Conan Says "No" to Moving "Tonight" to Tomorrow

Conan O'Brien has announced that he will not take The Tonight Show to the 12:05am time slot as offered him by NBC. It was recently announced that Leno's new prime-time show would be canceled and a new half-hour Leno program would be aired at 11:35pm. Conan made the following statement today:

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

I applaude Conan for having the stones to stand up for what he believes in. He has a passion for The Tonight Show and for his craft that is laudable and commendable... and I like his hair, too.

Suspicious death at Lazy T Motel | WOOD TV8

Suspicious death at Lazy T Motel | WOOD TV8

Your host is involved in some 'spirited' comment banter at the foot of this story.

What interests me about reading the comments made by others here, and what motivated me to step in, is the blindness that so many people suffer when it pertains to people that they don't understand. It's not kosher to knock minorities anymore, but many, many people still harbor ill-will toward those who don't look like them - bigotry in its many forms rears its ugly head every day. These days racial bigotry has taken something of a back seat to homophobia and the belief that the less fortunate are simply 'lazy' or 'stupid'.

The 'fight' for and against gay marriage is a political hot topic right now, and one motivated - at least on the 'against' side - by a fundamental misunderstanding of the people actually involved: Gay people. The same can be said of the commentary by many on the above article. The truth is, they don't understand the poor, downtrodden and less fortunate. If they did, the hateful banter they've shared with us would never have entered their head in the first place.

Of course all of this is based on the assumption that people are fundamentally good. Some people are just jerks.