War of Late Night Heats Up

Late Night's darling Conan O'Brien has come out into the open and officially said that he does not plan to continue with The Tonight Show if the show is pushed into a later slot so as to accommodate The Jay Leno Show. Conan released a statement saying, "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," he begins. "I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision. 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."

Conan further added that if he were to accept this offer, then it would be unfair to good friend Jimmy Fallon. He said, "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. 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...but I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction."

Initially there was speculation that the Irish origin funny man was responding so bluntly to the move because he had an offer from a rival network, but O'Brien refuted these claims saying, "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." He concluded his statement saying, "Have a great day and for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair. It's always been that way!"

Fans can only hope that NBC and O'Brien reach a consensus, because if NBC sticks to its stance, then there are very high chances that O'Brien will walk out. Seeing the huge fan following that O'Brien has managed to amass with his inimitable style and crazy hairdo, it will truly be a huge loss for Late Night television if The Tonight Show goes on without O'Brien, because the person replacing O'Brien will have huge shoes to fill - literally.