Jay Leno’s Garage is coming to CNBC in October. The launch date was revealed at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills this morning. “It’s great fun to be back,” Leno told the assembled press. “I’ve been with NBC my whole career. I like being part of this family.”
“I chose CNBC because it’s a smart network. The demographic is pretty good. A lot car shows and reality shows is people throwing tools at each other,” Leno says. “This is hopefully a cut above.”
The weekly one-hour program, which the former Tonight Show host has produced online since 2006, will feature Leno hitting the road each week, tapping into his car obsession.
In one episode he sits in the back seat of a self-driving Audi. “It looked like the invisible man was driving. NBC has been trying to kill me for years, so it’s okay,” he said.
The show features many of Leno’s own cars. He said he has “about 135 cars and 117 motorcycles. It’s cheaper than coke and hookers!
When you do these kind of car shows and you get an expensive car, there’s an insurance waiver. Since I own a lot of these cars, we can just beat the crap out of them.”
Adweek’s Jason Lynch, who is at the press tour, talked with Leno last night for an upcoming story on his life after late night.
“I loved it when I was doing it and I love it now that it’s over,” he says. Jay Leno’s Garage debuts Wednesday Oct. 7 at 10 p.m. ET on CNBC.