Conan O'Brien : People of Earth-by which I mean NBC

  Conan O'Brien is a genius. I clearly am taking sides here. Jay Leno has been unfunny for years, he   devolved the Tonight Show, that venerable broadcast legend into a barrage of homophobic gay jokes, look how dumb Americans are (Jaywalking) and a steady rant of unfunny middle American values against the backdrop of the entreatment industry. I was one of the many who literally were counting down until he left the tonight show and Conan O'Brien , who took over Late Night after NBC screwed over David Letterman some sixteen years ago for Leno. I don't get Leno's appeal at all. Never have never will, I've found his entire run sporadically entertaining, smarmy and pandering to the lowest common denominator. Just as Jay stepped away from the Tonight Show- he changed his mind- and created a failed unfunny experiment- The JAy Leno Show. A 10pm talk show that cut F-I-V-E hours of scripted television from an already struggling network that had fallen far from it's once lofty "Must See TV" era , cost literally hundreds of individuals their livelihoods and cut into Conan's first few months on the tonight show as the lead in was marred by unfunny Jay-lagging news numbers pre-Tonight show. The Numbers were so bad affliliaes began to revolt. And in a startlingly bold and smart move NBC finally cancelled The Jay Leno show after four excruciating months on air.

Then Came the Stupid.
NBC trying to placate Jay Leno offered to truncate his hour long Jay Leno Show to a half hour, give it his old 11:30 time slot  post local news lead in and bump the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to 12:05 a.m. and Late Night (now with Jimmy Fallon) to 1:05 a.m. The Tonight Show- tomorrow...

Remember when if you failed at a task that was that. you get fired you lost your title- no not now in this spoiled American climate let's move EVERYTHING around and possibly destroy an American broadcast legend in the process because Jay Leno didn't do his job well. I'm sorry there is nothing worse than comedy that just is not funny.

Well now Conan O'Brien has released a statement about the possible moves and the offers made by NBC. Read his classy and honest remarks after the jump.

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