For the past couple of days there has been talks about Leno moving back to 11:35pm in a shorten version of his crittaly panned "The Jay Leno (but it's really his own version of the Tonight) Show" pushing the (Real) Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to 12:05 after the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
But now this building war may have come to an end with O' Brien breaking his silence on the matter, but first a little history on this weird Late Night battle on the same network.
Source: Yahoo News
The murky mess that is NBC's late-night schedule got a little clearer today, as Conan O'Brien announced he would not host "The Tonight Show" at 12:05am to accommodate moving a shortened "Jay Leno Show" to 11:35pm.
O'Brien, who took over the "Tonight Show" reins from Leno on June 1, issued a statement in which he explained "The Tonight Show" would no longer be "The Tonight Show" if it were moved back, and said he wanted no part in damaging what he considered the "greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting."
The question of what's next for the veteran comedy writer and 16-year host of NBC's "Late Night" remains unclear. O'Brien addressed talk of a jump to Fox by saying: "I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next."
Read O'Brien's full statement below:
People of Earth:
In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.
But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.
Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.
There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.
Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.
Yours,
Conan
Good thing he's just quiting the Tonigh Show and not the Tonight Show. Honestly though, he didn't really quit. He's just preparing to if, and when, NBC screws him over. Honestly, I'd do the same exact thing. Conan is truly funny and Jay hasn't been for a long time.
Well then I typed in the title, I was mostly thinking of what you said. It's more like he's quitting the 12:05 Tonight Show.
As for Leno. He was exposed on that 10:00pm show as to fans realizing that he's got nothing on him besides that Tonight Show name.
lol, yay for being the minority!
I'm glad NBC is moving Leno back to 10:35 (damned east coasters and your messed up times). Letting him do his thing the way he wants to, instead of forcing him to do what network execs want.
Leno was #1 in late night for years, as was Conan at his time slot... Ever since the switch, freaking Letterman has been #1.
That said, I think Craig Ferguson is by far the funniest man on late night TV.
I find that my and Bill Hicks' opinions on Leno have been coinciding as of late. Leno is an egomaniac, he's disingenuous and he's NOT FUNNY.
Leno is worthless, useless and only good for shilling Frito Lay products and appearing in inconsequential roles in cartoons. CONAN WROTE THE FRIGGIN 'MONORAIL' EPISODE OF THE SIMPSONS. In one thing ALONE he trumps Leno's entire life's accomplishments in the field of comedy, and that was just the start of his career.
I hope that wherever Conan goes, he blasts NBC and Leno in the ratings. Blasts them GOOD.
God damn it, NBC. There you guys go again with weaseling out of something when the going gets tough. Leno has had his time in the sun, so to speak. Let Conan do his thing on the Tonight Show in its current time slot.
Personally, I hope Conan comes out on top, by finding a better deal elsewhere with a network that will treat him right.
But really, I'm just glad that this terrible prime time Jay Leno show idea has fallen flat on its face. This means that there will be more time for scripted shows in prime time. And while NBC's scripted lineup has been iffy over the past couple of years, this means that their good, but struggling shows like Community, 30 Rock, and Chuck won't have such a tough time getting renewed for next season.
Yeah, been following this since day one, and am most definitely with CoCo. Leno's a prick, and he's not doing well now at his 10pm time slot because he sucks balls. Period. Now there's no prime-time lead-in to the news, and thus less viewers that stay on through the news, the less people Conan has for his show; the local affiliates are pissed, they want out, so what does NBC think?
"HAY IF WE PUTS JAY BACK IN AT 11:35 WE'LL GET RATINGS BACK, AMIRITE?!"
No, you douche! You still have to find your DRIVER INTO LENO, with DRAMAS OR SITCOMS to keep their asses put! Letterman pretty much nailed what must be done last night.
Leno can screw off. Don't know if you all heard, but since Conan, Letterman, Ferguson, and oh gawd, KIMMEL ripped him a new one, and oh it was a nice big new one, he says he's blaming NBC now in which he thinks they royally screwed both Conan and Leno and now have tarnished Leno's good name, so until they fix it, he says he's walking.
HAHAHAHA. Too late, douche. We know what you're capable of. It was great watching Letterman laugh and salivate over history repeating itself, except now everything is also falling on Leno at the same time!
Conan/Letterman/Ferguson - that's my stop with late night, with a nice helping of Stewart and Colbert right before. Nothing like appetizers! 
I have not been watching either of them in a long time, especially with Stewart & Colbert opposite them, but as is often the case, what Castor said.
Conan used to be hilarious when he had Andy Richter as a straight man. Just because he left doesn't mean he couldn't get somebody else to be a sidekick. Since then his show has just not been that funny IMO.
This whole business has a lot of generational politics to it, IMO. Younger people don't watch that much TV, so a very large baby boomer audience doesn't like Leno being replaced by Conan. My Dad doesn't even like Leno, but he appeared to be amused by news of Conan's low ratings.
But Richter has been Conan's sidekick on the Tonight Show.
What makes this so utterly hilarious was that Letterman was kicking Leno in the ratings UNTIL the Hugh Grant came on Leno after the whole hooker fiasco which was TWO YEARS after Leno beat Letterman to win the "Late Night Wars" and take Carson's spot.
I guess I find it hilarious is that NBC claims that Conan's low ratings for seven months while Leno two years and getting spanked by Letterman wasn't that big of a deal...
I had no dang clue that CoCo was the one who wrote Monorail, an episode which I have hours of anecdotes dedicated to my enjoyment of (500 people singing SIMPSON! HOMER SIMPSON! HE'S THE GREATEST GUY IN HISTORY! along with the character) and for that my respect for the man has multiplied by magnitudes uncountable.
As for Leno, well... the guy just never hit my radar. Colbert, Stewart and Conan were all meme on the internet and their best bits reached me long before I was in the same country as their shows. Leno never did. So I was aware of his existance through strict parody of him, but as for what he actually does--- nope. Not a thing.
This said, I'm a Comedy Central type of guy. Those guys are expert at satirizing the daily workings of the world. Why would I need to switch the station when I have truthiness?
UPDATE: O' Brien last show Tomorrow (Friday)
Conan O'Brien told NBC good riddance Thursday in a $45 million deal for his exit from "The Tonight Show," allowing Jay Leno to return to the late-night program he hosted for 17 years.
Under the deal, which came less than eight months after O'Brien took the reins from Leno, O'Brien will get more than $33 million, NBC said. The rest will go to his 200-strong staff in severance.
Compensation for O'Brien's staff and crew was the final hurdle in negotiations. O'Brien was said to have been "dug in" on the issue out of concern for the workers, while NBC said this week that it had already agreed to pay "millions of dollars to compensate every one of them" and deemed it a public relations "ploy."
On Wednesday night's show, speaking of a push to get a severance deal for his staff from NBC, O'Brien joked, "At first they thought I was gullible. They said the staff would be taken to a big farm, where they'd be allowed to run free forever."
Clearly, the differences were worked out.
"Conan appreciated what NBC did to take care of his staff and crew, and decided to supplement the severance they were getting from the network out of his own pocket," said his manager, Gavin Polone.
O'Brien will be free to start another TV job after Sept. 1, NBC said in its statement, released Thursday, which confirmed that "under terms of an agreement that was signed earlier today, NBC and O'Brien will settle their contractual obligations and the network will release O'Brien from his contract."
O'Brien's final show will be Friday, with Tom Hanks scheduled to appear as well as Will Ferrell - his first guest as "Tonight" host last June.
Leno will return to "Tonight" on March 1.
What happens next for O'Brien?
"We don't know," Polone said. "While we have had expressions of interest, we have not had any substantive conversations with anybody."
Ideally, said Polone, O'Brien "wants to get back on the air, doing the show he's doing now, as soon as possible."
There has been much speculation on where he might go next. ABC (which airs "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!") has said it wasn't interested, while Fox, which lacks a network late-night show, expressed appreciation for his show - but nothing more. Comedy Central has also been mentioned.
O'Brien landed the "Tonight" show after successfully hosting "Late Night," which airs an hour later, since 1993. But he quickly stumbled in the ratings race against his CBS rival, David Letterman.
Under Leno, the "Tonight" show was the ratings champ at 11:35 p.m. Eastern, but he proved an instant flop with his experiment in prime time.
Last week NBC announced that the five-hour vacancy in prime time left by Leno will be filled by scripted and reality fare calculated to bring NBC affiliates a more robust lead-in audience for their local news than Leno had been delivering. A provisional slate of shows will include new and veteran NBC dramas, a comedy panel series produced by Jerry Seinfeld and "Dateline NBC."
It had been no secret that the 46-year-old O'Brien was scoring puny ratings numbers on "Tonight," averaging 2.5 million nightly viewers, compared with 4.2 million for Letterman's "Late Show," according to Nielsen figures.
It was even more obvious that "The Jay Leno Show," airing weeknights at 10 p.m. Eastern, was a disaster. Mostly justified by the network for its bargain-basement production budget, it not only was critically slammed, but also found a disappointing popular reaction. It has averaged 5.3 million nightly viewers since its fall debut - about the same number that watched Leno's final "Tonight" season, in a time slot when far fewer viewers are available. By comparison, the season's top-rated 10 p.m. network drama, CBS' "The Mentalist," has an average audience of 17 million.
But few observers expected the abrupt upheaval that erupted publicly just two weeks ago, when two Web sites posted unsourced stories that the 59-year-old Leno's show would soon be canceled or moved into O'Brien's late-night domain.
Days later, NBC executives unveiled a plan to restore Leno to 11:35 p.m. with a half-hour program, then slide O'Brien's "Tonight Show" to 12:05 a.m., followed by "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," also pushed back a half-hour.
Disgruntled affiliate stations, which have lost viewers and advertising revenue for their late local newscasts since "The Jay Leno Show" premiered, appeared to spur NBC's sudden changes. The 210 local NBC stations saw their late news audience drop, on average, by 25 percent in November compared with the previous year among desirable 25- to 54-year-old viewers, with the Leno experiment costing the stations collectively $22 million over a three-month period, according to the research firm Harmelin Media.
In a clear vote of no confidence, some rebellious stations were threatening to drop "The Jay Leno Show" and air their own programming.
The network had been counting on O'Brien's cooperation, and wanted an answer quickly, so it could have the configured lineup ready to launch after the Winter Olympics, which will dominate NBC's schedule from Feb. 12-28. But O'Brien threw a wrench into NBC's plans, and triggered a public relations firestorm for the network, when he issued a statement rejecting the offer to delay his show to make room for Leno's return.
O'Brien said that shifting "Tonight" would "seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting," and he declared his disappointment that NBC had given him less than a year to establish himself as host at 11:35 p.m.
The escalating mess furnished plenty of material for jokes by competitors of Leno and O'Brien, as well as the two NBC hosts at its center, who bashed each other and their network.
As recently as Wednesday's monologue, Leno said the rainy weather in California "couldn't have come at a worse possible time. Today was the day NBC was supposed to burn down the studio for the insurance money."
Online, many have leaped to O'Brien's defense in recent days and applauded his stand against NBC. "Team Conan" became a popular Twitter topic for viewers who pledged their allegiance to O'Brien.
An O'Brien portrait also circulated as a badge of support. Referring to the "Tonight" show host's playful nickname, it read, "I'm With Coco," and featured a black-and-white picture of a regal-looking O'Brien standing in front of an American flag. The only color: his shock of orange hair.
For many observers, this clash of talk-show hosts recalled the late-night follies played out by NBC in the early 1990s as the network wavered confoundingly over who - Letterman or Leno - should inherit "The Tonight Show" from Johnny Carson.
The current revival of the late-night follies was set in motion nearly six years ago, in what was hatched by NBC executives as a farsighted strategy to ensure an orderly transition.
In the fall of 2004, the network announced that O'Brien would take over for Leno in 2009. That move by NBC - and endorsed by Leno, despite his clear aversion to leaving "Tonight" - was designed to keep O'Brien from jumping ship when his contract expired. "Tonight" was the prize O'Brien felt he had earned. He joked that he was looking forward to being on an hour earlier, "at a time when people can see me."
As years passed and Leno strengthened his grip as the late-night ratings champ, NBC anguished over how to keep him usefully occupied on the network somewhere other than "Tonight," and safely out of reach of rival networks who were courting him.
In late 2008, the network caught the public and the industry by surprise with its virtually unprecedented scheme: a new Leno hour "stripped" in prime time from Monday through Friday.
"A lot of people were shocked," Leno joked to reporters when the plan was announced. "They didn't know NBC still had a prime time."
^ Epic Forever!
