Leaked: New Leno Tonight Show opening

Super-impose Leno's face with an idiotic grin over Patrick Duffy, and I really wouldn't be surprised if Leno really did use this as his cold-open on his first show back.

The explanation of this whole mess he gave on his show earlier this week was cringe-inducing. The "I'm just being a good worker and doing what the bosses tell me!" excuse is absurd, as if the man has no free will of his own.

No, NBC didn't entirely treat Leno fairly in this whole mess either. But he had a choice. He could have chosen to turn down NBC's offer to return to the Tonight Show slot, keeping Conan on the show he was promised and Leno swore to hand over to him peacefully. But he didn't.

Conan, meanwhile, chose to turn down the proposal out of respect for a television institution he loves too much to see f***ed around with at the whim of short-sighted studio executives. And that is exactly why Conan will always deserve the Tonight Show more than Jay Leno.

(And yeah, I'm sure Conan also turned down the 12:05 slot out anger that NBC would renege and make the decision in the first place, but can you blame him?)

Letterman had one of the best jokes about Leno's side of the story yet last night: "I know it's not his fault. But isn't it funny he always turns up at the scene of the crime?"

The most irksome Leno moment came when, in a moment of seriousness, he suggested that Conan is a good guy, but when you get bad ratings your show gets cancelled. One doesn't have to think too deeply to see the irony here. The equation appears to work for everyone but Leno.

Truthfully, though, this whole incident may turn out to be beneficial in the long run. As Kim suggested, Conan, on his Late Show, exhibited a wild, surrealistic sense of humor that got a bit muzzled when he took over the Tonight Show (which is at 10:30 here in Chicago). If he goes somewhere else (Fox? Cable?) he might be given more leeway than what he had at a time-honored television institution. I sure hope that NBC does not retain intellectual property rights to Triumph or the Masturbating Bear. If nothing else, this fiasco has brought about the most compelling reality TV ever.

Jimmy Kimmel is the best late-night host, anyway. And the most underappreciated. His delivery (somewhat deadpan and not showy) and ability to usually let the subject speak for itself (i.e. his use of clips from television/media make him, in my mind, the best. Plus he has the best sidekicks. I never miss a show (trusty antiquated VCR). The show he did as Jay Leno was priceless and should be nominated for an Emmy (even though I despise the Emmy's(ies?), recognition must be adorned.) Jimmy for life!

Jimmy Kimmel comes down pretty hard on Leno here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axwO6BkCtIo

I rarely watch these shows, but do agree that Conan is by far the funniest. I was worried that his move to an earlier hour might result in his show's humor losing its edge and it sounds like it did a little. I hope he winds up getting a show that suits him even better than The Tonight Show did. I respect that he's trying to save that show's brand name, but in today's flooded market, I'm not sure that brand really means anything any more.

The world just gets wackier all the time. Leno bombs and bombs big, and yet he gets what amounts to a promotion. With time and a better lead-in, I'm sure Conan would have gotten the ratings, but the biggest obstacle he faced was that the old Tonight Show with Leno never went away. It just moved to 10 p.m. where Leno's audience got their fix of his usually lame routines, and never bothered to take a look at Conan. Conan O' Brien is the best of all these late night hosts, an heir to both David Letterman and Johnny Carson. My TV set is more likely to be used to watch a DVD than any network offerings, but Conan was an exception.