August 2009: Jay Leno answers questions about "The Jay Leno Show" on a panel last year. The show was canceled after Leno resumed his role as host of 'The Tonight Show.' (Reuters)
Jay Leno employed a little gallows humor in his "Tonight Show" monologue Monday night, cracking bitter jokes about the show's recent staff layoffs and his own pay cut.
Both NBC and its parent company, Comcast, were the target of Leno's ire, with the talk show host getting in digs about NBC's frequent fourth-place ratings behind Fox, CBS and ABC.
Report: Jay Leno takes pay cut as Tonight Show lays off 20 staff members
"Welcome to The Tonight Show, or as Comcast calls us, The Expendables," Leno greeted his audience Monday. "As you may have heard, our parent company has downsized The Tonight Show. ... We've consistently been number one in the ratings, and if you know anything about our network, that kind of thing is frowned upon."
Some 20 to 25 "Tonight Show" staffers were laid off Friday and Leno took a sizable pay cut to reportedly to spare additional job cuts. Producers were also reportedly given the option to take pay cuts or lose their jobs.
"Friday morning when I woke up, there was a peacock head in my bed," Leno said, also quipping that the show was being taken over by Bain Capital.
Watch video of Leno's monologue below:
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