The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Leno himself? Comfortable and comforting, enthusiastic but not too much so, apparently ready to just get back to the job of making middle-of-the-road laughs.

Leno did the show last night exactly the same way he does every show. He knows how to tell jokes and he can make his way through an interview.

Leno's got his desk, he's got his guests and no one expects him to do anything but what he's done for so many years: protect the "Tonight Show" franchise. After all that has happened, that may or may not be enough.

He seemed nervous in a rapid-fire monologue that took shots at Dick Cheney, Alan Greenspan and Tiger Woods.

The first covering the initial 30 minutes was the one to pay attention to. It had no guests and featured Leno and his staff --and it was lame, tame and tepid. The second was all guests--and it had energy if nothing else.

In the end, Leno is talented in the most mediocre of ways, and this gives viewers great comfort....There was nothing new, but there was a very happy man on stage.

Monday's opening monologue, supposedly Leno's strong suit, was tired, lame and unfunny. In other words, typical of the real Leno, rather than the Leno of public-relations imagination.