The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Episode: Trump Pressures Paramount for Rush Hour 4 | Denis Leary, Zoey Deutch | Nov 27, 2025
Date: November 27, 2025

Episode Overview

This lively pre-Thanksgiving episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is filled with Jimmy’s trademark humor, relatable holiday stories, and spirited celebrity interviews. Comedian and actor Denis Leary drops by to discuss his new holiday movie “Oh, What Fun,” share hilarious personal anecdotes, and play “Wheel of Opinions.” The episode also features actress Zoey Deutch, who chats about her engagement, her acclaimed new film “Nouvelle Vague,” and joins Jimmy for a French-language Christmas movie guessing game. Rounding out the night is a smash-up musical performance teased by Jimmy, plus the show’s beloved Hashtag segment.

Monologue & Opening Banter

[01:11–05:37]

• Theme: Thanksgiving Eve Shenanigans

  • Jimmy riffs on “Drinksgiving” and the chaos of Thanksgiving Eve, including hometown bar rituals and shopping madness.
  • Grocery Store Commercials: Jimmy contrasts calm “last week” ads with wild, competitive ads for the holiday rush at Kroger's.

    “Buckle up, bitch. Kroger's the new octagon. We've got one turkey left, and you gotta fight for it. Prepare to get kicked in the diblets and punched in the gizzard.” — Jimmy Fallon [02:12]

  • Holiday Travel: Jimmy jokes about overcrowded airports and the perils of bringing pungent vegetables on flights.

    “Oh, I think it’s great. If you want everyone on the plane to murder you, can you just deploy the oxygen mask?” — Jimmy Fallon [03:18]

  • Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade:
    • 34 balloons, 28 floats, 1,000 clowns — “Even the clown from IT was like, hey, that’s too scary.” [03:50]
  • Poetic Moment: Parody of “Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving.”

    “After three nights with your family, you finally head for the door, but your flight just got canceled. So settle in for three more.” — Jimmy Fallon [04:39]

• Quick News Gags:

  • President Trump pushing for “Rush Hour 4” at Paramount
  • Bath & Body Works scenting Grand Central, Penn Station’s “not so pine” fragrance
  • Oldest bus driver in Texas: “These passengers, like, Texas, we’re supposed to be in Delaware.” [05:34]

Hashtag Segment: #MyFamilyIsWeird

[07:32–10:31]

Jimmy shares audience-submitted stories about quirky family holiday behaviors.

• Notable Stories:
  • Family Meow:

    “My family has a family meow sound we make to find each other in stores.” — jgood2 [08:20]

  • Bird Truck: Uncle keeps driving with a bird nest in his truck until birds hatch and fly away.
  • Nail Hoarder:

    “My brother would clip his nails and be too lazy to get up, so he’d just store them in his belly button.” — Chad0616 [08:51]

  • Birthday Cake for Jesus: Singing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus at Christmas with “cha cha cha.”
  • Produce-Themed Outfits:

    “I match my shirts to match the fruit and veggie theme. I think it’s safe to say I’m the weird one.” — Beaverweed [09:47]

  • Liquor Store Mishap:

    “My mother accidentally drove into her liquor store. Our last name is Champagne.” — champofnewyork

  • Giblet Jammies: Grandfather’s Thanksgiving “sweatpant” tradition.

Jimmy closes with, “Stick around. We'll be right back with Dennis Leary, everybody.” [10:31]

Interview: Denis Leary

Charity, Sleepwalking, and Dangerous Toys

[11:05–21:03]

Comics Come Home & The Cam Neely Foundation

• Jimmy praises Denis for decades of charity work.
  • “You helped my dad out. His dad stayed at the Neely House in Boston recovering from his cancer, saved his life.” — Jimmy Fallon [11:33]
  • 30th anniversary of Comics Come Home, Jimmy promises to attend.

Sleepwalking Holiday Mishaps

• Leary Confesses: He’s a sleepwalker and once almost ruined Christmas.

  “I am downstairs in my underwear. I’ve taken all the ornaments and decorations off the tree, all the lights and the star, and I’m throwing it out the side door of the house.” — Denis Leary [13:25]

• Submarine Sleepwalk: After watching Crimson Tide, Denis slept in a dresser drawer, mumbling “don’t tell Denzel.”

Dangerous Childhood Toys

• On Creepy Crawlers:

  “It's just an open hot plate. Swear to god. Goes up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit…The trademark name is Plastigoop.” — Denis Leary [16:41]

• Rifleman Rifle:

  “Came with plastic bullets… I put the first bullet in, went like that—boom—hit my sister in the eye. They took the present away.” — Denis Leary [18:04]

• Bow and Arrow Story:

  “An arrow goes into my forehead. Could have blinded me...I walked up three flights of stairs, because we lived on the top—with an arrow in your head?” — Denis Leary [18:52-18:56]

Promoting “Oh, What Fun”

• New comedy with Michelle Pfeiffer:

  “I’m a huge fan of hers…they said, ‘Listen, we have a comedy Christmas script… with Michelle Pfeiffer.’ I went, ‘I’m in.’” — Denis Leary [19:34]

• Premise: Mom (Pfeiffer) does everything, gets left out, snaps, and goes cross-country for a “holiday moms” contest.

  “It’s literally like if your mom snapped and just took off and we can’t find her for the holiday.” — Denis Leary [20:10]

Game: “Wheel of Opinions” with Denis Leary

[21:22–26:47]

Rapid-fire opinions about divisive holiday topics.

• Thanksgiving Dinner Time:

  “Dinner should be served at 3:30 at the latest?…I say, at halftime of the first [football] game, which is like 2:30.” — Denis Leary [22:06 & 23:07]

• Real vs. Fake Christmas Trees:

  “My wife was like, fake tree, because I don't want to clean up...Then the kids were, like, negotiating for us to have a real tree…but they're only there for one day!” [23:26]
  “After the kids grow up, no tree. There’s no reason for a tree.” — Dennis Leary [23:59]

• Best Gift: Cash

  “The best gift ever…[Adults] love it. Five hundred bucks. $1,000. Whatever it is. ...I’m not going shopping.” — Denis Leary [24:44 & 24:59]

• Elf on the Shelf / Booze Hiding:

  “We had to hide the booze from my alcoholic uncles. ... That was our elf on the shelf.” — Denis Leary [25:31 & 26:14]

• Family Year-End Holiday Newsletters:

  “I love them. I absolutely love them…They go right in the fireplace.” — Denis Leary [26:32]

Interview: Zoey Deutch

Engagement, Nouvelle Vague, and a French Game

[27:32–36:07]

Engagement Happiness

• Zoey tells the story of her engagement in Corsica, hints given by her fiancé Jimmy.

  “He tried nonchalantly to be like, ‘Hey, so I planned dinner on Monday.’...I was like, I’ll be nice. So I just said, okay. And he knew that I knew.” — Zoey Deutch [28:35] “It really was one of the best nights of my life.” — Zoey Deutch [29:37]

New Film: Nouvelle Vague

• About Godard’s Breathless, with Zoey as Jean Seberg.

  “Nouvelle Vague is a movie about the French New wave film Breathless by Godard, which is considered one of the greatest movies of all time.” – Zoey Deutch [30:07]

• Discusses director Richard Linklater, filming in Paris, shooting in French.
• Quentin Tarantino watched the film twice at Cannes.

  “I realized I'm a totally different person when I speak French—all of a sudden, I'm timid and shy.” — Zoey Deutch [32:30]

French Movie Title Game

[33:04–35:57] Zoey quizzes Jimmy on Christmas movie titles as they’re (often comically) rendered in French:

• “Mom, I Missed the Plane” = Home Alone
• “The Crystal Trap” = Die Hard
• “The Christmas Tree Has the Balls” = National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

  “Last one. Les cepons a les bull, which translates to the Christmas tree has the Balls… We're gonna be on Christmas vacation.” — Zoey Deutch & Jimmy Fallon [35:13-35:51]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jimmy on Thanksgiving chaos:

  “Tomorrow you give thanks to your friend who stopped you from making out with your high school gym teacher.” [01:18]

• Dennis Leary on sleepwalking:

  “So I look and there’s my wife, and she goes, hi, honey. And I go, hi. In my underwear. Holding the tree, freezing cold.” [14:10]

• Zoey on engagement:

  “He was like, okay, love that. Should you wear that on Monday?” [29:24]

• Denis Leary on practical gifts:

  “More time for drinking.” [25:28]

Key Timestamps

• 01:11 – Monologue: Drinksgiving, Flying with Veggies, Thanksgiving Chaos
• 07:32 – Hashtag: #MyFamilyIsWeird
• 11:05 – Denis Leary Interview: Charity Work, Childhood Memories
• 21:22 – Wheel of Opinions: Holiday Hot Takes
• 27:32 – Zoey Deutch Interview: Engagement Story, Nouvelle Vague Release
• 33:04 – French Christmas Movie Titles Game

Episode Takeaway:
The night before Thanksgiving, Jimmy Fallon and his effusive guests tap into all the holiday feels, with laughter, nostalgia, and just the right amount of affectionate family weirdness. Denis Leary’s deadpan humor and Zoey Deutch’s charm shine as they take viewers on a comedic tour through everything from precarious childhood toys to the nuances of French holiday cinema.