It's like he never left, isn't it?

Jay Leno returned to 'The Tonight Show' last night, and he pretty much settled back into the groove right away. Of course, there really wasn't much groove to "settle back into" since the 10PM 'Jay Leno Show' was 'Tonight 2.0,' a carbon copy of the 11:35 show with just a time change (oh, and no desk).

He still did his long monologue, he still bantered with Kevin, he still interviewed guests. It's not like he was going to drastically change anything. Jay was Jay and he did was he always does.

What didn't he do? Well, he didn't acknowledge Conan O'Brien at all. I guess that's no surprise since he didn't acknowledge Johnny Carson on his first show back in 1992. But you would think that he would have said something about Conan since it was the major TV story for the past few months, but he didn't. As the opening 'Wizard of Oz' takeoff showed, they really do want to make believe all of this was a dream. Good to see Betty White make a cameo though.

So let's get to the nitty gritty:

The Good: Leno's monologue. I know, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but at least he does a whole monologue, and when you do that many jokes every night some of them are bound to be funny, and some were last night. The "search for a new desk" segment was funny too, though I guess you can expect humor to be built in when you're a big star and you show up unannounced at people's homes. But at least Leno was funny and it was good that they actually addressed the whole have a desk/no desk discussion that has been going on.

The Bad: All of Leno's regular things: the opening where he comes out and shakes hands with audience members (still smells of desperation and contrivance even after all these years); the studio set-up, the same one he had for the 10PM show, is awful. Eubanks and the band seem to be playing four blocks away, which goes against the "comedy club" feel Leno was going for when they redesigned the 'Tonight Show' set years ago; and Jamie Foxx, who I think was a terrible, odd choice for a first guest. He took over the show, singing, dancing, ice skating, trying to lead the audience in a wave, trying to get the audience to chant "Leno." Gah. You could see that Leno just wanted him to sit down (and kudos to Leno for that). This was a typical Leno episode of the show only...less.

Worst question of the night? Leno, to Foxx: "So, did you hook up with Kirstie Alley?"

Worst line of the night? Leno saying that tonight's guest Sarah Palin had never done a late night show before. Uh...she was on a show called 'The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.'

As for that desk they settled on...I don't know. I'm not trying to turn this review into 'Divine Design,' but it seems like an odd choice. It's rounded on one end, but it's the end that you don't see in the two-shot of Leno and the guest he's interviewing. In that shot it seems like a very old-fashioned desk. I don't mind the retro look, but I bet they change it at some point.

To summarize: Leno was Leno. If you liked him before you'll like him again. If you didn't, you're watching Letterman tonight. Everything is right with the world again.