Leno Vs. Conan Late Night War

Dear late night show viewers,

The controversy and drama over who will host The Tonight Show is finally over. After several days of wondering if Conan O'Brien or Jay Leno will come out on top, the viewers have received their answer. Jay Leno won the battle; at least, this is what his fans believe. I believe that Leno had the 11:35 time slot handed to him by Conan. This was definitly one of the hardest decisions that O'Brien would have to make in his career as a comedian, but it was a decision for the better. The conditions NBC gave to Conan in order to let him keep his own time slot were ridiculous according to O'Brien. He had a deal with NBC to have his time slot for a certain number of years, and they failed to complete the agreement. Conan handled the situation in the best way possible, causing his viewers to repect and admire him even more. In his farewell speech on his last late night show, instead of bashing on NBC and telling his viewers how unfair and disloyal the network was, he thanked NBC for the amazing years he had with them. He explains to his viewers, "I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible."
The alternative that Conan O'Brien could have chosen instead of getting kicked off of NBC was that his time slot would have gotten moved to 12:05 and he would only have a thirty minute show. He didn't need to consider his options for a very long period of time to realize that agreeing to this proposal would be pathetic because he signed a contract with NBC back in 2004 which stated that in 2009 he would take over Jay Leno's seat as the host of the Tonight Show. For the period of time in which Conan would take over from 11:35 to 12:30, Leno hosted his own show at the 10:00 time slot. Leno decided to not follow through with his retirement plans, so NBC tried to make a deal with the two comedians. Since Conan declined the deal, Jay Leno got his full time slot back at 11:35. Conan told NBC that it was either all or nothing; they let him keep his time slot for a full hour or he would leave. After contemplating the issue over and over again, the network decided to give the slot to Leno. Their thinking was that Leno would get higher ratings than Conan and he would get more viewers to watch his show.
I was shocked and dismayed when I heard Conan was leaving NBC and Jay Leno was taking over. It seemed like most of the viewers of the late night shows were on Conan O'Brien's side and would much rather see him at 11:35 than Jay Leno. In a poll taken on the website, www.thecelebritycafe.com, ninety one percent of viewers said they would rather see Conan on The Tonight Show. Although the fight that Conan's fans put up for him didn't pay off in the end, he was still extremely appreciative of their support and dedication to his show. Conan expresses,"To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life." He then proceeded on, giving his viewers a piece of advice. "All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen." Conan's positivity, gratitude, respect, and loyalty toward NBC blew all of his fans, including myself, out of the water. He handled the situation flawlessly, and he will, without a doubt, have his show back again-"Conan style". Fox, here he comes!