SECOND COMING

Conan Wants Leno as Musical Guest

When he starts new show on Monday.

If Jay Leno wants a piece of Conan O’Brien’s new show, he’ll have to come in as a musical guest. “No one knows he has an operatic range,” O’Brien told Playboy in an interview for the December issue. O’Brien is poised to make a triumphant return to late-night on November 8, after Jay Leno, assisted by NBC, took his spot as host of The Tonight Show. He’ll be working with longtime sidekick Andy Richter, who was recruited for intimidation, according to O’Brien. "Andy is the strongest guy on television. He's a man-child, an incredibly powerful human being," he says. "He could take Charlie Sheen in hand-to-hand combat." He doesn’t seem to harbor any hard feelings about the Leno debacle, and he’s proud of the way he went out. “A lot of people tuned in, and I was really proud of what I was able to make in that situation," says O'Brien.