Jay Leno

Jay Leno knows how to cope with pressure. Which is good, because this week he'll face a public test the likes of which few media personalities have to endure. When "The Jay Leno Show" premieres tonight in its 10 p.m. weeknight slot, a fair number of industry insiders -- and not just rival executives -- will be rooting for it to flop. That's mostly because, as part of NBC's controversial experiment to overturn 60 years of prime-time TV traditions with relatively cheap programming, Leno's new show is perceived as a potential job-wrecker.

Despite a new prime-time perch and a larger audience, NBC comedian Jay Leno is fishing for guests from a substantially smaller pool of talent. Rival networks ABC and CBS are discouraging their stars from appearing on the prime-time talk show. They are determined not to let Leno's 10 p.m. program undercut viewership of their costly dramas when they are trying to build audiences at the start of the TV season. The boycott highlights an unintended consequence of NBC's decision to move the veteran late-night comedian into prime time: making it harder to book some TV stars whose appearances could boost Leno's ratings.

NBC Universal rolled out a cannon to shoot down a rebel Boston television station that says it will not carry Jay Leno at 10 p.m. when the comedian's show shifts to prime time in the fall. The media giant said Friday that it would yank all of its NBC programming from Boston's WHDH-TV if the station carried out its threat to ditch Leno -- who grew up outside Boston -- and instead run a local news broadcast at 10.

HIS TV show has out-rated the competition for more than a decade, his frequent stand-up appearances in Vegas are surefire sell-outs and his public persona is that of an affable middle-aged, scandal-free classic car nut. So why can't Jay Leno get any respect from the powers-that-be in the entertainment media who routinely leave him off best-of lists? For his part, Leno doesn't know or, so he says, care. "It's not my problem; I don't worry about it," the 58-year-old "Tonight Show" host insists.

Lady Gaga isn't letting her ill-fated tour with Kanye West keep her from her fans. A day after her joint tour with the rapper was canceled, the pop star said Friday she'll be hitting the road solo. The West and Lady Gaga tour was supposed to kick off Nov. 10 in Phoenix. Lady Gaga said the two "mutually decided to cancel the tour." She said that West is "going to take some time off, but I'm not." Gaga made the comments before accepting the Rising Star honor at Billboard's annual Women in Music event in New York, where Beyoncé was honored as woman of the year.

"I'm someone who's very uncomfortable saying goodbye," Conan O'Brien admitted. "I tend to lie to people. I never say goodbye. I always say, 'No, I'll be back in five minutes,' and then I just scram." The comedian will have trouble avoiding a farewell scene this afternoon, when he tapes his final show as host of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," the NBC program he has hosted for 16 seasons.

Those tuning into "The Tonight Show" on Wednesday hoping to witness a writers-strike-induced breakdown -- Jay Leno telling knock-knock jokes while staring wistfully at an empty teleprompter, guests fumbling to find something to say in a desperate attempt to fill an unscripted hour -- were no doubt disappointed. Leno is, after all, a comedian, and way back in the way back he did write his own jokes. As he was happy to remind the audience Wednesday night. "You know what I'm doing?"

"Tonight Show" host Jay Leno's on-air declaration that he wrote his own jokes for his program triggered a thorny dispute Thursday about what the late-night hosts can and can't do during the continuing writers strike. Leno's statement that he penned his monologue put the popular comedian at odds with his own union despite his vocal support for its cause.

When Jay Leno returned to "The Tonight Show" this week, he made light of how he was back to writing his own jokes. But some members of the Writers Guild of America weren't laughing. Responding to complaints by members, the WGA on Friday said it would begin proceedings to determine whether the late-night comedian had violated the guild's strike rules.

The strike by the Writers Guild of America ended not a moment too soon for Jay Leno. After 100 days, the guests were wearing thin. Larry the Cable Guy made his fourth appearance just this week on NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." Animal ambassador Joan Embery -- the sixth animal act in as many weeks -- dropped by with another passel of critters.