Leno says he's enjoying retirement

"Without the daily grind of hosting NBC’s popular late-night show,"

That job was a daily grind? Gosh, I'd hate to hear the descriptions of all the other jobs that people do to put that show on, lol.

I was never a big fan of the Leno version of the Tonight Show, but there was one time....

Leno was doing one of his "Man on the Street" interview segments, and he happened to interview a man I'd gone to high school with. He'd graduated from college, got a job writing at the Wall Street Journal, but had taken a left turn from there and ended up a director of pornographic movies. Once Leno got a hold of that, he didn't let go and riffed on it for two solid minutes of pure comedic brilliance. It's one thing for a standup to rattle off his routines, but to improvise with someone you've never met before and nail every joke.... it was hilarious, and a revelation. That sort of thing, and standup, will always be his natural habitat.

Love him or not, Leno's stini as host of The Tonight Show was a very successful one and made NBC a lot of money. Fortunately, NBC wised up and did a very smooth transition from Leno the Jimmy Fallon, who has enfused The Tonight Show with the type of energy we haven't seen since the very early Steve Allen-hosted version of this show.

Leno kills. He has always been a great comic. People don't remember how big he was before he got hte tonight show gig. He used to have some of the best segments on Late Night with Dave in the 80s, too. Then he dominated the 1130 slot for his entire career.

I'm glad he's back on the road.