Paul Drinkwater/NBCTrying to avoid stealing too much of Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show thunder, NBC waited a respectful 10 whole hours after his inaugural effort before turning the spotlight back to Jay Leno, announcing he will make his prime-time debut on Sept. 14.
The Jay Leno Show, aka the Earlier Night Show, will play to its host's strengths with a nightly monologue, star guests and several of Leno's 17-year-and-running signature bits, including Jaywalking. Leno will again be joined by bandleader Kevin Eubanks.
That said, Leno will be taking slightly longer to return to the small screen than O'Brien estimated last night.
"He's going to be coming back on the air in…I think two days, three days tops," the new host said while paying tribute to his predecessor.
And while Leno acknowledged last month that he faces stiffer competition in prime time, if his ratings are anything like O'Brien's were last night, he'll have nothing to worry about.
The Jay Leno Show will air weeknights at 10 p.m.
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