Leno spent 17 years at the helm of “The Tonight Show,” so the audience should know what they’re in for at this point. But just because Leno has a comfort zone that elevated him to the top of the ratings heap in late night, that doesn’t mean there can’t be some curveballs. Obviously, Leno’s version of “The Tonight Show” won’t be as delightfully off-kilter as O’Brien’s was (that’s just not Leno’s game), but there can be a few subtle shifts that could lead to something great. Here are five things we’d like to see from the Leno 2.0 version of “The Tonight Show.”

More Upstart Comedians
One of the aspects of the much-derided “The Jay Leno Show” that worked was Leno’s commitment to upstart comics. “The Tonight Show” was initially the big break that a stand-up looked for to get his career going on other avenues. But as the show got more and more Hollywood, it became less about that. Leno should re-commit himself to giving funny people a leg up.

More Remote Action
One of the big problems with “The Jay Leno Show” was the fact that it was basically tethered to the studio. Sure, they sometimes went out back to race cars, but that always seemed like a cool idea that was never particularly entertaining. Jay should get outside the studio with remote shoots and hit the road more often. When you get outside the comfort zone of the studio, some real unpredictable fun can happen.

Retire “Headlines”
This is probably wishful thinking considering this is probably Leno’s signature segment. But as a show of commitment to change, Leno should make a big deal out of burying it. It’s almost never funny and has the stink of the past on it. If he wants to stop being derided by Letterman and Kimmel, he should replace it with another news-centric bit.

Commit To Music
The two late night Jimmys (Kimmel and Fallon) have both lapped Leno and Letterman as far as musical guests go, as they always invite cool people from all corners of the music world. Leno should get in on the ground floor of a genre and welcome some cool people. Perhaps “The Tonight Show” becomes the stop for world music, folk or country?

Stay Angry
Here’s the thing: People have already decided whether or not they like Jay Leno, and the folks who sided with Team Coco during January have labeled him a villain. Why not embrace the heel persona? Some of the most popular characters in professional wrestling have been the bad guys, so Leno should go ahead and embrace it. He should keep sparring with the other late night hosts, refuse to pull punches and live dangerously. The people who already love him will admire him for sticking up for himself, and people who have already decided he’s a bad guy won’t be the ones tuning in anyway. Everybody wins!

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In quotes provided Wednesday by Harpo Productions, Leno tells Winfrey that “it didn’t seem appropriate” to speak to O’Brien. But Leno says the two comedians might talk when “things cool down.”

NBC unseated O’Brien and moved Leno back to the program he had hosted for 17 years. Leno is scheduled to return to “Tonight” on March 1.

In a video previewing “The Oprah Winfrey Show” interview, Leno says: “This whole thing was a huge mess.”

Leno’s interview is slated to air Thursday.

Harpo Productions made an offer for O’Brien to appear on her show, but it hasn’t been confirmed.

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Kimmel participated in Leno’s “10 @ 10″ segment, which involves a celeb answering 10 questions via satellite.

Leno asked Kimmel to relate his best prank ever.

Kimmel said that he told a guy five years ago that he’d give him his show, and “then I took it back.” (In 2004, Leno agreed to surrender The Tonight Show to O’Brien in 2009, after 17 years as host. NBC is now deciding whether Leno will resume his 11:30 p.m. slot; O’Brien recently said he would not accept NBC’s request to move his show to 12:05 a.m.)

At that point, Leno asked Kimmel. “Ever order anything off the TV?”

“You mean the way NBC ordered your show off the TV?” Kimmel replied. During a discussion on strippers, Kimmel said, “I don’t like strippers because you have a phony relationship with them for money. Sort of like the way you and Conan were on The Tonight Show together passing the torch? You know what I’m saying.”

He also told Leno: “Listen, Jay, Conan and I have children, all you have to take care of is cars. I mean, who have lives to lead here. You’ve got $800 million, for God’s sakes… leave our shows alone.” (Kimmel made fun of Leno on Tuesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. Wearing an exaggerated fake chin to play Leno, he joked that he was taking over all late-night shows, including Kimmel’s, and announced that ABC stands for “Always Bump Conan.”)

Meanwhile, Leno and O’Brien are continuing to rip each other.

“Hi, I’m Conan O’Brien, NBC’s ‘Employee of the Month,’” he said in his monologue Thursday. “There’s a rumor that NBC is so upset with me, they want to keep me off the air for 3 years. My response to that is, if NBC doesn’t want people to see me, just leave me on NBC.”

Leno fired off jokes on his show as well: “In other TV news, Sarah Palin has signed with Fox News to be a correspondent. Fox says, if she does a good job, they’ll sign her to a long-term contract. And if it doesn’t work out, they’ll just blame Leno.

“With all the controversy going on here at NBC, actually,” he continued, The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien’s ratings have gone up. “So, you’re welcome!”

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The New York Times says the network is devising a plan to make Leno’s show a half-hour long, thereby moving O’Brien’s hour-long show to the start time of 12:05 a.m.

The plan is still in the works, says the newspaper, but one anonymous senior exec tells the Times that an agreement between the network, Leno and O’Brien is basically in place. Contractual details reportedly still need to be ironed out.

Amid rumors about the possible shake-up, a rep for the Peacock Network told ET earlier Thursday: “We have the best comedy team in the business. We remain committed to keeping Conan O’Brien on NBC. He is a valued part of our late-night line-up, as he has been for more than 16 years and is one of the most respected entertainers on television.”

An NBC spokesperson also denied rumors that Leno’s show had been cancelled, telling us: “Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jay’s show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network. It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve the performance.”

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The Wga investigated allegations that Leno violated the Hollywood union’s 100-day strike action by performing nightly monologues on his former series The Tonight Show at a time when all writers in Tinseltown were supposed to put down their pens.

Complaints were made against the presenter after he returned to the U.S. small screen in January 2008, following a hiatus of two months, with critics claiming the star wrote his own witty dialogue for the shows.

However, the Wga have decided not to take any further action against Leno.

He was allegedly questioned “at length” by a team of five guild members in February (09), according to Variety.

The Guild has taken action against one member, for writing a one-hour teleplay during the strike, and one non-member, who refused to comply withthe action.

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The revered TV presenter was supposed to chat with actor Ryan Reynolds on his show, but the taping had to be halted after Leno was taken ill.

Insiders suggest Leno was suffering from food poisoning.

The health scare comes a month before the star ends his run as the host of The Tonight Show on 19 May (09).

A repeat was aired instead of the live show on Thursday night.

As FemaleFirst goes to press it’s understood Leno has been discharged from hospital and is resting at home.

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Jay Leno was ready to leave NBC next year to make way for Conan O’Brian.

I’m sure this move pisses off Conan.  After fifteen years of following Leno five nights a week, he now gets moved one hour closer to primetime…following Leno five nights a week.

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