It seems almost certain now that Conan O’Brien will be exiting “The Tonight Show” – and probably NBC, with Jay Leno once more returning as host to the long running late night chat show. While an official announcement has yet to be made, industry insiders say a deal may now only be a few hours away.
The astonishing – and very public- mess has drawn the attention of viewers the world over, and the very dirty laundry has been commented on by Leno and O’Brien themselves on their respective shows, and late night chat show rival David Letterman. Leno has noted that “NBC” stands for “Never Believe your Contract” and quipped that those critical of the war in Afghanistan are no longer describing it as “another Vietnam” but “another NBC”, calling the network “America’s most dysfunctional family”.
“The Late Night with David Letterman”, over on CBS, has been winning the ratings war with its “Tonight Show” rival on a regular basis for the first time since O’Brien took over last year, and Letterman has admitted to being “fascinated by the situation over at NBC” and more specifically “the bungling machinations of the idiots at the NBC executive level”. Letterman has his own issues with NBC, having once run his show at that network, and called the network’s executives “pinheads”, “nitwits”, “twits”, “knuckle-draggers” and “mouth-breathers”.
In the long run, it seems O’Brien is going to be left to carry the can for NBC’s mistakes, a situation that radio show host Kim Masters says ultimately makes him “the victim of a gigantic corporate screw-up that goes way beyond who is on when in late night – it goes to the whole business of network television.”
