On Sunday NBC announced that they were going to take “The Jay Leno Show” out of its prime-time position. The show was doing poorly in the ratings at the 10 p.m. time slot and was not meeting the affiliates’ needs. They plan to have Leno host a new half-hour show at the 11:35 p.m. slot. However, this move will have a domino effect.This pushes O’Brien’s “The Tonight Show,” and Jimmy Fallon’s “Late Night,” into later time slots. A main reason why O’Brien is not accepting NBC’s proposal is due to the survival of the show. “The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show,” says O’Brien.
He not only makes this decision for himself but for his fellow competitors, which brings some humanity into the business world. “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,” says O’Brien. “That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.”
Now these talk shows hosts are doing what they do best—talking. Leno spends some time on his show bashing the way NBC handled the situation. “They don't have a lot of tact,” says Leno. “After they canceled the show, they told me if I gained 10 pounds I could join 'The Biggest Loser.'”
O’Brien is upset because he and his staff have worked very hard to get where they are, and it is very disappointing for him. However, no matter how upset he may be, he never fails to shed some light with his own Conan style. He ended his statement by saying, “Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.”