Be afraid Conan, be very afraid.

TMZ is saying that NBC is planning to move Jay Leno back to his old 11:30pm time slot after the Winter Olympics, thus ending one of the most spectacularly bad decisions in network programming history.  

Thinking that a late night talk show would be more cost effective than the scripted dramas that normally air during that time, NBC basically renamed The Tonight Show to The Jay Leno Show and gave him the Monday to Friday 10pm slot. 

Leno handed the keys to The Tonight Show over to Conan O’Brien, who started his new hosting duties in June.  Leno’s new show started in mid-September, and it’s been circling the drain ever since. 

Leno signed on for four years, with NBC having the option to pull the plug after two years.  In other words, Jay Leno gets paid for two full years whether his show airs or not, which explains why NBC has stuck with the wretched thing for as long as they have.

Interestingly, NBC released a statement in response to the TMZ story, saying “Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jay’s show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network.” (who’s kidding who?) “It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve the performance.”

Guess it’s pretty obvious with that statement who the favorite is at the network between the chin and the ginge.

TMZ says one of their sources at NBC has told them network execs have given Conan O’Brien a choice.  He has the option to take the one hour slot following Jay at midnight, in which case Jay’s show will be 30 minutes (which is really 30 minutes too long).  If Conan bails, Jay gets his full hour back.  Conan’s “people” are apparently considering the offer. 

More on this behind the scenes drama as it unfolds.

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