James Douglas Muir Leno (/ ˈ l ɛ n oʊ / LEN-oh; born April 28, 1950) [1] is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's The Tonight Show from 1992 until 2009 when Conan O'Brien took over as host. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET ...