After hashing through a variety of foreign policy issues in the first portion of the interview (which you can see here), the conversation's focus shifted stateside. Among the issues Leno and Obama tackled were Republican obstructionism,  executive orders, and Occupy Wall Street. On the last point, Obama continued in his efforts to tap into the growing anger of the 99 percent:

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While most of us spent July 4th blowing up fireworks to celebrate our emancipation from the Brits, comedian Sean Kleier made us remember the true meaning of Independence Day by reciting Bill Pullman's speech from the movie all over New York City.

2. "Glee" goes viral

The stars of the Fox musical stopped by Internet star Keenan Cahill's to cover Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night."

3. Field of "NFL" Dreams

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The Tonight Show host opened with a few cracks about the Casey Anthony verdict:

"It was so hot today, people were as delirious and incoherent as a Florida jury," he "quipped," he then tried to deliver a second joke -- "This [verdict] means President Obama’s economic team is only the second most clueless group of people in America," -- which he had to repeat because his audience failed to laugh first time around.

We invite you to cringe with us:

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Technically this is called "First World Rap," but that's just being politically correct. Running out of organic milk? Having your computer charger all the way on the other side of the room? Those complaints need to be sent directly to the ministry of this.

2. Louis C.K.'s pro-drug stance

"I just love being high," the comedian told Leno Wednesday night. He then admits he would suck dick to get his Percoset back. Right before he wishes he was an alcoholic. I love Louis C.K.

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After all, why else is Lindsay Lohan appearing on talk shows, if not to discuss her impending incarceration? Oh right, she's in that Gotti movie. Oh well, let's discuss that for a bit:

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You know, there is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and professionally…

And revealed that Madonna totally supports her new single:

The good news is, I got an email from her people sending me their love and support on behalf of the single. And if the queen says it shall be, then it shall be.

The two further talked about the meaning of"Born This Way" which some have billed as a self-conscious anthem for the gay rights movement. Lady Gaga skirted around that point instead talking at length about harnessing "your inner superstars."

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The Massachusetts native is scheduled to receive his pudding pot at a roast on Feb. 4.

Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the nation's oldest undergraduate drama troupe, said "The Tonight Show" host was selected because he has "entertained millions of people over his long and accomplished career in comedy."

With the honor, Leno follows in the footsteps of his "The Tonight Show" mentor Johnny Carson, was named Man of the Year in 1977.

Actress Julianne Moore was named Hasty Pudding's Woman of the Year last week.

The awards are presented annually to performers who have made a lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment.

(This version CORRECTS that Carson won the award in 1977, not 1997.)

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Whether Romney believes that any of these words actually apply to Palin is impossible to know. He rattled them off with a smile and with no hesitation or hint of sarcasm and seemed entirely sincere. But few in politics are as good at faking sincerity as Romney. He was, don’t forget, just as convincing when he pledged in his first Senate campaign in Massachusetts that he would do more to advance the cause of gay rights than Ted Kennedy. And yet there he was on Leno's couch Wednesday night, matter-of-factly asserting that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy is working and that it would be a grave mistake to tinker with it in a time of war.

This is hardly a new critique of Romney, but if his latest "Tonight Show" appearance drives one reality home, it's that watching the former governor run for president will never cease to be a maddening exercise -- at least for anyone who knows anything about the leader Romney purported to be back in his Massachusetts days.

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Leno: Now, why do you find ... does the fact that she's the anti-masturbation candidate --

MacFarlane: I think the second she opened her mouth, it would probably ruin everything.

Leno: Really?

MacFarlane: Yes, yes -- once we got into --

Leno: Or make it really good.

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Late-night ratings sank over the past three months, despite the attention and extraordinary television created over the winter by the drama of Leno taking back "The Tonight Show" from Conan O'Brien.

"Late-night talk shows have been around since the 1950s, and you wonder if they are getting passe with the viewing public," said Brad Adgate, an analyst with Horizon Media.

Competition is a factor. Johnny Carson in his prime never had to worry about a Jon Stewart or George Lopez. Or video games and the Internet. Or, for that matter, his own network. At 11:35 p.m., more people now watch programs saved on their digital video recorders than either Leno and Letterman, the Nielsen Co. said.

Back at NBC, Leno averaged 4 million viewers a night during April, May and June. That's a full 1 million viewers lost to NBC compared to the same three months in 2009. Letterman wasn't necessarily the beneficiary, since his audience of 3.3 million people was off 7 percent from 2009.

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"Well, love and a birth certificate," Obama quipped at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, poking fun at those who question his place of birth. "I happen to know that my approval ratings are still very high in the country of my birth." Obama was born in Hawaii, but birthers question whether he was born overseas.

Obama also jabbed Jay Leno, the comedian headlining the dinner. Obama dinged Leno as "the only person whose ratings fell more than mine."

He said he was glad he spoke before the television host, "because we have all seen what happens when somebody takes the time slot after Leno." Comic Conan O'Brien left NBC after his stint hosting "The Tonight Show" following Leno didn't work out.

He took aim at his own administration too, cracking jokes about Vice President Joe Biden and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Republicans were also the victims of many Obama punch lines. The president noted Sen. John McCain's claim this year that he was not identified as a maverick. "We all know what happens in Arizona when you don't have ID. ... Adios amigos," Obama quipped, referring to a new law in the state that targets illegal immigration.

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After two weeks of non-Leno programming at the 10 p.m. hour, the Nielsen Co. says NBC's viewership is up by 45 percent then. The network's most-watched program of the week was 'Law & Order: SVU" Wednesday at that hour. It had 8.5 million viewers.

Five nights a week, Jay Leno's prime-time average was 5.15 million viewers.

Two lighter NBC shows, "The Marriage Ref" and "Parenthood" had more than 6 million viewers each last week.

NBC shouldn't get carried away, though. CBS had 17 programs in prime time with bigger audiences than "Law & Order: SVU."

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But there was more to Palin’s appearance than this. Her poll numbers, after all, have plummeted to alarming depths. More than 70 percent of all Americans – and more than 50 percent of Republicans – now believe she is unqualified for the presidency. And there are only 23 months until the Iowa caucuses.

So she was wise to sit down with Leno, who provides the kind of image boost to Republican political figures that Larry King’s does for fallen celebrities. In the last few years, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Fred Thompson launched their campaigns from Leno’s couch and Mike Huckabee stopped by on the eve of his 2008 Iowa triumph. And don’t forget Rush Limbaugh, who took a seat just a few months ago.

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What's that? You'd prefer your late-night entertainment not resemble a corporate team-building event? Well, suck it, monkeys, because NBC is getting its gloat on!

It's well documented which team I played for during the Great Late Night Debacle of January. Nonetheless, I tried to approach the new era of "The Tonight Show," debuting Monday night, with an open mind. Rarely does history give one man a chance to seize back the very throne he gave up. Perhaps, humbled by his show's disastrous move to prime time and shaking off some of the public ill will of the last several weeks, Leno would return to late night a more engaging television personality. Funnier, even, like Letterman whenever he has a stalker or heart surgery or gets blackmailed. But within seconds of Monday's premiere of the all-new, just-like-last-time Leno show, it became clear that what hadn't killed Leno only made him more aggressively assured. 

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When Jay Leno reclaims "The Tonight Show" on Monday, NBC is banking that the ratings spiral that marked Conan O'Brien's brief tenure as host will quickly fade to a dim memory.

If viewers want to dwell on the messy dithering that led to this point -- Leno moved to prime-time, NBC affiliates rebelling at his low ratings, O'Brien balking at NBC's directive that he and "Tonight" shift to midnight, O'Brien exiting and leaving a diminished audience behind -- the network is focused on the end result.

With the Winter Olympics providing a big platform, NBC aired a promotional spot advising that "the chin" was back. Another spot had Leno breezing down a coastal highway in a snazzy convertible that shed the number "10" for "11:35." It cast him as a happy traveler headed home, back where he belongs, after a misadventure not even worth a postcard.

Lisa Howfield, general manager of NBC affiliate KVBC in Las Vegas, thinks Leno's fans will be right behind him.

"I suspect he'll get the same numbers (ratings) he had in prime-time, which are the same numbers he had in late-night. ... I think it's probably going to get right back into normal viewing patterns," Howfield said.

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Riffing on the original campaign that featured Leno roaring triumphantly into primetime, the host now zooms back to the 11:35 p.m. slot to the strains of the Beatles' none-too-cheap-to-purchase-the-rights-of "Get Back." What could be subtler than that? Maybe only if Leno's license plate had read "UP YRS COCO."

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