Jay Leno is perched in prime time, but he still says he would have rather stayed put at "The Tonight Show" -- and if NBC offered him that job again, he'd take it.

In an interview with Broadcasting & Cable magazine published online Monday, Leno hastily added that such a decision isn't his to make.

Conan O'Brien, his replacement as "Tonight" host after 17 years, is "doing fine," Leno said.

"Conan is in the same position I was in when I took over. It takes a while. Some will like it; some will leave forever and not come back."

Leno said he doesn't think the recent controversy surrounding his former late-night rival David Letterman "will have a big effect at all."

Referring to Letterman's acknowledged sexual affairs with female members of his staff, Leno said, "If it were me, it would kill me. I'm the guy who's been married 29 years. But Dave has never pretended to be Mr. Moral America, he's never set himself up that way. He's not a hypocrite."

"The Jay Leno Show" began on NBC in September, airing Monday through Friday at 10 p.m., where it has displaced several prime-time scripted dramas. For that, and for his less-than-stellar ratings thus far, Leno has taken heat within the TV industry as well as from critics.

It's just part of the battle, said Leno, who insisted he enjoys it.

"I get a certain amount of satisfaction from pounding my head against the wall," he said. "I'm not having a bad time at 10 o'clock now. I look at this as a job, and now I'm faced with a challenge, and it's a challenge I find difficult but interesting."

You haven't heard the last of former President Charles Logan on "24."

Fox announced Monday that actor Gregory Itzin will reprise his role as the disgraced chief executive next year on the eighth season of the TV action drama.

Itzin will be acting in several episodes alongside current President Allison Taylor, played by Cherry Jones, when the show returns Jan. 17.

Says "24" executive producer Howard Gordon: "The opportunity for these two remarkable actors to share the stage was simply too compelling to pass up."

Logan was last seen during Season 6 en route to a hospital after being stabbed by his wife, played by Jean Smart. At the beginning of Season 7, viewers were told that Logan was alive but under house arrest.

Itzin earned an Emmy nomination for the role. (AP)

Cable network TNT says it has rescued the shot-down NBC cop drama "Southland" and will bring it back in the new year.

Beginning Jan. 12, TNT will broadcast all six episodes that were shot by NBC for its aborted second season, as well as the seven episodes from the first season. (Unaired season two episodes will begin airing Feb. 23.)

Produced by John Wells of "ER" fame, "Southland" won good reviews but not-so-good ratings when it premiered last spring on NBC. It was renewed for this fall, but NBC canceled it before its October return.

Set in Los Angeles, the gritty drama stars Ben McKenzie, Regina King and Tom Everett Scott, among others. (AP)

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