This is a story all about how Jay Leno’s life got flipped upside down, and I’d like to take a minute — sit right there — I’ll tell you how he became the prince of 10:00 p.m…or something like that.

Jay Leno returned to late night this week…or at least prime time. He exited The Tonight Show in June, gracefully, to make way for the Conan era on The Tonight Show. He didn’t retire — he just moved out of the way, and NBC was nice enough to cut all of their 10:00 p.m. dramas and insert Mr. Leno — a surprisingly cheap move that is certain to test the viability of a non-scripted show in prime-time. We think.

A small disclaimer: I have always been a Letterman loyalist. I think he’s edgy, witty, and likes to mix it up a bit — something that Leno strays from. Leno does the “easy” humor; he won’t joke about Sarah Palin’s children or invite a political pundit on to pick an argument. He would much rather walk around Los Angeles asking people if they know who Colin Powell is.

But I digress. In this new installment, the opening credits are a montage of photos from his past, with a new theme song that is neither spectacular nor particularly exciting. It’s almost as if NBC took The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and dumped a huge bucket of cold water on it, and then aired it at 10:00 p.m. He comes out onto a stage that is a replica of The Tonight Show, and goes through his shaking-hands-with-the-audience routine. For some strange reason, NBC would like to drive it into our heads that this show is on at 10:00 p.m., as if having it at that time makes it more entertaining. The stage has the number 10 as the mark where he stands to deliver his monologue, there are cue ball decorations with the number 10 on the sidings, even one of his segments is called 10@10. It’s a bit much.

On his first show Monday night, Jay had the good fortune of having booked Kanye “I-like-to-interrupt- people-when-they-win-awards” West to perform alongside Jay-Z and Rihanna. Kanye came out beforehand to have a short meeting with Principal Leno to discuss his bad behavior. He apologized, and dare I say got emotional, when Leno asked him what his mother would think. I wonder what she thought the last eight times he did it before she died. That’s the problem — every time Kanye doesn’t win an award he has been nominated for, he jumps onstage to protest or throw a fit. What I’m saying is, he is a manners-less sore loser. What I am also saying is the segment was contrived and a sad attempt to recreate Leno’s famous Hugh Grant moment from 1995. A swing, and a miss.

But enough about Kanye Owens — let’s get back to The Leno. One of Jay’s comedy trademarks, aside from his chin and his high voice, is his use of numerous correspondents. He did it on The Tonight Show with Ross the Intern, Stuttering John, and Mo Rocca, to name a few. He’s back, and this time with 12 new correspondents. Call me crazy, but shouldn’t it be Jay Leno doing the comedy? I get that he wants to bring more humor to the show, which would be nice, but it should be his comedy, not that of the top comedians in Los Angeles who need a television gig.

So far, we have seen the likes of The Dan Band, a Los Angeles-based 3-man comedy troupe, singing at a car wash, and comedian Jim Norton in his own segment, “Jim Norton: Uninvited Guest.”  Two down, 10 to go…oh, did I say 10? I think I just said 10. I think NBC owes me one for that. Or better yet, make it 10.

On his second show, Jay welcomed Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz via satellite from outside Boston, where they are filming a movie. He did his 10@10 segment with them. It’s 10 questions — none of them funny — but because it’s Tom and Cameron, the audience laughs and howls along with them. This is Jay Leno in his comfort zone, and quite frankly, it’s a little too comfortable. Some of us like our comedy edgy, with an off-color remark or two — not a silly “ha ha, he asked her what her favorite color was and she didn’t know.” Hilarious.