Who knew the real drama was in late-night?!?!Jay Leno is back tonight to his old stomping ground, but will he be king again? It's Letterman vs. Lenno for the first time in nearly a year (that's when Leno was forced out by NBC suits and put into a primetime experiment ... that tanked). Leno's loyal followers at the "Tonight Show" didn't follow him to primetime, they didn't stick around and give Conan O'Brien a chance (though NBC only gave the guy seven months to prove himself) ... instead they headed over to CBS where they discovered David Letterman's "Late Show." The real question is whether they'll stick around with Dave or mosey back to Jay.
Leno does know late-night ... during his 17 years as host of "Tonight," he was number one for 15 years. But experts say that had a lot to do with his "nice guy" image ... the question about whether he'll be number one will depend on how much that image was tarnished. I have no doubt Leno will be number one during the first night ... even the first week ... but will it last?
Leno has big guests lined up this week: Olympic stars Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White and Apolo Anton Ohno ... Sarah Palin, Adam Lambert and the cast of "The Jersey Shore." Letterman isn't sitting back idely. He's pitted Palin against another GOP star ... Mitt Romney. He also has two NBC stars later in the week ... Jerry Seinfield and Tom Brokaw.
It's going to be interesting to see what Leno's first joke will be ... I'm betting it's about the NBC fiasco that shook-up late-night.
