YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - A television icon was in the Valley for an appearance at Packard Music Hall Friday, but earlier in the day he made a stop at WFMJ studios.

After more than 20 years as host, Jay Leno left the Tonight Show in 2013.

But he never retired.

In fact, he's been busy doing stand up comedy all over America. He even did that through the Tonight Show run.

"I like to tell jokes; it's fun," Leno told reporter Matt Stone. "I did this for years when nobody came to see you. So when people actually come to see you it's like, 'Oh, this is actually a lot of fun!'"

You probably know about his love of anything with wheels. He has four classic Packards in his 300-car collection.

"Back when Packards were built, manufacturing was like 80 percent of the American industry. Now it's like 10 percent. So we've gone from building things to going like this, 'Oh my hand! I've got carpal tunnel!'" Leno said as he acted like he was typing on a keyboard.

Leno stopped by WFMJ for a live interview on the Midday show, and he met with WFMJ employees.

And yes, he's as friendly and down to earth as you might think.

He talked about being at WFMJ back in the '80s when he made an appearance on our noon show.

"The female anchor said to me in the break, 'Excuse me, I'm not familiar with your work.' I said, 'I'm Jay Leno, and I'm a comedian. I've been guest hosting the Tonight Show on Mondays.' So she starts the show with, 'We're talking with Jay Leno. He claims to have hosted the Tonight Show.'  'No,' I said. 'I'm not claiming; I can prove it!'"

And on Friday's Midday, he talked about how his talk show host days are behind him.

"It was the best time of my life. I really loved doing it. But at some point you have to step aside and let the new guy take over. Jimmy Fallon does a great job. He's really good. He's really funny," Leno said. "It's different than what we did. In my day it was all about the jokes and the monologue. Now it's viral videos and that kind of stuff."

Leno still works for NBC. New episodes of "Jay Leno's Garage" will air on CNBC this spring.

And yes, you guessed it. The show centers around his love of cars.