Big numbers for Leno's first night

Monday's edition of "The Jay Leno Show" averaged more than 17.65 million viewers, according to the preliminary Nielsens, a number that should have NBC executives slapping one another on the back today.

Leno also easily won the night among the 18- to 49-year-olds NBC cares about most.

Was it curiousity? Seinfeld? Kanye? A bit of all three?

Too soon to tell, but it's worth noting that Leno's audience was higher in the first half-hour  --a bit over 18 million -- than in the second, when it dropped to 17.2 million.