Here are some of the cutest creatures on Earth — even if not one of them is a baby panda or me…

Lots of messages about Leno, all from folks I'm not sure want their names used so I won't. This one's from a friend in the TV business…

What if the Jimmy Fallon show is getting a .5 rating six months in, and NBC goes back to Leno and says they'll double his paycheck he'll do the show one more time? Did anybody ask him that? (I'm not saying that Jay is planning it.)

If they'd asked Jay that, he would have given the most diplomatic answer — that's not going to happen — but it's also probably the true one. This isn't like last time when Jay was still up and running with his 10 PM show. He had a studio, offices, a full staff, etc. Going back to The Tonight Show was just a matter of bringing in a new desk, booking more guests and changing the name on the studio doors. A pal of mine there then said that if they'd called Jay at 3:00 in the afternoon and said, "Hey, instead of taping The Jay Leno Show in an hour, make it an episode of The Tonight Show," they could have pulled it off.

This time, Jay's whole infrastructure there is being dismantled. There'll be no studio, no offices, no staff, etc. The Tonight Show is moving to New York, remember. Jay would have to start from scratch. NBC couldn't just pop him back into the slot while they looked around for the young guy they think can do the show for the next decade or two. If Fallon bombs to the point where they can't keep him on — which I also don't think will happen — they'll have to go out and find that next fellow in a hurry. (Also, it'll be a little harder to get rid of Fallon than it was to get rid of O'Brien. Fallon has Lorne Michaels behind him.)

This message is from a friend who works with Mr. Leno…

You're right. Jay didn't want to go off the air. I'm surprised as you that he's ruling out another late night slot now because he doesn't have to do that. As recently as a few weeks ago, he wasn't ruling that out. He was just chuckling and saying, "I'm not going to think about that now." Apparently, he has thought about it. It has me wondering if he has a new gig but it doesn't exactly fall under the definition of competing with the other guys in late night.

Maybe. Or maybe Jay's just decided to go out on top and turn into Bob Hope but without the cheesy prime-time specials and the Christmas tours. There really is a void that will need filling soon for Elder Statesperson of Comedy…and it's not like Leno doesn't have plenty to do. He has stand-up dates in Florida the night after he does his last Tonight Show.

That's one of the intriguing things for me about Leno: He's done it a different way from everyone else. He didn't set up a production company to do other shows like Dave and Conan did. He found another source of income. He's kept his stand-up, which he enjoys doing and for which he gets paid a fortune, as a viable avenue. Letterman doesn't seem to have anything else to do in show business once he leaves that show of his. Johnny didn't have anything to do once he left his. Jay's got a job the next night.

Lastly, this is from a fellow comedy writer…

I feel like you do about all the late night shows except that I never saw as much in Craig Ferguson as you once did. Letterman really depresses me. He used to be a guy you tuned in to watch because his show was dangerous and he was constantly doing things that neither he nor anyone had ever done on television before. Now, he seems determined to do exactly the same show, including some of the same monologue jokes, he did the night before. So how long do you think he's going to do it and how well do you think Fallon's going to do?

The answer to how long Dave's going to do it may be answered when we see his numbers without Jay against him. If they go up considerably, he could be there a while. If he finds himself finishing third to two Jimmies…well, he might still stick around as long as they'll let him. I get the feeling Dave's doing that show because he doesn't know what else to do (see above) and he likes having a place to go during the day. He does have a special relationship with Les Moonves there and if not for that, I suspect he would have gotten the tap on the shoulder by now.

One big difference between Jay and Dave is that Jay didn't put NBC in business at 11:35 the way Letterman opened up that time slot for CBS, as well as the one that follows his show. We forget what a desolate wasteland that was before Dave moved in there…and now, no one's assuming there won't be a new talk show there whenever he stops doing his. I kind of assume CBS would like to get a younger guy in there but the affiliates aren't pushing because they recognize that Dave cleared the land. That makes it harder, though not impossible, to kick him off it.

How will Fallon do? I think he'll do well enough for NBC and maybe a little better than that. I don't think his show will beat Leno's numbers but I think NBC is in this for the long haul, and they figure that by 2015 or 2016, Fallon will be equalling or bettering what Jay would have done then if they'd left him on…plus he'll be doing the show for a lot less money. I suspect NBC wasn't prepared for Conan to pull down lower numbers than Jay but they are prepared to cope with that with Fallon. The business has changed a lot in the last few years with regard to late night. It's no longer the major profit center it once was. Now, there's the feeling that if it's ever going to be that again, it's going to require patience and reinvention. If they just wanted to be #1 in the time slot now, they would have left Jay in place until his numbers started to sink.

Speaking of late night: It's after 5 AM and I still have a script to finish before I sleep. More on this tomorrow, assuming I don't sleep through tomorrow.

I'm not plugging a lot of Kickstarters and only ones where the person seeking funds does not ask me. Jackie Estrada did not ask me to plug this one and it's highly worthy of your patronage if you care at all about comic books and the people who make them.

Jackie has been an important figure behind the Comic-Con International for years, not just as the administrator of the Eisner Awards but in many capacities. She is also, as you'll see if you go to her Kickstarter page, a fine photographer. Since darn near everyone important in comics has been to Comic-Con, darn near everyone important in comics has had a pic or two snapped by Jackie Estrada. And now, she's assembling them into a book called Comic Book People.

You'll want a copy of this. Watch the video. Look at the sample photos over on her Kickstarter page. Sign up to back the book at some level that will get you a copy. I can't imagine how you could be even a wee bit sorry. Even if there's a picture of me in it.

I just learned something new about my iPhone from this.

A recurring theme on this blog is how amazing coincidences just seem to happen to its proprietor.

If you watched the 60 Minutes story on Jay Leno earlier this evening as I did, you saw some scenes set at the Comedy and Magic Club down in Hermosa Beach. Darn near every Sunday night, Jay and his friend 'n' fellow comedian Jimmy Brogan drive down there together and Jimmy opens for Jay. They really put on a fine show and those of you who only know Leno from The Tonight Show and wonder about his rep as a great stand-up would do well to get there some time and see him. And you'll also enjoy the heck out of Jimmy, who used to be Jay's main monologue writer. In the 60 Minutes segment, you saw Jimmy coming off stage as Jay went on.

Anyway, so I just took Carolyn over to a market and there, I ran into Jimmy Brogan, who I've known for years. I said, "Hey, I just saw you on 60 Minutes!" and he laughed and said, "I didn't. It was on while Jay and I were down at the club tonight and everyone backstage watched it except me because I was onstage at the time." We talked about other things but I had to ask him about Jay and he said it's pretty much like what he said on the show. He doesn't want to do another talk show and is turning down all inquiries and offers. Jimmy knows Jay as well as anyone who isn't married to him and he thinks Jay is really fine with the whole thing. That's good enough for me.

Cartoonist Morrie Turner, creator of the strip Wee Pals, died on Saturday. He had been hospitalized for kidney problems. As recently as last Thursday, he posted a message on his Facebook page saying, "Have been having some medical issues that require surgery — and I'll be recuperating for a bit." He invited folks near Sacramento (where the hospital is located) to drop by and visit him while he underwent dialysis.

Morris "Morrie" Turner was born in 1923 and grew up to become the first nationally syndicated African-American cartoonist. The heavyweight parlay of Charles M. Schulz (whom he called his "mentor") and comedian Dick Gregory urged him to create his own strip and so Wee Pals made its debut in 1965. It was a charming feature that rarely called much attention to its multi-racial cast, though some of the animations of it over the years were a little loud about that.

In 2003, the National Cartoonist Society awarded him the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2012, he received the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award at the Comic-Con International in San Diego. He was a friendly man, much-liked in the cartooning community and probably by everyone who ever met him. I sure liked him…and I also liked Wee Pals, too.

Well, okay. There's Leno on 60 Minutes saying he's not going to do another late night show. That's news to a lot of folks, including at least a couple who figured into possible future plans that now do not seem possible. I'm still kinda curious if Jay has something lined-up in the way of television or if he actually intends to just do his stand-up act and pop up in occasional guest shots. Wonder if NBC, which still has him under contract 'til September, can or would block him from going on with Letterman.

I see before me a drastic change in my late night viewing. I'll try Mr. Fallon on Tonight but my reaction to his 12:35 program has generally been, "Gee, I like that guy but I have no interest in watching him on that show." I've been catching Letterman and Ferguson when they have a guest on I want to see…which doesn't happen all that often. Either Craig Ferguson has changed a lot in the last three years or I have because I now find him trying way too hard to do silly stuff to amuse his audience…dancing, making faces, etc. Letterman remains Letterman…a cranky guy who occasionally reminds you how good he used to be.

I remain inexplicably uninterested in watching Conan or Arsenio, and explicably uninterested in Jimmy Kimmel. I've tried him a few times and while the show seems to be well-written, I just find the host way too arrogant and mean-spirited. Folks who work on the show tell me he's a great guy but I sure haven't seen that on-camera.

Getting back to Leno: The 60 Minutes piece was the first time I've seen anything in the media that didn't make him out to be the Master Villain in the whole do-si-do with Conan O'Brien. As I've written here, I think Jay got a raw deal, P.R.-wise, in that whole mess. I don't feel sorry for him because, after all, he did wind up with The Tonight Show and a certain vindication by its ratings, to say nothing of the income. But I think people always bought into the idea that he wholeheartedly agreed with giving the show over to O'Brien and then later reneged. I was surprised to see 60 Minutes underscore that that was not the way it went down.

I have a couple of e-mails here asking me questions about Leno and the comedy business. I'll try to answer them here in the next few days.

• Sorry…I refuse to watch any awards show that doesn't start with special material performed by Neil Patrick Harris.

Will Rubio is an outta-work actor who was working as a driver in Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. He set up a video camera in his vehicle and whenever he drove a celebrity, he asked if he could record a little mini-talkshow with them. The first one who said yes was Mandy Patinkin…

As Daniel Larison notes, we have a lot of people in this country who view diplomacy and talking to the enemy as annoying obstacles to the only solution that interests them: Going to war.

Well, here's another interview with Leno and he says pretty clearly that he's not going to do "another version" of The Tonight Show and that "I'm not going to go challenge any of my friends, or whatever they are, in late night as well. At least not in the foreseeable future."

I have to admit I'm a bit mystified. For months now, folks close to Jay have been telling me that he was going to wait until his NBC contract allowed him to entertain other offers before he made any decision about his future. He might or might not do another late night show as soon as he's a free agent but he wasn't going to decide that until he'd allowed some suitors to chase him a bit. Now, it sounds like he's taking himself off that market before that happens. Jay was quite hurt during the whole Conan mess by folks saying he'd lied; that he'd said he'd do one thing and had done another. I would think he wouldn't say the above unless he was damned sure he wouldn't be back in late night for a while.

Number three hundred and twenty-three in a series…

Another great review of the DVD/Blu-ray of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I know I'm probably writing too much about it here but, hey, it's my blog and this set makes me very, very happy.

That said, a few friends of mine who've never seen the film have said to me, "Hey, I've got to buy this and see this movie finally." I gently suggest they not; that if there's any way they can experience this movie for the first time in a big theater with a big screen and a big audience, that's the way to do it. I don't know of any upcoming showings in the Los Angeles area but one will be along before long. (In May, they're running it at the Bob Hope Theater in Stockton but that's a little far to travel.  It's roughly the distance between the Smiler Grogan crash site and Santa Rosita State Park.)

All sorts of news services and outlets are reporting on Jay Leno's interview tomorrow night on 60 Minutes, giving juicy highlights from the brief excerpts that CBS has released as a teaser. The Associated Press article, reprinted in many a newspaper, has this as the lede…

LOS ANGELES — Jay Leno says he doesn't plan to tackle another late-night show after leaving NBC's "Tonight" next month. In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" airing Sunday, Leno said he can't re-create what he had as "Tonight" host with another show.

Did Jay really say that? If he did, that would be the big story out of the 60 Minutes interview…but none of the other reporters are saying that. This leaves two possibilities. One is that AP got access to material that CBS hasn't released to others. The other is that AP just plain got the story wrong. I'm curious to see which it is.

Andrew Sullivan believes that opposition to Obamacare has almost nothing to do with health care and how to deliver it efficiently, and everything to do with opposition to Barack Obama. I think that's true in most instances.