Conan O'Brien Invites Jay Leno On His New Talk Show: "He Can Come As The Musical Guest"

Ouch! But Conan O'Brien is a funnyman, so we're assuming he was just joking around. Ish.

The 47-year-old talk show host, who debuts his new TBS shindig on Monday, gives a pretty frank interview with Playboy's December issue about, you guessed it, leaving NBC and rival Jay Leno:

"I have had too many good things happen in my career to end on any kind of bitter note. I'm just saying this to you; we're alone in this office, and I don’t have to say this: I am an incredibly fortunate person ... And as crazy as this sounds, my career with NBC was overwhelmingly positive until this ... The entertainment business has an amazing way of turning really lucky people into bitter, angry, rage-filled, jealous, resentful wretches who can’t believe they got screwed. Some things have worked out great for me, some things haven't. You keep going."

Someone's not holding back! And about Leno himself? "[Leno is] a guy you hear coming a long way off. There aren’t many three-cylinder engines in California that run on peat moss. And we hang out in different circles, so I don’t think we’ll be bumping into each other."

Conan adds that Jay Leno is welcome on his new show "as the musical guest." Why? "Because that I want to see," proclaims Conan. "No one knows he has an operatic range."