight Show, the most famous show in the world.
0:56.6	Sure, but you know you have to understand over time you actually become, I know this
1:03.6	is sounds right in everything but when you work with somebody for a long time you actually
1:09.4	become sort of like family with them, even if you don't like them, you're just so used
1:14.3	to them, not only your colleagues that you work with but the guests that were booked
1:18.2	on the show. So there was that aspect to it and also it offered a rare opportunity for
1:25.5	anyone in the entertainment community. It was a stable place to work, how many people
1:32.4	can in any business can say I had a 18 year stretch and I could have gone 22 to a five
1:37.8	at one and I think.
1:39.8	Yeah, I mean you, you know and I'm going to ask you because the Tonight Show was sort
1:47.8	of this seminal show for it defined television ever since, but I mean before Carson with Ed
1:54.0	Sullivan with everything, you know you were there with Jay through all of his ups and downs
2:00.8	his fights with the networks. What was the hardest part about producing the show?
2:07.6	I think the hardest part was, I mean you know honestly it's not that easy to come up with
	...

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