Jay Leno signs deal to host new car series for CNBC

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Comedian Jay Leno, who was the host of NBC's "Tonight Show" for more than 20 years, will return to television next year to host a new series about cars, the cable network CNBC said on Wednesday. The show, tentatively titled "Jay Leno's Garage," will be based on his Emmy Award-winning Web series. Leno will share his love of cars on the new series, which will premiere in 2015. "The show will be about anything that rolls, explodes and makes noise," Leno, 64, said in a statement. "We hope to highlight the passion and the stories behind the men and women who made the automobile the greatest invention of the 20th century." Leno, one of the biggest car collectors in the United States, owns an extensive array of hundreds of vehicles and motorcycles. The new series follows the comedian's one-hour special, "Jay Leno's Garage: the Ultimate Car Week," which was aired on CNBC in August and marked his first television appearance since the "Tonight Show." The silver-haired comedian left the late-night talk show in February with a star-studded farewell following a long stint that began when he replaced Johnny Carson in 1992. Comedian Jimmy Fallon replaced him as the show's host and moved it from California back to its New York roots. (Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)