Tonight, on Tonight, Jay Leno officially passes the torch to Conan O'Brien, and Letterman and Colbert were even nice enough to stay dark this week to allow Leno to take his final bow uncontested. Leno promised something special for Friday, and even though Billy Crystal's musical montage stopped last night's show (not always a good thing), there's more than enough reason for even the biggest Leno-haters to at least fall asleep to his last broadcast at 11:35.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno [11:35 PM, NBC]
Guests: Conan O'Brien, James Taylor. NBC promises at least one "Extreme Tonight Show Montage" tonight, but it will be the Conan interview and his sign-off that everyone remembers. Sort of. Until Jay's back in a couple months, when he will do many of the same primetime-friendly bits he's been doing in late night.
What Not to Wear [9 PM, TLC]
Celebrity fashion victim and mother of two Mayim Bialik is made over by Stacy London and Clinton Kelly in the season premiere. Based on what all these drunk Jewish guys told me at a wedding over the weekend, the economy won't recover until 2011, so hopefully cable fashion rescue shows might start adding practical advice to their mix of snark and helpful tips. A general prediction for this season: Lots of scarves. Steven Tyler-type quantities.
Un-Broke: What You Need to Know About Money [9 PM, ABC]
Of the many W's we said outloud when we heard this was on ABC's schedule, the most incredulous one was "When?" America needs a financial primer, no doubt about that, but on a Friday night? Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Seth Green, Jonas Brothers, Christian Slater, Cedric the Entertainer, Oscar the Grouch and Rosario Dawson assist Good Morning America financial guru Mellody Hobson in explaining mortgages, credit cards and retirement plans. So, before you go drop way too much on Patrón Añejo shots, have a hot guilt injection to get the night started.
Big Momma's House & Big Momma's House 2 [7 PM/9 PM, FX]
The days of Paul Giamatti taking roles in broad Martin Lawrence vehicles are probably over, but he was just as watchable as ever having to play second banana to a guy in a fat suit. The sequel was somewhat unnecessary and borrowed a lot of set-up from Mrs. Doubtfire, but this was a point in Lawrence's career when he was willing to put in the effort to play an undercover agent impersonating a large woman to obtain information about a crime. It's all the same fat/drag jokes, but those shopworn bits still get laughs.