The Earliar In The Night Show with Jay Leno

Thanks to the Internet and its pirates, I watched the first episode of the new Jay Leno show, NBC's consolation prize/cheaper-than-a-drama 10 p.m. hour of something allegedly "new."

Instead it was the same old Jay. The trappings of The Tonight Show morphed into something that felt 1990s. The musical backupled by the same laughing leader, renamed "The Prime Time Band." The same burst of energy from back stage flowing into the same handshake affair the faux host Larry Sanders once comically tried in an effort to boost his ratings.

As for the conent, its much the same too, with an opening monolouge that was as strong as you'd expect when it draws from three months of material. Leno himself was energetic and appeared in his element. But the comedy bits fell flat. Kanye was there, too, apologizing again, and garnaring more headlines and angles for Jay's debut. Jerry Seinfeld, in a tux, was funny as you'd expect, and his bit-within-a-bit featuring Oprah was perhaps the comedic climax of the program.

But judging from Day 1, the new show hardly deserves the "new" designation. As he expands his roster of guest comedians in skits, and perhaps follows up on stated plans to give the mic to up and coming stand-ups, maybe the show can find a niche. But I imagine the Leno niche -- already established from his days with The Tonight Show -- won't be seeing a major shift at all.