Bravo! Don’t let NBC walk over you. NBC can barely get regular primetime shows right (I don’t watch Southland, but I do think it was rash and stupid to cancel it before the new season premiere, now TNT has got it, and well, we’ll see how ratings go before making any more comments). Back in 2004, NBC made the deals between Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, where Leno exits and Conan takes over The Tonight Show which starts at 11:35PM (and has been for a long time, about 45 years, but always after the news (*fun fact, the local news used to be only 15 minutes, so the early days of the Tonight Show started at 11:15*)). Of course, there was already previous controversy surrounding the early 90s when it went from Johnny Carson to Leno (Letterman, who was Late Night host at the time, was gunning for the job and even Carson was pulling for him, but it went to Leno and that caused emotions to stir and Letterman left NBC to have his own show (Late Show) on CBS).

Deja Vu all over again, as when the transition from Leno to Conan started becoming more of a reality, NBC was afraid to lose Leno since ABC became interested (guess they just don’t like talk show hosts jumping networks and potentially competing against them). Now with the whole Jay Leno Show debacle, NBC wants to move a shorter, half-hour version to late night after the news and move Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 30 minutes later (12:05 and 1:05 respectively). At the same time, FOX is showing interest in wanting Conan (though Conan has gone on record saying no offer has been made). So, will NBC wise up and keep Conan and ditch Leno to keep Conan from moving to FOX, or will they remain stupid and appease Leno and lose Conan.

Here’s what I think they should consider: Keep Conan at 11:35, ’cause The Tonight Show is an American Institution of late night goodness that always follows the news. If they positively have to keep Leno, how about this: ONE FUCKIN’ DAY IN THE WEEK. Is that so hard? Pick a night where The Jay Leno show did somewhat better, and make that the one night it’s on. Avoid filling the 10PM void with repeats (which could actually end up just hurting the local affiliates more anyway), and make all three parties happy (though, don’t know Jimmy Fallon’s view on everything, and no one seems to care about Last Call with Carson Daly (and yes, that show is still on)). I know I’m no TV exec. person, but it seems like a no-brainer.

But, like I said, I’m not a TV exec, nor a professional TV critic/blogger, I just watch the damn thing and I happen to prefer Conan over Leno. I find Conan to be much more enthused, and a hell of a lot funnier. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments when Leno hosted (such as my favorite ‘Headlines’ segment, which he brought over to the Jay Leno Show). At the same time, there was the ‘Battle of the Jaywalk All-Stars’ which no longer exists, because after moving to 10PM, it’s changed to some idiotic Battle of the *insert ridiculous reality shit-show here* Stars (such as the more recent ‘Jersey Shore’ dumbasses). He basically turned a funny segment into a bloated possible PR-bullshit parade.

What Conan brought from his stint at Late Night are still the same segments that WORK, and he added the new ‘Twitter Tracker’ segment (kind of weak, but the animations for it is what matters), but what’s great about Conan, his monologue. He jumps and hops onto the stage, jumps here and there, does his usual ‘puppeteer’ bit, and gets the show going with full energy.

In the end, I’m on Team Conan, and that’s that. If he leaves the Tonight Show because of NBC’s stupidty and finds a gig with FOX, then I’ll have one more show on FOX to look forward to, and one less NBC (even if Leno gets Tonight Show back, I just couldn’t bring myself to watch it, even though I’d miss Headlines). So wherever Conan goes, I’ll watch, but I thing he deserves to be a part of The Tonight Show, it is his time for it, and in these tough times with our economy and everything, we need someone to make us laugh our asses off.

Read Conan’s statement to NBC’s plan: Conan O’Brien Rejects NBC’s Offer

And here’s an article on ‘NBC’s Idea’ to keeping all Leno, Conan, and Fallon: NBC moving Jay Leno out of Primetime

BTW, Conan is hosting tonight’s show, and Zac Levi (Chuck) will be a guest, so YAY! Watch it!

*Update [1/13/10]: Jay Leno May Leave as well, because he too isn’t happy with how NBC themselves are handling everything.