Jay Leno's Garage

Three, two, one.

Green, green, green.

Lets do it.

Its so slippery.

There is no traction at all.

Oh!

Ah, ...

Tonight, on Jay Lenos Garage...

‐Youve gone through puberty. ‐Eh.

...we leave the office in our dust!

Having Jay Leno drive

while Im blindfolded, this is great.

...we say "no way" to nine‐to‐five.

Oh, James Garners butt was definitely here.

We meet folks who turn play into a profession...

Oh, boy.

...and show that crazy ideas sometimes really can work!

My burgers are gonna be delicious.

Suck on that, Leno.

So lets throw caution to the wind...

Yes! Wow, that was great.

...cause, today, its all play and no work!

‐Bic‐a‐bow‐ba‐daw. ‐Bow‐chicka‐wow‐wow.

And now on to our regularly scheduled programming.

Coming up, next, the three‐part special

of The Roweford Files,

followed by the series premiere of Everybody Hates Brad,

coming up next on CNBC.

This is Mike Rowe. At the tone,

leave your name and message, Ill get back to you.

Hey, Mike, pick up.

Its Jay Leno.

Listen, I got to talk to you about something.

I need to see you right away. Pick up.

‐What? ‐Hey, how are ya?

During his eight seasons as host of Dirty Jobs,

Mike Rowe became a true champion

of the working man and the go‐to guy

for all things, well, kind of gross.

The godfather of grime, if you will.

But today, were gonna trade in Mikes hazmat suit

‐for his dream ride. ‐Ha‐ha, living the dream.

Living the dream. Good to see you, my friend.

‐Good to see you. ‐See, I told you

this would happen.

‐What? ‐You and I had

a conversation once, and I said,

"If theres any car you could have,

what car would it be," and you told me what?

As I recall the conversation, I looked at you

and very specifically said,

"My dream car is a 1978 Firebird,

specifically the one driven by Jim Rockford."

And he was a detective, of course.

He was a detective who lived in a trailer not unlike this.

Just like this at the beach.

‐Come with me. ‐Oh, come on.

Come with me.

‐Oh my gosh! ‐Thats your car.

This is it, this is a 1978 Pontiac Firebird.

This is the 1978 Pontiac Firebird.

The one that James Garner actually drove?

Yeah, this is the one used in the show.

Not one like it, not a dummy stunt car.

This is a formula, but they made it look like

the base model because they didnt want it

to look like he was driving a fancy car

cause he was a poor detective who lived at the beach.

I think the first detective who actually did time

in San Quentin, and he relied upon

many of his prison contacts to help him solve crimes.

‐Exactly. ‐I watched the show.

‐I know, you watched the show. ‐I was entering puberty

as Jim Rockford was entering the cultural zeitgeist.

Right. Well, now youre about to enter

the actual‐‐actual Firebird.

‐Youre gonna let me get in? ‐Yeah, youre gonna drive it.

Youve gone through puberty.

Thats over, thats long gone.

‐Eh. ‐So now youre mature enough

to deal with this car and handle it.

Youre saying my butt is going to be where

James Garners butt once sat?

‐Exactly. ‐Here, specifically.

Not in prison. Here in the car.

Hop in. You ready to go for a ride?

I dont know if Im up for a hop.

How about if I slide in tastefully?

Like a dignified, middle‐aged man.

Yeah, there you go.

Oh, James Garners butt was definitely here.

Thats right. You can tell, huh?

This Sierra gold 1978 Pontiac Firebird

looks like the more modest Esprit model.

But thanks to a little Hollywood magic,

it actually has the Formula 400 6.6‐liter V8

under its big hood.

‐You remember the theme song? ‐Bic‐a‐bow‐ba‐daw.

Bow‐chicka‐wow‐wow.

So tell me, is this what you thought it would be?

Tell me what its like to drive Jim Rockfords car.

Its like running into an old girlfriend.

Theres a familiarity to it

and, yet, you know, shes an old girlfriend.

But she still looks like she did in high school.

‐You look terrible... ‐I recognized her immediately.

I miss the thin steering wheel.

Why did steering wheels get fat?

Well, you had to put an airbag in.

I didnt even realize I had grown weary

of thick steering wheels

until I found this slender orb in my hand.

This show is "All Play and No Work."

So your show was all work and no play.

Youre in the sewer, youve got the Roto‐Rooter thing.

I just drive around in nice cars and talk.

‐Its a fantastic job. ‐Look,

I dont think youre a workaholic,

but I think you work all the time.

I think the reason you do that is because you figured out

how to make work feel like play.

‐Yeah, thats the trick. ‐Thats my theory,

and thats what Ive tried to do.

So what was your very first car?

I think the first car was a Ford Granada.

Ooh. yeah.

But it fell apart so quickly.

It was already so old that I wound up buying for $700,

I got a Honda Civic.

The reason I kept it so long,

I had a buddy named Jeff Wilson.

Big kid, like 230 pounds, he wrestled.

And I had a flat tire one day in this little Honda.

And I pulled over, but we didnt have a jack.

My friend, Jeff, grabbed the bumper

facing away from the car and lifted it up.

And while the car was in the air,

I changed the tire.

And the people who were driving by

were just so fascinated by this sight, right?

And Jeff got such a kick out of it

that hed come over my house all the time and say,

"Lets just ride around in your Honda,"

and wed pretend like we had a flat tire

so he could lift the car up and meet girls.

‐Hilarious. ‐What can you do?

Weve all heard the expression "all work and no play."

Well, if you watch this program,

you know my job is pretty much all play and no work.

But you know who works really hard?

Stunt people.

Stuff that looks incredibly easy on TV

is incredibly hard to do.

It takes hours of planning and dedication

just to put the simplest stunt together.

In fact, well, I want you to meet someone.

This person is probably one of the best stunt people

in the business, and also, I think,

an adrenaline junkie.

‐Jolene, how are ya? ‐Hows it going, Jay?

That was great. Hop out.

Come on, lets talk.

Jolene Van Vugt has been wowing

action sports audiences for years.

Her dirt bike accomplishments

and insane Nitro Circus exploits‐‐

I believe thats the worlds fastest toilet‐‐

have made her a bona fide legend.

And, today, shes gonna show me a thing or two

about off‐roading.

Arent you the first woman ever

to do the backflip on the bike?

‐Isnt that what it was? ‐Yeah, it was.

I came from the action sports industry.

Motocross is my grassroots.

And I met up with Travis Pastrana,

and he taught me to backflip.

I became the first female to ever do that.

And, then, after that, yeah, I traveled with Nitro Circus

for 12 years, backflipping all over the world.

So how did the stunt work come?

Did you approach them?

I mean, how did that work?

I was actually on a tour in Australia

when I got an e‐mail that went to the tune of

"We were wondering if you were interested

in doubling Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

in The Dark Knight Rises."

And he just said, "Do you think you can ride this Batpod?

We need to find a female,

we need a woman to be Catwoman."

Were you surprised at how long it took

to do a stunt in movies?

Yeah, it was definitely a different adjustment.

You need to have a lot more precision.

Youve got to do it, like, 50 times.

Theres the repetitiveness, but hitting your marks

in the stunt industry,

that, to me, is so self‐satisfying

when I can get a one‐and‐done,