Tonight Show Moves To Tomorrow

Following the woeful performance of the new "Jay Leno Show" and decreased ratings of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien", NBC has decided to move Jay Leno back to his 11:35 slot though with a shortened duration.

This means that "The ---- Show" (it's my blog, I don't feel like typing it) will air from 11:35 - 12:05 and "The Tonight Show" moves to 12:05 - 1:05. Yes, that's right, the brainiacs at NBC have decided that "The Tonight Show", as it is called, will not actually air "Tonight". "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" will move to 1:05 AM - 2:05 AM. Eeeeeee. Presumably "Last Call with Carson Daly" will air at a new time specifically invented for NBC called "fliggen o'clock" and "Poker After Dark" will air when it's light out.

Isn't it amazing that NBC used to rule the TV ratings with a golden fist? From "Seinfeld" to "Friends" to "E. R." to late night TV they had it all. Not that they were actually that great ("Frasier", "E.R.", "Will and Grace", Jay Leno all suck and I have never understood why ANYONE watches/watched them) but they did, somehow, completely dominate the ratings. And nowadays, they're the television version of "Kruger". "'The Jay Leno Show' is a horrendous failure", one suit behind a desk with pseudo-intellectual glasses begins, "instead of cancelling the crap, let's keep it around in a way that punishes everyone who's actually good." "Sounds good to me, I'm late for pilates", replies the female suit behind a desk with pseudo-intellectual glasses.

Interestingly, the scenario outlined above is the currently proposed scenario but it is only one of three possibilities. The change in time slot technically constitutes a breach of contract by NBC and Conan can now do one of three things:

1. He can quit and go on vacation for the next four years while collecting as much as $80 million for doing nothing.
2. He can move his show to a competitor (Fox/ABC), compete directly with Leno/Letterman and still get payed by NBC. (The money that NBC owes him is offset by the money he makes there. So for instance, if he's making $10 million per year now, and ABC payed him $7 million per year, NBC would owe him only $3 million per year.)
3. Go with the flow, take the new time slot and ride it out.

If I know Conan as well as I think I do, he'll go with option #3. But, for some reason, part of me is hoping for #2.