The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992– )

Jay Leno does not deserve to come back to the coveted Tonight Show spot. Conan is the guy who earned the spot that he truly wanted ever since he saw Johnny's show as a kid by doing 16 years of truly influential, groundbreaking and critically applauded comedy. The level of quality and quantity of material that Conan turned out every night on Late Night was truly outstanding and in the opinion of this reviewer has not been matched by many other comedy shows and certainly not any other talk show host in history. Conan's gratitude and adulation when he finally received his dream job did not go unheard and he specifically thanked Jay Leno on no more than three significant situations: On his Late Night farewell, as a guest on Jay Leno's last show and on his first Tonight Show.

In extreme contrast, when Jay Leno unashamedly began his return to the 11.30 slot, just like in 1992, Leno had absolutely no words, positive or otherwise, to say about the person who had just left the chair. Instead Jay Leno continued doing the very same easily digestible, hardly strenuous material he had been doing for 18 years. Anyone who had any hope that Leno might evolve to somehow warrant his un-relinquishing need to hang on to the show has been proved wrong by his March 1st premiere.

After a typical monologue(making almost no mention of Jay's premiere) spliced randomly with unfunny new sight-gag 'segments' like "The World's Tightest Pants" Jay did a taped piece involving him looking for a new desk. This was the cue for another unfunny segment where C list celebrities like Randy Jackson and Adam Corolla invaded people's homes while Jay sat at their various desks. That was the limit of the punchline. Jay then revealed his desk as if it was some momentous occasion and interviewed a hyper Jamie Foxx whose attempts to get the crowd to cheer along Leno were humorously futile. Same unfunny business as usual for Jay Leno...