This Ain't Your Dad's Tonight Show

Unless, of course, he wants to appear as the musical guest...

(NEWSER) - Conan O’Brien’s new show debuts Monday, and there’s one person you should never expect to see as a guest: Jay Leno. “No, there are certain things I will not do, regardless of the price,” O’Brien tells Playboy , although he adds that Leno “can come as the musical guest, because that I want to see.” O’Brien adds that his goal for his new show is “eight months on the air. All I want to do is break my Tonight Show record.” More»

New network launches tongue-in-cheek campaign for old network

(NEWSER) - Conan O'Brien's network wants him nominated for an Emmy Award—for a show that aired on another network. TBS, where the late-night host/martyr's latest effort will debut in November, is running "for your consideration" ads touting The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien, which crashed and burned on NBC. "Conan’s great work in 2009 and 2010 deserves Emmy consideration,” Turner Entertainment Networks' president tells Entertainment Weekly —in a statement, so we don't know whether he was able to say it with a straight face. More»

O'Brien came off more whiny than sympathetic

(NEWSER) - Conan O’Brien insisted last night on 60 Minutes that he is fine—“doing great,” in fact. But everything else he said in the “awkward mishap” of an interview made him look more like a sad sack, writes Andrew Wallenstein. Not only did he discuss “his departure in the agonized terms of someone suffering a fatal illness,” O’Brien displayed “zero of the antic charm that makes him such a great comic in late night.” More»

Jimmy Fallon tops Craig Ferguson in ratings race

(NEWSER) - Jay Leno owned the 11:35 time slot last night, smashing both David Letterman and ABC’s combination of Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel as curious viewers tuned in to see Leno take back the Tonight Show gig. Leno scored a 5.7 rating, compared to 3.0 for Letterman, 3.4 for Nightline, and 1.8 for Kimmel, Entertainment Weekly reports. More»

Critics left cold by victorious host's Tonight Show return

(NEWSER) - Jay Leno made his triumphant return to the helm of the Tonight Show last night. Critics say it was like he never left, although they're split on whether that's a good thing:

• The back-to-the future Tonight Show had "neither pop, nor sizzle, nor surprise, and no amount of cheerleading from unconvincingly hyper-first guest Jamie Foxx could make it seem otherwise," complains Steve Johnson in the Chicago Tribune.