Conan or Jay

It’s not official, but it looks like Conan O’Brien will be leaving “The Tonight Show.” This is a complete disappointment to fans of the show as well as the fans of the franchise.

Last night on “The Jay Leno Show,” Jay decided to offer his point of view on the whole situation, which was an obvious attempt to selfishly save face. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me! Remember the days, when entertaining an audience meant you actually had to entertain the audience? Boy, those were the days, but now it is all about reality TV moments. Here’s a nickels worth of free advice, “stop talking about your backstage business and just handle it!”

It took Jay a total of 3 and a half minutes of network television time to explain his view of the situation and guess what? It turns out it is completely NBC’s fault. How about that? Jay explained that NBC is unhappy with his shows performance, oh yeah, and Conan’s too.

This just in: Jeff Zucker, President of NBC has just commissioned a time machine and they are ready to go back in time. GREAT SCOTT MARTY!

Jay went on to explain that in 2007, NBC wanted to retain both Jay and Conan, and in an effort to not repeat the past (Jay Laughs), NBC offered Conan the “Tonight Show” job. Unfortunately, they gave Conan the job with 7 months left on Jay’s contract. NBC said “oops, our bad…hindsight is 20/20” and proceeded to repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot with a sawed-off comedy shotgun.

Here’s how the ship hit the iceberg, it was when NBC decided to move Jay Leno to prime-time instead of paying out the remainder of his contract. The reality is that “The Jay Leno Show” is scoring the low numbers that are affecting the affiliates.

My favorite thing about this big ass debacle is that Jay refers to being replaced by Conan as being fired. Just for the record, Jay has never been fired from NBC. He was repurposed. There’s a difference.

Well, thanks Jay for wasting my time last night, letting me in on how you see it. Your negotiation tactics are terrible. Are you looking for free legal advice or sympathy?

This is a complete disaster for NBC and just another example of why the network continues to be in last place. When Comcast purchases the network I hope heads roll.

Conan after 16 years of “The Late Show” and 7 months of “The Tonight Show,” NBC has decided to screw you over. They are going with Jay. I only hope your move is quick and successful and that you blow Jay out of the water. The game is on! Good luck.

Jay Leno Show

There are rumors circulating that THE JAY LENO SHOW may be on the chopping block. NBC made a statement today confirming that there are issues with the show, but that they are confident in Jay Leno and are currently looking for ways to improve the show. Well, that didn’t stop Jay from joking about the rumors in last night’s show monologue. He said that he heard about the rumors on the radio, on his way into work. Joking with Kevin, he said, “If we are canceled, then we could take a vacation, and I hear the weather at FOX is really nice this time of year.” He also said, “NBC really stands for Never Believe your Contract,” touche.

Here’s the real talk: THE JAY LENO SHOW will go dark at 10pm during the Winter Olympics, and will be returning to the lineup at 11:30pm when the Olympics have ended. THE JAY LENO SHOW will be shortening its program to a half-hour, pushing the TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O’BRIEN to 12pm and THE LATE SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON to 1:05am.

Well, I have to tell you, I saw this coming. I was truly shocked to hear that Jay Leno was going to have a show at 10pm. I mean, the 10pm time-slot is probably the worst time-slot for the talk show format. I knew it was going to have a hard time creating confidence with the affiliates. Plus, the new show format is not really that appealing. I mean, to have your guests “Earn Their Plug,” it sounds cute, but not well-executed. The current show is simply “hit or miss.” I love the DAN BAND segments; JAY WALKING is fun; and the monologue is also entertaining. That’s about it.

I think the best play is for Jay Leno to retire from the talk show world and continue performing stand-up comedy across the country, as well as producing his new show, “Jay’s Garage,” which I fully enjoy. Sometimes, it’s best to just move on when you are on top of your game.