The television industry isn’t laughing about how badly it’s struggling. But that’s exactly why NBC has called upon one of its greatest comedians.

Jay Leno begins an experimental, new show Monday night called “The Jay Leno Show.”

Leno won’t be interviewing guests at a desk like he did during “The Tonight Show.” Instead, they’ll lounge on big, comfortable chairs. You will still see the Jay Leno traditional acts, like the monologues, headlines and Jaywalking.

But perhaps the biggest difference isn’t in the show’s content, but in the reason NBC is launching the show. It’s airing at 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. That’s usually the time slot reserved for scripted dramas.

"I think the key to this is when these other shows are in re-runs, when CSI is not doing its premiere evil twin issue, we can do original shows,” Leno explains. “Those shows are on 22 weeks a year. We're 46 weeks a year. Our show happens right now, today. You know this isn't a situation where we tape three shows on Monday so we can take the rest of the weekend off. We watch the news like everybody else and we have jokes and comments on things that are happening right now."

Like most businesses, the television industry is struggling to engage large audiences like it once did. Here’s NBC’s attempt at something bold—a lower budget, one man comedy show.

"What Jay did 17 years ago was daunting, because he was following a legend. Here, he's stepping into the unknown. No one really knows what this show is going to be, or even what success is,” says Bill Carter, author of “The Late Shift”, a book about the late night talk show battles of the early 1990’s. “So, it's going to be a very big step for him and I think probably, there's a lot of pressure."

Pressure sounds accurate. The show is being called “the great Leno gamble” because is has the potential to redefine television and primetime or dig NBC’s hole even deeper. That will ultimately be up to the viewers.

“The Jay Leno Show” beings Monday, September 14, 2009 at 10 p.m.