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Television’s most overworked applause sign returns tonight in "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," nearly a year after the host stepped down from the show.
Leno, whose move to primetime will go down as one of television’s worst experiments, returns to the coveted "Tonight Show" with guests Jamie Foxx, Olympic Gold Medal Skier Lindsey Vonn and Brad Paisley.
Not much is really known about the show as it stands – there’s no official Web site at www.NBC.com, and the offerings on the old "Jay Leno Show" blog are cryptic at best.
There will be a reworked version of the eccentric-feeling "Jay Leno Show" set.
The creation of the new set is presumably so the audience can get a lot closer and that Kevin Eubanks, the show’s bandleader, doesn’t have to shout his usual comments.
Like his primetime show, familiar segments such as "Jaywalking" and "Headlines" will be back, but it’s safe to say the "Ten at Ten" interview segment is gone.
That, and those awkward armchairs the host and guests had to talk to each other on.
It’s a strange thing to be writing about Leno taking back his show.
The circumstances in which it unraveled proves hard for NBC to promote it.
There has been some promotional material floating throughout the Winter Olympics Games, such as Leno driving in his car back to 11:35 p.m. with The Beatles’s "Get back to where you belong" playing.
Another promo on the show’s blog suggests an ice rink (though I haven’t seen it).
Either way, not all was right at NBC.
Leno didn’t get "The Tonight Show" back by being funny, nor by really deserving it.
He failed to bring viewers back to his primetime show, and, considering his demographic was much older than most, that should have been his trump card.
NBC made its blundered decision to switch the late-night lineup in 2004 when Conan O’Brien was re-signed, turning down offers from other networks.
Instead of admitting defeat in primetime, it played with its other hosts to squeeze Leno somewhere behind the local news.
O’Brien opted out of moving to 12:05 a.m. because "The Tonight Show" would not make sense.
It also would have seen "Late Night," O’Brien’s former stomping ground hosted by Jimmy Fallon, back to 1 a.m.
Who knows what would have happened to Carson Daly’s show.
But still, they persevere.
NBC’s Olympic-themed lineup is typical of the network, as it attempts to claw back "Tonight’s" dominance away from David Letterman and the "Late Show" at CBS.
"Tonight" had fallen in the ratings as host O’Brien struggled to secure a sizable audience.
Late-night is back to how it once was, with the exception of a red pompadour ready to spring into action with a masturbating bear as a sidekick.
It will be interesting to see how Leno copes with his underdog status.
There will be obvious interest in the coming weeks with the Olympic guests and fascination surrounding his "new" show.
Beyond that is anyone’s guess.
Leno will, for the first time in years, actually have to work hard to regain his audience.
Letterman, in turn, will have to defend his newfound kingdom.
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