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O'Brien-Leno mess is fodder for Letterman

NBC may not be smiling, but CBS' David Letterman sure is getting a lot of laughs out of the Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien soap opera. Of course, this is familiar terrain for Letterman, who left NBC after losing the battle for "The Tonight Show" toÂ Leno almostÂ 20 years ago.

On the taping forÂ tonight's show, he quipped that O'Brien issued his statement that he would not move "The Tonight Show" to 12:05 "after he talked to Johnny Carson."Â

Letterman noted that with Leno expected to move back to late night, the network would need some new dramas. Here's his pitch:

Letterman can still poke fun at himself. Despite all the turmoil at his former network, he said, "I got a call just before I came out here from NBC, and they said, â€˜Look, look, we still donâ€™t want you back.â€™â€

-- Joe Flint

Conan says no way to 'Tonight Show' move

Conan O'Brien has finally spoken out -- in a serious way -- about the late-night mess at NBC. (He joked about the chaos on his show, as did other late-night hosts.)

The "Tonight Show" host says very clearly that he does not want to do the show at 12:05 a.m. ET, following a half-hour Jay Leno show, in the statement he just released.

He says he will not go along with moving "The Tonight Show" back half an hour, because to do so would mean participating in "what I honestly believe isits destruction."

Here is his full statement:

People of Earth:

In the last few days, Iâ€™ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, andI want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a secondfeeling sorry for me. For 17 years, Iâ€™ve been getting paid to do what Ilove most and, in a world with real problems, Iâ€™ve been absurdly lucky.That said, Iâ€™ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and mybosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The TonightShow in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching JohnnyCarson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair hasmeant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity,passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spentliterally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchiselong into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like mypredecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just asimportant, 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 theirterrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in theirlong-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move theTonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late localnews. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the nextday to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what Iconsider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting.The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isnâ€™t the Tonight Show. Also, if Iaccept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which Iinherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out ofits long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that Ilove, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoyhosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it isfor me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievablyhard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of TheTonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe isits destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs andthe Internet a time slot doesnâ€™t matter. But with the Tonight Show, Ibelieve nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, toset the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestlyhave no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolvethis quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can beproud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; itâ€™s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

I can't say I blame Conan. As I said in this post, it's clear that Jay Leno matters more to NBC than Conan does. In my opinion, Conan made the right move by saying no to NBC's plan. I think he should leave the network (and apparently most of the readers of this site agree: In poll on this "What Should Conan Do" post, only a few said the late-night host should stay at the Peacock network).

Looks like it's NBC's move now. What will executives there do now that Conan has said, "Hell no, I won't go to 12:05 a.m. ET?"

They don't have a ton of options. Which is why I think this is probably the beginning of the end of Conan's short tenure at "The Tonight Show."

As I said, NBC executives have made it clear that Jay's more important to them than Conan. They can't very well tell Jay that he can't do an 11:35 p.m. ET show, having just promised him that and having upset the applecart again to shift Jay out of prime time.

I think the only move left is for NBC to let Conan go. There will be bickering and quibbling among the lawyers, no doubt. But NBC has a chance to hang on to one molecule of dignity here. They could let Conan go and settle whatever money and contractual issues that are still outstanding quietly, out of the limelight.

They should just let Conan go, at this point. It'd be the smartest move.

Then again, NBC isn't known for smart moves. Stay tuned.