The Death & Return of Jay Leno

The biggest news story in television over the next week is likely to be the return of Jay Leno to the Tonight Show on Monday night. We can be assured of two things. 1) The media will be all over it and you will be unable to escape coverage. And 2) With Conan O’Brien now on the Twitter, you can expect to see some pithy tweeting taking place early next week.

With Leno returning to the 11:30pm timeslot, the competition between Leno and Letterman is set to really intensify. In Leno’s favour, being based in LA means he has greater access to the biggest and best guests. For Letterman, the very fact that he’s Letterman and not Leno is enough of a drawcard in itself.

That said, after reviewing the guests for week one of the revival of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, it’s apparent that Lettermans guest bookers have been earning their paychecks.

Letterman

MONDAY Bill Murray

TUESDAY Mitt Romney

WEDNESDAY Jerry Seinfeld and Tom Brokaw

THURSDAY Tom Hanks

FRIDAY Matt Damon

LENO

MONDAY Jamie Foxx, Olympic Gold Medal Skier Lindsey Vonn

TUESDAY Sarah Palin, Olympic Gold Medal Snowboarder Shaun White

WEDNESDAY “Jaywalk All-Stars” with the Cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore, Chelsea Handler, and the most decorated American Winter Olympian of all time Speed Skater Apolo Anton Ohno

THURSDAY Matthew McConaughey and Jason Reitman

FRIDAY Morgan Freeman and Meredith Vieira