They're both car guys, and they're practically neighbors, but it took industry-wide labor unrest to get Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel talking.
Not having spoken to each other for six years, the rival late-night hosts visited each other's Los Angeles-based shows Thursday to catch up and share their thoughts on the ongoing writers' strike, each hoping to give a little boost to the other's struck program.
First, Kimmel visited The Tonight Show, where he explained in that engaging mock-earnest way of his why he had reached out to Leno after all these years.
"I felt we should come together," Kimmel said. "I felt that we could solve it, but…we really did no good whatsoever."
Both Leno and Kimmel, each of whom returned to work Jan. 2 after a two-month hiatus, are without their writing staffs and are technically supposed to be winging it every night.
Leno has been criticized by the Writers Guild of America for penning his own monologue, although TV critics are speculating that Conan O'Brien and, since Monday, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have all been jotting down some of their funnier thoughts before show time, as well, allowing them to flail away as humorously as possible.
Kimmel, who asked Leno if he could throw a few jokes his way, said that being back without his scribes is "lousy."
"It's very confusing how it works," he said. "It makes booking guests difficult. Instead of movie stars you get the cast of 'Celebrity Fat Club 5' on the show."
"But there is an advantage," Leno interjected. "You don't have to see a lot of stupid movies and pretend they're good."
Later, during his appearance on Live, his first time on a late-night program other than Conan's, Leno agreed that the strike has been a "nightmare" for his show.
But although the veteran host was willing to share stories about booking snafus and motorcycle riding with his younger counterpart, Leno clammed up when Kimmel asked him about his post-Tonight Show plans after O'Brien takes over next year.
"I don't know, really," he said. "I haven't given it much thought. I'm just trying to get through [the strike]."
When Leno asked Kimmel earlier in the evening why the two of them hadn't talked since Kimmel's last appearance on The Tonight Show in 2001, the ABC host said that, naturally, there was a certain amount of competition between the two—and a bit of envy.
"Obviously, no one wants to come on my show and everyone wants to come on yours," Kimmel deadpanned. "You get all the Desperate Housewives. I get the plumber's husband from the show and whatever they throw me."
Then there's the love triangle.
"I don't appreciate you moving in on my guy," Kimmel said, referring to Leno inviting Kimmel's longtime pal and frequent collaborator Adam Carolla to check out his car collection. "It is that kind of a relationship. Adam and I are like Siegfried and Roy, only gayer. Suddenly, I found out that Jay has lured Adam to his garage to show him his cars...Like Angelina did with Brad Pitt. I'm going to move directly in on you and cut Adam out of the deal…
"I'm a car guy, too!" he protested. "I have two cars—an Escalade and a little Pontiac G6."
But although the two might be bonding over transmissions and fuel power soon, they're still late-night rivals.
"Shouldn't we tell everyone to turn your show off and turn mine on?" Kimmel asked when it was time for him to leave.
"TiVo!" was Leno's response. "TiVo, everyone!"