Leno debuts new studio space

BURBANK — Jay Leno opened the doors to Studio 11 today, providing a walking tour of his state-of-the-art, multicolored set.

The design comes complete with a brand new Los Angeles skyline, two 103-inch televisions, a practicing band and a back parking lot slated for a green race track before the Sept. 14 primetime premiere of “The Jay Leno Show.”

“Pay no attention to the that,” said Leno, who promised a more relaxed set than what viewers of “The Tonight Show” were used to. “They built a desk, they built a traditional set, just to see what it looked like.

“We won’t use a desk.”

A relaxed Leno, about 10 pounds leaner from regular 4-mile runs, said he wasn’t feeling the pressure, despite returning to a network in need of a shot in the arm in the unprecedented 10 p.m. slot.

“I don’t feel any pressure. Look, I am the world’s oldest quarterback,” he said. “I am glad at my age they’re still asking me to be in the game. So they asked me to do this, it wasn’t like I was going to them saying, ‘Please give me a desk. Please help me out.’

“They said ‘We’d like you to do this.’ OK, I’d like to do it, it’s fun. I like being in Burbank. I don’t want to go to Universal City. I don’t want to be on an amusement park lot.”

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