"The Jay Leno Show": Too Much Change?

Last week at the TCA Press Tour, we got a better picture of what “The Jay Leno Show” will look like.

I wish I could say it made me feel better…

During his panel with critics, Jay confirmed that the show will be very different from his “Tonight Show.” Thankfully, some elements of that show will continue including Jaywalking and Headlines. But those elements will come at the end to lead into the local news. The show will still begin with Jay’s monologue.

In between will be guests and musical acts, but those will be completely different. There will most likely only be one guest and they’ll do more than just talk. NBC is building a racetrack next to Jay’s studio so that Jay can race electric cars with his guests. And instead of just one musical guest, there will be more than one performing together. The first show will feature Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West doing a song from Jay-Z’s new album. The show is hoping to bring together some interesting combinations.

You guys know I love Jay (although I’m a little miffed at him for replacing his longtime director Ellen Brown) and I really want this to succeed, but I’m a little worried that the more NBC tries to make the show different from “Tonight,” the more they’re going to screw it up.

Because personally, I think if they let Jay just do his thing as usual, the show could be a hit. But then they’d have to admit they screwed up with this whole Conan thing. And that’s never going to happen…

Even though we all already know they did…

“The Jay Leno Show” premieres Monday, September 14th at 10 p.m. on NBC…

Photo Credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC