Conan O’Brien has inked a deal to leave NBC
Conan O’Brien has inked a deal to leave NBC, with a network announcement expected later this morning, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.
The “Tonight Show” host signed off on an agreement at around 1 a.m. Pacific Time Thursday after days of “tense” negotiations, a source familiar with the situation told the Journal.
The deal paves the way for Jay Leno’s return to the 11:35 p.m. time-slot and comes hours after O’Brien all but declared on his show that this week would be his last as host of “Tonight,” a job he was promised six years ago and took over from Leno in June.
Wednesday's show featured the usual swipes at his employer by O'Brien, who began with lines like "I should have known something was up when NBC sent me that 2010 calendar that only went up to January" or "I never thought I'd be jealous of the long illustrious run NBC gave 'Joey'."
Or, noting that ratings this week have been up by 50 percent, said the numbers caused NBC execs to tell him, "See? You really don't fit in here."
Another trend on the show appears to be serenading the host. Both main guest Adam Sandler and surprise walk on Ed Helms dedicated songs to the wronged host.
But capping a list of things that didn't last as long as his show did , out came a vestige of his later night show who had yet to appear on the "Tonight Show"
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