Above: Kevin Eubanks caught in the act. At least ratings don't lie...

Yep, the numbers are in, and the debut of "The Jay Leno Show" did very well. According to The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd:

"The debut of NBC's high-wire-act 10 p.m. comedy show was seen by 17.7 million viewers and pulled a 5.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating.

That's 34% stronger in the adult demo than the final national household rating for Conan O'Brien's 'Tonight Show' debut last June (9.2 million viewers and a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating) and 50% higher than Leno's final "Tonight Show" last May (11.9 million viewers and a 3.4 rating)."

Why did so many tune in? Was it the historic nature of the move to primetime? Or Kanye West's fortuitously-timed appearance? Or the strong lead-in from the "America's Got Talent" finals?

Or perhaps it was simply the enduring appeal of classic Jay humor like the "Cheaters" parody (above). Time will tell.

Kanye West was, of course, one of the guests on last night's debut of "The Jay Leno Show." And he took the opportunity to make a third apology for bum-rushing Taylor Swift at Sunday's MTV VMAs. Great timing for Jay, right?

Yes, everybody will watch the apology above -- but everybody will cringe while doing so. It's the most squirm-inducing celebrity mea culpa since since Michael Richards showed up (via satellite) on Letterman. As Alan Sepinwall points out, this was a far cry from Leno's legendary, post-Divine Brown interview with Hugh Grant:

"There, Jay asked the perfect question ('What the hell were you thinking?') and Grant responded with his trademark self-deprecation. For both interviewer and interviewee, it was the ideal celebrity damage control moment. Kanye (give or take an "SNL" sketch or two) doesn't do self-deprecation, and he doesn't do easy banter, and he had clearly gone into a shell after the VMA fiasco. So the interview was mostly uncomfortable, and the one memorable question that Jay did ask -- invoking Kanye's dead mother to ask what she might have thought of her son's gaffe -- only made things more awkward."

Also, West's subsequent suggestion that his mother's death may somehow have caused his actions might, as NPR's Linda Holmes says, "be the tackiest attempt to escape responsibility for your behavior in celebrity history."

Meanwhile, the best those who reviewed the show could say was that the new Leno isn't too different from the old Leno, and if you liked him then, you'll probably like him now. Some stand-out quotes, after the jump:

Jay Leno: out the starting gate next Monday.

A Writer's Guild of America trial committee has cleared Jay Leno of strikebreaking.

During the 2007/2008 writers' strike, Leno's "Tonight Show" went back on the air without writers. Leno wrote his own monologues, which the WGA claimed violated union rules. But as a talk show host, Leno is a member of AFTRA, which allows performers to write material they perform. Even Nikki Finke has forgiven him (while attacking the WGA in a long post you can read if you're interested).

So now Leno goes into next Monday's premiere of "The Jay Leno Show" with his good name intact. It's the end of 16 years of head-to-head rivalry with David Letterman, who back in 1981 called Leno "the funniest stand-up working today." (I got that from this week's New York Magazine piece on Leno. Check it out here.)

Jeremy Piven played it safe last night on "The Tonight Show." He pretty much stuck to what he knew: sports, "Entourage," his new movie about a car salesman, and that time Neil Diamond's mustache went rogue. But what I wanted to hear about was the time he was supposed to be in "Speed-the-Plow," but had to be replaced because he got "mercury poisoning." This was Piven's chance to redeem himself! Conan's audience is always full of starstruck tourists who believe anything, so I thought Piven would feel safe enough to tell some jokes about eating sushi. He could have said, "Did you know that if you eat sushi for three meals a day for three months, some mercury seeps into your blood? 'Cause I didn't! I didn't even know people still got mercury poisoning!" But no, Piven didn't even bring it up. And we still have so many unanswered questions.

What do Tom Green, Ryan Seacrest, Dave Chappelle, Brad Pitt, and Kevin Smith have in common? They all can thank their stints with Jay Leno and his "Tonight Show" for their successful careers, of course! Well, kind of. All of them took their turns as correspondents on the program, which NBC has collected in a eulogy highlight clip, above.

Of course, there are some guest reporters -- like Steve Schirripa, Howie Mandel, and John Melendez -- whose careers certainly benefited from being featured on Leno's program. But Jay, if the "Leno bump" is to ultimately to blame for Chelsea Handler and "Chelsea Lately," your extensive crimes against comedy really are cruel and unusual.

Poor NBC. Not only does their upcoming Jay Leno show face death by Caruso, now Leno's successor is getting beaten by David Letterman.

"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" won its first week, even as its ratings declined. Yesterday, perpetual second-placer "The Late Show with David Letterman" finally overtook O'Brien. It was the first time the "Late Show" beat the "Tonight Show" in eight months.

As The Hollywood Reporter points out, Letterman beat Conan in terms of total households watching, and NBC still expects to win among adults 18 to 49 when those figures come out tomorrow. Still, any sign that NBC is losing its traditionally strong hold on this time period can't be good.

Sounds like Conan needs to lock in that Leno old-people audience. Maybe that senior citizen focus group isn't such a goofy idea after all.

How did Jay Leno rise from humble Doritos pitchman to iron-fisted ruler of NBC's primetime schedule? Depending on your frame of mind, the story is either inspiring or infuriating. As is the setting for the funnyman's "Today" sitdown -- a huge garage full of the many rare, expensive automobiles (some steam-powered!) he has purchased with the proceeds of countless "Jaywalking" segments.

A sullen Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger went on "The Tonight Show" last night to talk about the state of California. (Get it? Pun!) Schwarzenegger originally announced his gubernatorial candidacy on Jay Leno's show with jokes about bikini waxing, and last night came back during the host's final week (Conan O'Brien takes over June 1) to wish him well. But last night turned into a policy meeting, as the subdued Governator discussed Proposition 8 and his state's virtual bankruptcy.

Schwarzenegger, who is an ardent opponent of Prop. 8, said (in the clip above) that he believes it will ultimately be overturned, and that the fight is "not over." As for the state's budget woes, Arnold says he's learned his lesson about the state spending money it doesn't have, and will now have to make massive cuts to state programs to avoid running out of cash as early as July. Hit "continue reading" below to see his remarks, but California, it looks like you're in for it. It's never good when state politics intimidates a governor more than the "Predator."

A reunited blink-182 played "The Rock Show" on the "Tonight Show" last night, further delighting a 13-year-old Will Edmondson in 1999. The band made its first public appearance at a T-Mobile launch party last Friday, playing three songs (language NSFW), and are planning a summer tour.

In a related story, "Tonight Show" production assistants scrambled to meet the requests of the band's outdated rider, as Polaroid film is no longer being made.

Two-time Kentucky Derby-winning Jockey Calvin Borel went on the "Tonight Show" Tuesday and further cemented his standing as the most adorable human being on Earth. He recounted his childhood, the first time he rode a horse (he was two), playing dumb while hustling at the racetrack as a kid, and how he quit school after eighth grade. He talked about the house he grew up in, and how when he went to the White House (after winning his first Derby), he thought the chandeliers looked like the icicles on his old house's roof. (That "Awwwww!" you just heard came from my Mom.)

Borel will race again on Saturday in the Preakness Stakes, where he and unlikely Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird will try to win the second leg of the Triple Crown. But really, we'll all just be rooting for him to hear another one of his post-race interviews.