Well, Jay Leno has left the Tonight Show building after 17 years at the helm.

Thursday’s episode contained a lot of monologue jokes from the Leno I remember back before he became the host of the Tonight Show. They elicited almost as many ooohs as laughs from the crowd. Here’s what I mean:

Here were my favorite monologue jokes:

President Obama flew back to Washington this morning. You can tell even he is feeling the economic pinch. Here he is getting on the plane. [Video of Obama waving to crowd and stepping into plane] Can we pull out? Take a look at the plane, it’s Southwest!

The economy’s so bad porn stars are now doing dinner theater. Nobody’s got any money. Women in Beverly Hills are marrying for love. That’s how bad it is.

The big story here in California is the Supreme Court has decided to uphold the ban on gay marriage. However, gay unions are still legal. See, that shows how little I know about this subject. I didn’t even know gay people s had their own union.

Billy Crystal was the only couch guest. I’ve been a big fan of Crystal since his SNL days. I consider him a member of a very small group of solid comedians and entertainers. He didn’t disappoint tonight, as the interview was basically one long series of jokes. He ended with a musical send-off to Jay. I wish I had a clip to embed. It was very creative.

Prince was the musical guest. I haven’t seen, much less heard, him perform in a long time, but he looked and sounded just as smooth as I remember.

Friday’s show was all about passing the torch. Here were my favorite monologue jokes:

You realize when I started this show my hair was black and the president was white.

I am almost embarrassed to mention this. I was cleaning out my office today. I found OJ’s knife. I had it the whole time.

The economy’s bad. In West Hollywood I saw a gay bar have a ladies night.

Conan O’Brien was the only couch guest. Seeing Conan again reminded me how much I’ve missed him since he left Late Night. Here’s the interview. It’s worth watching:

James Taylor was the musical guest. I’ve always loved Taylor’s voice. I find it warm and comforting.

Jay ended the show thanking everyone and discussing what he hopes is his legacy. It was pretty impressive.

- Woody

It occurred to me today that I started reviewing late night talk shows two weeks after Conan retired from Late Night. So this will be my first Conan review. Well, I’ll sum up my feelings on him quickly: I couldn’t be happier that he is back on the air.

He started the show with a video of him running all the way from New York to Los Angeles. It was classic Conan and it was hilarious:

After thunderous applause from the audience he got down to the monologue. Here were my favorites:

I have to admit, I think I’ve timed this moment perfectly. If you think about it, I’m on a last-place network, I moved to a state that’s bankrupt and tonight’s show is sponsored by General Motors.

Ladies and gentlemen this is a huge night for me. I remember watching Jonny Carson when I was a kid and thinking, “That’s what I want to be when I grow up.” And I’m sure, right now, somewhere in America there’s a little kid watching me thinking, “What is wrong with that man’s hair? Is that even a man? Why is she crying?”

He also showed a lot of clips. The best one isn’t available to embed, but this one was pretty good:

The desk segments were good. In the first one Conan showed the audience how big his new studio was by wheeling on stage the letter “D” from the Hollywood sign. “There’s no one guarding it. You can just take it.” It was then destroyed on its way out a different and much smaller door. In the second segment he drove his 1992 Ford Taurus around LA to prove that his new home hadn’t changed him.

Will Ferrell was the couch guest. I’m a fan of Will, he’s done some good stuff that has made me laugh, but I don’t think I enjoy him as much as the average Joe. However, this interview was really funny, so here it is:

Pearl Jam was the musical guest. How awesome was that? Well, see for yourself:

I’m giving this show a solid A and can’t wait to see and review more.

- Woody