sammi says

Last week we heard that "The Jay Leno Show" would no longer air in prime-time and that NBC was interested in making Jay's show a half and hour which would air at 11:35 pm and "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" would air at 12:05am. Now, for all of us mid-westerners, our local news airs at 10pm with "The Tonight Show" starting at 10:35pm, so all of this may not make a huge difference to us. Either way, last week when all of this information started to swirl around I was telling everyone I thought that no matter how backwards the whole situation is, Conan would probably do whatever it takes to keep his staff employed and to make his job work considering he just relocated everyone from New York City to Los Angeles just months ago. I kept up with all the late-night hosts jabs at the situation and even with what little Jay and Conan were saying in their monologues....I figured they were told to keep it light about the whole ordeal.

So it was much to my surprise yesterday to hear that Conan let loose and released a statement saying he would NOT continue to host "The Tonight Show" if it is moved to 12:05am, making the totally valid point that 12:05 is not tonight, it's tomorrow. I am so proud of Conan for standing up for himself and his staff. After all, he's only been hosting the show a mere seven months, and while it may not be doing awesome in the ratings, did NBC ever consider it's because of their atrocious prime-time lineup, especially Jay Leno's lead in to the local news, which news affiliates across the country have stated that Jay has hurt their ratings terribly? Next thing you know NBC is going to cancel "30 Rock" and "The Office," and will only air reruns of "Joey" on Thursdays, fire Brian Williams as the host of the "Nightly News" replace him with Heidi and Spencer and Kathy Lee and Hoda will take over all four hours of "Today."

NBC announced in 2004 that Conan O'Brien would be replacing Jay Leno as the host of "The Tonight Show." So what went wrong? Why didn't Jay just move on, keep doing his stand-up comedy gigs across the country and retire from TV? My only guess is that Jay wasn't ready. He didn't ceremoniously retire after 30 long years like his beloved predecessor, Johnny Carson. I bet he's kicking himself now for not doing just that. Instead of retiring honorably with everyone having fond memories of of his show, Jay-walking, Headlines and the like, he'll be remembered for being publicly ridiculed by his peers and being a national joke. And that's the thing....TV viewers across the country knows that NBC is screwing up royally. They know that no matter what time Jay is on TV that it's over for him. Why can't NBC understand this? If NBC had fully backed Conan in the very beginning (i.e. not changing the landscape of late-night TV by adding a talk show in prime-time) I bet they'd be doing a lot better in the ratings. Although, NBC is notorious for screwing up "The Tonight Show." Back in the early 90's David Letterman was hand picked by Johnny Carson to be the new host of "The Tonight Show" but NBC pulled a dick move and picked Leno. Letterman has probably never been more pleased that he made the move to CBS.

My love for Conan O'Brien runs deep and I will follow him where ever he goes. If NBC knows what's good for them they will pull Leno from the lineup and keep Conan and "The Tonight Show" at it's regular time, 11:35, 10:35 central, and give Conan the chance he deserves.