-Welcome back, my friend. -This is so exciting.
-It's very exciting, right? -It's a long time.
It's hard to believe I hosted one of these things for so long.
-You hosted one of these things. We were talking backstage.
So, "Last call" -- I've been doing this show now
for six years.
-Congratulations, by the way. -Thank you very much, yeah.
-Six years. -Six years.
[ Cheers and applause ] It's amazing.
-It's not easy.
-And you -- For the first 5 1/2 years of this show,
I would always end by saying, "Stay tuned for Carson Daly."
-And, by the way, thank you for that.
-Oh, my God, of course. -That was amazing.
-Sometimes, I would stay up late just to watch you say my name
and then go to bed before my show.
-But you did "Last call" for -- I mean, talk about six years,
you did it for 17 years.
-You can succeed in this business
if you program entertainment while America's asleep.
-Yeah. -100%.
-It was always a show that started at 1:37 in the morning.
-1:37 in the morning.
-We were talking backstage, though.
You know, I think people might not even remember that --
Or was it just the first season that you shot in 8H,
the "SNL" --
-The great Lorne Michaels allowed us.
-Yeah. -God bless him. It was great.
At the time, we didn't have a home,
so he allowed us to sort of squat in famous 8H.
And we would shoot, you know,
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and put up our thing
and get a bunch of rappers in there and do our little show.
and get out before "SNL" would rehearse.
-I believe I was a Season 1 guest on your show.
-I believe you were. -Yeah.
-Thank you again for that, by the way.
-Of course, man. That was big. -I owe everything to you.
-That was huge for me.
That was huge for me.
-That was big for me. Are you kidding me?
-And now you -- Obviously, not 17 years,
but you are in the 18th season of the "The Voice,"
which is also incredible.
-Incredible. Yes, yes.
-And you and Blake are the only ones
who have been there from the beginning.
-Correct.
-But, yet, I think one of the reasons the show continues
to refresh itself is the fact you have different
people come in every year.
-I think when we started, you know, "American Idol"
was obviously a trailblazer for this format of shows.
People love to watch people sing on television.
-Yeah. -It's officially a fact.
But back in the day, I think if there had been --
You know, if Simon Cowell or one of the people on "Idol"
would have left the show, at that time,
the press would've been, "Oh, my God.
'Idol' is over."
When we came in, we were like, "Hey, we have, you know,
these A-list artists who have to tour,
and they're going to leave.
And we're going to be like, you know, 'Iron Chef.'
There's going to be a lot of them.
And they'll rotate in and out."
And I think it's been a big reason
why the show has done so well, because we've had a chance
to bring in, you know, Alicia Keys and Usher,
and all these great people now want to be in the chair.
-And it changes the DNA of each season,
which I think is a nice way to keep it fresh.
-And we have Nick Jonas now. -Which is very exciting, yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ] -He's great.
-You are backstage with the families while --
-While they're auditioning.
-Yeah, while they're auditioning.
I would imagine not only are there highs and lows for them,
but by being next to it, you must be on that
high and low with them.
-I am. I get very excited for them.
I cheer when their loved one gets a chair to turn,
but minutes later, it's like being at a funeral
and it's very sad, because, you know, their loved one --
Their opportunity is now stopped,
so, yeah, it's tough.
But I love it. I love that part of the show.
It's a lot of fun.
-I mean, in those moments when it doesn't go the way --
And, of course, the show only survives because
there are winners and losers, so that's a vital part --
-They don't know that part, though.
-Right. -Yeah.
-Do you say like, "I am so sorry for you.
We're going to get you out of here, though, now."
-I've tried every way to make it semi-comfortable,
but, like, it's just impossible.
-And I assume you can feel their pain as a family member,
like, the way they root, because you have a beautiful family.
-I do. -They're all here tonight.
-They're here, and I'm nervous, 'cause I'm out here --
My entire family -- I've -- My family has happened
so fast for me that I've, like, probably been on your show
before I had a wife or kids.
And now I have a wife, three kids,
and a fourth child on the way, and they're all here.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Yeah.
-Hi, guys!
I'm just so old.
I'm like one of the oldest employees at NBC now.
-And I, like, have had a chance --
I was on "The Arsenio Hall Show."
Did you know that? -No.
-No, I'm not that old. -Yeah.
But you were an intern for Jimmy Kimmel's radio show.
-Crazy. Yes.
-So that does speak to how long you've been in the business.
-That's long. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
-That you interned for Kimmel... -In the '60s.
-...in the radio era. -No. There was no TV.
-How did you end up doing that job?
-It's a crazy story.
Our families vacationed in Maui when I was like 8-years-old.
And he was on a -- He was graduating from high school.
And we're Catholic, and he was with his Catholic high school.
And we met and became friends.
And long story short, when I dropped out of college
and moved out to Palm Springs to try and play
professional golf, I re-met with Jimmy
when I was 18 and he was about 24.
And, you know, I was his intern.
And he's like, "Here, just come be my intern,
and I'll sign your papers and you can, you know,
just get up early."
And I ended up falling in love with radio.
And we ended up working together,
and, you know, I sort of owe everything I have to him.