NBC's Late Night Controversy: I'm With Coco

As many of you may know, the past couple of weeks have been filled with talks and rumors of the fate of NBC's late night line-up. Seems like the only solution would be to put Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien "in a pit with sharpened sticks and the one who crawls out alive gets to leave NBC" as Conan joked the other night. So far, NBC already has already said they will cancel Jay's one-hour "The Jay Leno Show" at 10:00 in favor of a half-hour version of the show to air at 11:30 and push "The Tonight Show" back to 12:05. Conan has released public statement that does not disguise how upset he is about the situation, as you can tell by the statement itself.

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

Now many people would think "he's not gonna lose the show, it'll just be later", but our favorite red-headed, pomp-sporting late night personality feels that 'The Tonight Show' at 12:05 just isn't 'The Tonight Show'. If NBC goes through with the change, which they plan on doing at the start of the Winter Olympics on February 12th, then Mr. O'Brien said he would be leaving NBC. Now, while Jay's supporters may feel like Conan should just suck it up and do the show a half-hour later (this is only how I imagine people who dislike Conan feel; not to mention they also hate kittens and America), Conan is nowhere near out of the line with how he feels and what he said. We cannot forget that not only Conan, but his "Late Night" crew up and moved to California to do the 'Tonight Show'. Have you ever moved? It's not easy moving to a different city let alone another state on the opposite side of the country. Conan has done absolutely wonderful with 'The Tonight Show' and it would be insane of NBC to let Conan go like that. I can honestly say that if they do let Conan go, I will never watch NBC again (Scrubs is on ABC now, so I wouldn't be missing much) and I wouldn't be surprised if many people took the same route. Okay, perhaps that is a bit drastic (I like the Winter Olympics; bobsledding and those dudes who sweep the ice, curling...I know), but I won't watch Leno. His time on the 'The Tonight Show' is up, has been for a few months now. If Fallon stands his ground, I'll stick with him.

This pic has been floating around lately and puts it simply. In layman's terms, whatever goes down, "I'm With Coco"