Tonight, Jay Leno Bids Adieu to Tonight

Jay Leno will host his last episode of the Tonight Show tonight. A roundup of the news swirling around his departure:

• Sandra Bullock appeared on last night's show, and offered a tearful tribute to Leno, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "You've always been so kind. That's saying a lot in this business, because we like to be mean," she said. "There's not been one time you haven't treated me like I had something to offer—even when the film was awful and you knew it."

• The Los Angeles Times talked to Leno recently, and he says he's "not unhappy" about leaving. Successor Jimmy Fallon is "really good," Leno says, adding that he even thinks Fallon is "closer to what Johnny [Carson] was when he started."
• As for what's next, Leno ruled out another late-night TV show. Instead: "I've always been a stand-up comedian that had a day job," he says. "This [Tonight] is my day job. I've always been on the road every single weekend—and the week too—since I got this job. So I'm back on the road. We leave here (today)." His first show is tomorrow.
• But NBC News doesn't think Leno will stay off TV for long, and offers up seven likely gigs. Among them: variety specials at NBC, an interview show at CNN, a car show on the History Channel or the Discovery Channel, or even a current events show (think a somewhat conservative answer to the Daily Show) on Fox News.
• On tonight's show: Billy Crystal, Leno's first Tonight guest from back in 1992, and Garth Brooks, the New York Times reports.

(More Jay Leno stories.)