Every show has an off-week. Unfortunately, for Jay Leno when he has an off-week, it takes up five hours worth of our time. Almost every guest was less than entertaining, and even most of the comedy bits missed this week. Luckily, there were some redeeming moments throughout, most of which I've included right here for you. See, I just saved you five hours of time.

With Rachel Griffiths appearing this week, it appears that ABC's ban on their actors appearing on Leno's show may have finally been lifted. Unfortunately, she couldn't bring along a clip of Brothers & Sisters, so I guess they're still feeling a little sour. Or NBC doesn't want to promote a competing network's show too much.

COMEDY CORRESPONDENTS

I thought Owen Benjamin writing jingles was pretty funny the first time he did it. Now, I pretty much knew what to expect. Even Mikey Day's "JMZ" is getting a little tired. Jesse James was game for making fun of his image, but the fake bullets took me right out of the fun. And we've already seen the "everything looks sexy in slo-mo" gag, though Denise Richards certainly did.

Leno talked up a fresh, young British comedian he'd found. I'm hoping that when Jay discovered Gina Yashere and thought her funny she wasn't doing anything even close to "The Surly Psychic." While the bit had potential, Yashere wasn't remotely funny as a fake psychic. That box she was using was much better utilized as a photo booth.

I did enjoy Liz Feldman's attempts to become a model. She had a lot of fun talking to regular people on the street, before upping her game to a modeling agent and ultimately Janice Dickinson. It didn't really reveal anything new about the standards of the modeling world, but Feldman goes into each encounter with such enthusiasm and gusto, it still works:


Nick Thune did basically the same thing as last time, sitting there and talking to us while strumming on a guitar. But his material is fresh, and he made me laugh throughout his rant about Daylight Saving's Time. NBC even set up his website, DaylightSpendingTime.org, so you can sign the petition and fight the darkness:


GUESTS

I love Brothers & Sisters, and Rachel Griffiths is a big part of why I do. She's a great actress, and yet she was a boring interview. I had the same problem with Hilary Swank. They take themselves too seriously. Swank took it so far, that even her "Earn Your Plug" flight simulator segment got boring. At least she looked great in her dress.

Griffiths, on the other hand, was marginally funny earning her plug. She had to identify different types of wine, including the ever-classy boxed wine. She did pretty well, and was a good sport about it, but why was her plug just a static photo with the info about her show? Would ABC not send a full clip?

Martha Stewart is usually pretty funny on talk shows, as she knows how to give banter as good as she gets. Considering her demeanor in her own work, it still can surprise you how witty she can be. Unfortunately, either she was having an off night, or Leno was, because her appearance wasn't funny or memorable. She did get to shill her new Glitter-by-Number product, which doesn't interest me... but I'm not the audience for that.

So it was up to Rainn Wilson (The Office) to make me laugh this week. And while he didn't really do it so much in his interview, he did a great job on the video segment he put together to earn his plug. If Martha is going to show you how to pretty up the inside of a house, he's going to show you how to deface the outside. I loved the cameo at the end with "Weird Al" as the victim homeowner.

10 @ 10
This week we learned that John McCain's trunk is full of McCain-Palin yard signs, while Ludacris was embarrassed to admit that he had Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" on his iPod. The strangest "10 @ 10" so far was with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Right off the bat, they dubbed over Jay's voice to change it from a "10 @ 10" to a "9 @ 9." Then Jones himself was more focused on being meticulous about what he said that he took all the potential fun out of the segment.

GREEN CAR CHALLENGE

For the second week in a row, both drivers set new records on the track. After Serena took the title from Gerard Butler, Malin Akerman smoked the track. But she was the first driver to completely ignore Leno and focus on the course.

MUSICAL GUESTS

Rod Stewart started as a regular guest, but quickly morphed into a musical guest by "earning his plug" with a lame fake spin-the-wheel. I wonder which song will come up? And come on Rod... pretending not to know it? The good news is that no matter what else he does, Rod Stewart still sounds great.

OTHER SEGMENTS

"Jaywalking" is always fun, because I can make myself feel better by knowing so much more about whatever topic these people know nothing about. This time it was talking about foreign countries. I much prefer the traditional "Jaywalking" segments like this:


Also good for a few laughs was "jChat," where Jay talked to real kids about whatever was on their minds. Kids are always funny because they say exactly what's on their mind. Though, I do feel bad for one of those kid's dad after he was outed for downloading illegal DVDs. I think the movie industry might be knocking his door down as we speak.

Ariana Huffington, Megan McCain, Stephen Baldwin and Jim Norton joined Leno for the "Who Cares What They Think?" segment, but it wasn't very interesting this time around. I was also less than impressed with "Don't Try This at Home," which seems like Letterman's "Stupid Human Tricks."

But, you can always count on "Headlines" for a few laughs:

• "Gov't prepares for new peace talks with MILF"
• Jolly Swagman Motel - "No Flies!"
• "Ultra Tide Liquid Detergent - Mountain Fresh - With Bacon"
• "The Mexican Shop: Where There Is Nothing From Mexico"
• "90% Lean Ground ????? - Fresh $1.79/lb."
• "Nanny - Must have imbecile ref's."
• "Cups should be kept upright to ensure 100% spill-proof performance."