and tags --> James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno (April 28 1950) is an Emmy Award-winning American comedian and television host, who succeeded Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show in 1992.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an Emmy Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno on NBC. It debuted on May 25, 1992, following Johnny Carson's resignation as host of The Tonight Show. The nightly broadcast originates from NBC's studios in Burbank, California.

On April 26, 1999, the show began broadcasting in 1080i HDTV, becoming the first American nightly talk show to be shot in high definition. The show is shot in 16:9 aspect ratio with a 4:3 center-cut for standard definition television sets.

Leno's incarnation of The Tonight Show has followed the same basic format as that of his predecessors: an opening monologue followed by comedy routines, interviews and performances. Unlike Jack Paar or Johnny Carson, however, Leno has, as of 2007, rarely utlilized guest hosts, preferring to host the series by himself. In the first 15 years of his tenure, there have only been a couple of occasions in which a substitute host has appeared, such as on May 12, 2003, when Leno traded places with Katie Couric and hosted the The Today Show as part of a publicity stunt. blank">http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0305/13/se.14.html

On September 27, 2004, the 50th anniversary of _The Tonight Show's debut, NBC announced that Jay Leno will be succeeded by Conan O'Brien in 2009. Leno explained that he did not want to see a repeat of the hard feelings and controversy that occurred when he was given the show over David Letterman following Carson's retirement. Leno is reportedly second-guessing his decision to retire in 2009, however, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker has confirmed that O'Brien will take over as planned, and Leno is in talks to remain with the company.

Production of new episodes was suspended due to the Writers Guild of America strike. Leno, himself a member of the Guild, decided to honor the picket lines, resulting in the show going into repeats, effective November 5. Shortly after the strike started, it was rumored that guest hosts would fill in for Leno during the duration of the strike, beginning November 19, 2007. Deadline Hollywood Daily: "Tonight Show Returns With Guest Hosts After Leno's Nonwriting Staff Laid Off", 11/9/2007 However, both guest hosts allegedly refused to cross the picket lines. The show aired reruns from different periods of Leno's tenure as host until January 2, 2008, when after two months the show returned with Leno writing for himself without any replacement writers.