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The key date is May 29. That is the scheduled evening for Jay Leno's final appearance on NBC's "Tonight Show," ending his seven-year run as the monarch of late night TV.

But his television days are not yet over because Leno will be returning to NBC this fall in a 10 p.m. show that will repeat and/or modify many of his routines.

In short, it promises to be a variety show and NBC claims it will be unique for TV. But Arts and Entertainment Editor Bob Sokolsky questions that.

The format, Sokolsky says, sounds like a rebuilding of past shows fronted by such notable television names as Ed Sullivan, Kate Smith, Steve Allen and Johnny Carson.

But then, has asks, hasn't TV always found ways to recycle old material into revised formats? Besides, he adds, variety shows are cheaper to mount than scripted series.