Night Wars

No one awake this week could’ve missed the drama surrounding NBC’s decision to ditch Jay Leno’s (in my opinion) ill-conceived prime-time comedy hour, move Leno back to the 11:35 p.m. slot and bump Conan O’Brien’s “The Tonight Show” to starting after midnight, which would further bump late shows hosted by Jimmy Fallon and Carson Daly.

I don’t watch any of these shows. If I’m awake at 11 p.m., I watch “The Daily Show” and the first few minutes of “The Colbert Report.” But neither of them is really appointment TV, either, since I can watch them online the next day. I only watch Leno/Conan/Letterman et al if there’s a guest I really want to see… and even then, I’m going to watch it online.

And I’m not some digital native texting-mad millennial, either. I’ll be 30 in June. But, you know, it’s 2010 and I sit at a computer all day. I know that, if a Leno/Conan/Letterman et al monologue is particularly clever or controversial enough, my local radio morning show and Google News reader will alert me to – wait for it – watch it online. And there are a whole lot of me.

This basic fact seems to escape the brass at NBC. Not only did they clear their entire slate of week-night 10 p.m. dramas for Leno, they’re now ditching the guy who waited around to take the “Tonight” reins for a 60-year-old. So, Leno was a bust at 10, so now they’re going to put him back where he was a year ago? Because putting him back at 11:30 will magically make him funny? Hate to break it to you, NBC, but there’s a reason you’re fourth out of four major networks.

I’ve never really thought Conan O’Brien was funny, but it’s really shitty the way NBC has treated him, and I completely support him leaving for a better situation. O’Brien stayed at NBC for years, probably at the expense of other offers, for the chance to host “Tonight.” He’s only been in Carson’s seat a few months, and has nothing like the successful lead-in that Carson and Leno had (in part because of NBC’s idiotic decision to give up an hour of prime time to Leno). He really doesn’t deserve this.