'Jay Leno Show' Premiere Features Rapper Kanye West

The new prime time Jay Leno Show premiered Monday night on NBC and Leno hit the jackpot when it came to his guest list. Kanye West, who made headlines after he publicly dissed Taylor Swift at the MTV VMA's Sunday night, appeared on the premiere of The Jay Leno Show. It was a lucky catch for Leno, as Kanye West came fresh off the heels of a very public outburst Sunday night at the 2009 MTV VMA's.

It was really like old times for Jay Leno. A mere 3 months after he ended his 16-year stint on The Tonight Show, he came out of retirement to do....... a prime time version of The Tonight Show.

His opening monologue was typical-- filled with the usual political jokes and sex talk. He segued to a few pre-recorded bits, just as he has done in the past. There was really no difference between this monologue and the thousands of monologues that Leno did on The Tonight Show.

Leno introduced his house band, which was headed off by his longtime band leader Kevin Eubanks. Once again, another familiar face, although I like Eubanks and he's always been a good second banana for Leno.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld was the first guest on The Jay Leno Show and he made fun of the fact that Leno was back with a new show so soon after "retiring". He then motioned for a video monitor, which came down with a live stream of Oprah Winfrey. Seinfeld and Winfrey chatted for a bit, completely ignoring Leno. This interview -- and joke bit with Oprah -- was typical Leno. Nothing new here; it was predictable and comfortable.

The appearance of rapper Kanye West surely drew in a lot of curious viewers to the premiere of The Jay Leno Show. I can tell you that's why I tuned in.

Kanye West, who had already been slated to appear on the premiere of The Jay Leno Show, held up his commitment to appear despite the aftermath of the Taylor Swift incident (in case you missed it, West snatched the microphone from Best Female Video winner Taylor Swift, telling Swift that his pal Beyonce deserved to win).

On the premiere of The Jay Leno Show, West sat down with Leno for a few minutes before his slated performance to apologize for his behavior at the VMA's. West seemed nervous and even choked up a bit. West then performed the song "In This Town" with singers Jay-Z and Rhianna on the premiere of The Jay Leno Show.

Leno pulled out one of his familiar Tonight Show segments at the end of his show-- his "Headlines" bit. This is where he reads off the wall news headlines and bloopers. The headlines are attached to big cards that he holds up for viewers to see. The headlines were silly and corny.

Leno ended his new show by reminding viewers to stay tuned for their local news.

So, as expected, The Jay Leno Show looks like a revamped version of The Tonight Show. The only difference is Leno now comes on before the 11 o'clock local news instead of after.

As for Leno himself, he did as well as predicted for the first night of the show. It's just that it's only been 3 months since he was last on the air. We've barely had time to even miss him...

Sources: The Jay Leno Show, NBC