Jay Leno chats with Powell in job switch with Katie Couric

NEW YORK -- Jay Leno talked Mideast peace with Secretary of State Colin Powell and Katie Couric turned into a sexy if nervous comedian as the NBC hosts swapped their "Tonight" and "Today" gigs.

"Don't adjust your television set. I've got a special co-host today," Matt Lauer said, introducing Leno at the outset of "Today." Lauer, in a far less glamorous stunt, is to swap jobs with a cab driver later in the week.

"Good evening and welcome to 'The Tonight Show' -- or as I call it, 'Extreme Fear Factor,"' Couric joked later during her opening "Tonight" monologue.

She was anxious, but game. Clad in a low-cut black dress, Couric explained that she had decided to wear something "a little more fun, a little sexier" than her usual "Today" garb.

"For all you people from LA, who have never seen them before, these are real," Couric told the Burbank, Calif., studio audience. Power saws were brought on stage to slice into Leno's desk, providing a view of Couric's legs.

"Look at you," actor-comedian Mike Myers told Couric, issuing an Austin Powers-style growl of approval.

Ratings stunt

The switch, a ratings "sweeps" month stunt, took the country's favorite morning and late-night TV personalities out of their comfort zones. But it also illustrated that the gulf between "news" and "entertainment" isn't so wide. Couric is used to interviewing actors on "Today," and many Americans get their political news from Leno's "Tonight" show monologues.

In fact, Leno looked more comfortable than his sometimes-strained cohorts Monday, proving "Today" has a solid format that can be handled by an agile and intelligent communicator.

Lauer took the day's top story, about a woman accused of killing two of her children in Texas. Then Leno interviewed Powell on tape. He asked several serious questions about Powell's latest attempt to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and asked whether Saddam Hussein should be tried in the United States if found alive.

"How about you and Rumsfeld? Are you going to play golf anytime soon?" he gently queried Powell on the secretary's strained relationship with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

An auto enthusiast, Leno challenged Powell to a car race.

"I'll beat you," Powell joked. "You don't know how I can soup up a 1966 Volvo station wagon."

Leno seemed most at ease during the show's second hour behind the wheel of a car, skidding and peeling out in the plaza in front of the "Today" studios.

Smoke rose from the tires as Leno drove with nervous weatherman Al Roker, who is shedding weight after gastric bypass surgery, in the passenger seat.

"Al lost 10 more pounds!" Leno said.

Couric sounded tenuous delivering punch lines, but surprise guests -- including talk show host Dr. Phil and singer Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child -- helped smooth the way.

Actor Nathan Lane and others offered taped messages of support, while NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw poked a little fun. He called it a "great career move" for Couric and suggested "Hollywood Squares" was next.

Couric's scripted jokes included one about a woman in England who left her estate to her cat. "And today, Anna Nicole Smith tried to marry the cat," Couric said.

Her other guests included British pop star Robbie Williams and "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell, who took part in a parody of the Fox talent show.

"How am I doing?" Couric asked the acid-tongued Cowell about her own performance.

"Dreadful. Well, you are. You are very good on the 'Today' show, not so great on this," he said, sternly, then added: "I'm teasing, you're great."