Tonight Show Update: Conan Leaving NBC Jan 22nd, Leno to Return as Host of Tonight Show

As Jay Leno so eloquently put it: NBC wanted drama at 10pm; and now they have it. The late night war between Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno has been the talk of Hollywood ever since NBC opted to cancel Leno’s prime time show and bring him back to his time slot he inhabited as host of The Tonight Show. Only problem with that is Conan O’Brien currently holds down that time slot as the new host of The Tonight Show. So, what does NBC do? They offer Conan his old 12:05 time slot back that way the peacock network can make room for their boy Jay Leno. In a written statement from Conan earlier this week, O’Brien denounced the attempted hijacking of his show and told NBC he would not move, and would sooner leave the show as host before he lets the network shuffle around their line-up at his expense. The results have been anything but pretty and now we have a final update on this news. Click the jump to read more.

After only seven months as host of The Tonight Show, Conan O’Brien will have his last show on Friday January 22nd. There is no word as to where the red-headed host will do next, but one thing is certain, he will not return as host of The Tonight Show. After NBC is done airing the Winter Olympics, The Tonight Show will return to the air with former host Jay Leno back in is old groove. Unfortunately Conan will not be returning as a host of any NBC lat night show, at least not any time soon. The network and O’Brien are currently working out a settlement which includes contract negotiations with Conan’s lawyers. There is question if whether O’Brien is breaching his contract by not accepting the networks offer to move his show to a later time slot. The argument here is that the contract states The Tonight Show will air at 11:35pm, however NBC states that the time slot is not exclusive to the show.

Don’t worry about Conan too much though, as the host will definitely be compensated. Right now it looks like Conan will walk away from The Tonight Show with a severance of around $30-$40 million. Not too bad for a guy who is currently about to be unemployed. Rumors have been circulating that Conan has met with Fox (who has yet to get into the late night talk show game) and that a possible move to another network may be an option. However, that is just a rumor so we will have to wait and see what happens. All we know right now is that Conan is calling it quits on the 22nd and Leno will be back to The Tonight Show on March 1st following the Winter Olympics.

I think this entire situation stinks, but I also am a realist who understands that this is all business, and nothing more. Where it may feel personal to many people, television networks are a business which depend on their talent to bring in a viewership, and unfortunately for Conan he never pulled in the numbers that they expected him to. Obviously NBC loves Jay Leno and they will clearly do anything to make him happy. I have said it once, and I will say it again. Get ready for a NBC and Jay Leno backlash because America loves a good story, a good underdog, and the media has created a hero among Conan and a villain out of NBC (and Leno).

Those are just my thoughts. What do you think?

Source: Variety