Newsflash: Jeff Zucker had Conan arrested (when they were Harvard undergraduates):

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/no-joke-jeff-zucker-had-conan-arrested/

I used to like Leno's monologues and some of the skits. But his show has totally tanked since he went to 10pm. (Jeez, did he forget to take his writers with him?) Although I was never a big fan of Conan, I have to admit that he's at his best when under attack. Some of his barbs aimed at NBC have been hysterical. The last time Letterman was funny was, maybe 20 years ago?

http://videos.mediaite.com/video/Jimmy-Kimmel-Roasts-Jay-Leno

They lost a huge talent and star because of their bungling the Leno show.

And if Conan's so awesome, how come, when Jay left Tonight, Jay had been smoking Letterman for the past 8 years, and when Conan took over, Letterman was smoking the Tonight Show for the first time since the Hugh Grant episode in the late 90's.

I like Leno. His stuff is main-stream, sure, but, it's the type of humor where I don't have to think. I can laugh at people on the street, and Leno's always a class act.

You think NBC doesn't realize that Conan is younger? If Conan was so awesome, then they'd keep him over Jay.

Conan's a funny guy, and it sucks what's happening to him, but, let's not get all holding hands across America here. If Conan was putting up better ratings himself, then, he'd stay with the Tonight Show, and they'd get rid of Jay.

"(Leno's is) the type of humor where I don't have to think. "

I think that's damning with faint praise if I ever heard it. The very definition of "boob tube."

jay leno is not a class act. mocking people for not knowing things isn't classy. it's cheap. and when his own wife said something really stupid on his show, he didn't even mention it.

f'm.

the olds and much of middle america are just more comfortable with leno. can you imagine the ratings if he had s. palin on? they see conan and think west/eastcoast elite smart alek.

All of what you said is true but the issue here is that Jay's ratings at 10pm sucked so bad that affiliates were going to stop airing his show. nbc had to move him out of 10pm, so they thought like you & figured they would move him back to 11:35pm where he was doing well. it was just another stupid mistake by the idiots at nbc.

I'd only dispute two points.

(1) Leno was doing as well as expected for NBC. He was profitable. Ratings were so-so, but, it was still profitable because Leno Show is much cheaper to produce then, say 5 dramas/week.

(2) I think we're being too harsh on NBC. They were given a tough hand. It's sort of like an NFL team grooming the next QB. You have that guy waiting in the wings, til your current guy is too old and doesn't have it anymore. Leno still has it. And NBC tried to keep Conan, but, push come to shove, they prefer Leno (as do I). If anything, it's clear that, the plan NBC hatched for this past fall, showed that they really wanted to keep Conan. But, logistically, it was unfeasible; and now Conan will have the opportunity to QB for another team.

So, I do think that NBC did make the best out of the situation. If you sincerely believe that Conan is better, then yah, you'll think NBC is stupid. But as someone who prefers Leno, I think NBC did the right thing. And in five years or so, they can give it to Jimmy Fallon.

For me to accept the notion that NBC totally f'ed up, I'd like to hear what some alternatives NBC should've pursued over the past year and a half when they made this initial transition plan [Jay @10; Conan @11:35], without 20/20 hindsight.

give jay leno a once a week show at 10 pm. the idea that any show could survive 5 nights a week at 10 pm against totally different sorts of shows was ridiculous.

Before you pat NBC CEO Jeff Zucker on the back, however, keep in mind that the deal has not yet gone through, and if it does — Universal's Ron Meyer is being credited for resolving the dismal debacle.

NBC totally dropped the ball on this. They lost a huge talent and star because of their bungling the Leno show. O'Brien will now be free to go to another network and he'll take his young audience with him, and he'll be free to trash NBC for the way they treated him.

Epic fail, NBC. Epic. Fail.

Dick Ebersol, Jeff Zucker and Jay Leno are a triumvirate of douche.

Ebersol is infamous for calling Lorne Michaels and telling him to tone down the humor on SNL. He's old school douche.

Ebersol is in charge of NBC's Sports Division and has already told NBC they will lose money on the upcoming Olympics coverage. So he's a douche and incompetent.

I watched Leno's show last night for the first time and was amazed at how snotty his jokes about this were. After noting that Conan's ratings had recently gone up, his punchline was, "you're welcome!" Good God, I don't expect that Conan has any less of an ego than Leno does, but Leno is really going to go down as a prick for this.

i dont know whose idea it was, but the jimmy kimmel appearance on jay's show seemed to kinda backfire

conan seemed kinda out of it during the show, he was extra awkward during much of rob lowes' interview

also, andy richter's speech was lolz.

Awesome. Now NBC can go about building their future around a 59 year old hack.