Leno'd jump if 'Tonight Show' came calling

Last update: November 2, 2009 - 5:42 PM

Jay Leno is perched in prime time, but he still says he would rather have stayed at "The Tonight Show" -- and if NBC offered him that job again, he'd take it.

In an interview with Broadcasting & Cable magazine published online Monday, Leno hastily added that such a decision isn't his to make.

Conan O'Brien, his replacement as "Tonight" host after 17 years, is "doing fine," Leno said.

"Conan is in the same position I was in when I took over. It takes a while. Some will like it; some will leave forever and not come back."

"The Jay Leno Show" began on NBC in September, airing Monday through Friday at 9 p.m., where it has displaced several prime-time scripted dramas. For that, and for his less-than-stellar ratings thus far, Leno has taken heat within the TV industry as well as from critics.

It's just part of the battle, said Leno, who insisted he enjoys it.

"I get a certain amount of satisfaction from pounding my head against the wall," he said. "I'm not having a bad time at 10 o'clock [Eastern time] now. I look at this as a job, and now I'm faced with a challenge, and it's a challenge I find difficult but interesting."

ASSOCIATED PRESS