Nightly program meant to help NBC save some dough

"The Jay Leno Shows" premieres Sept. 14, but the former "Tonight Show" host wants to make it clear that he's not trying to recreate his old digs in late night.

Leno told TV Guide that while there may be the guests and monologue, his new show that will fill the 10 p.m. timeslot daily on NBC will have a much bigger focus on comedu.

"We'll be using a lot of young comedians that are not necessarily stand-ups -- though some are -- as correspondents, shooting and editing their own pieces and putting them in the show," Leno said.

Outside of serving as a platform for young comics, Leno also wants to make sure that advertisers are highlighted, including through one bit he's calling the "Green Car Challenge" that will use an electric car on a track being built next to his studio in Burbank, Calif.

"We'll take a celebrity, put them in one of our Ford Focus electric cars, and we're gonna see who can turn out the fastest times on our track," Leno said. "These cars are really fast. They're not toys."

The goal of the new show is to create a more interactive environment for viewers. In fact, Leno said he doesn't even plan to have a desk on the show, except when he does some of the bits he's importing from "The Tonight Show" like his headlines segment.

There is still considerable question on whether or not putting Jay Leno on every night is going to be a long-term viable proposition for NBC, especially now the struggling network is under new management.

Some observers feel that Leno could get strong ratings his first couple weeks, but will quickly erode to numbers that are below what NBC was pulling in the year before in the timeslot. However, whether or not that will be enough to kill the show is a good question, as Leno's program is cheap to produce compared to a scripted drama, thus will have a far lower threshold for advertising dollars.