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NORM is hilarious. Conan has also been on fire since this whole thing started. When he's pissed off, he just goes all-out, and it's reminiscent of Late Night Conan (who was much more lively).
I'm still not inclined to completely take my suspicions off Jay Leno. While NBC are no doubt the biggest idiots in this mess, Leno's story is not really consistent. Everything I have seen has led me to believe that Leno did not really want to give up The Tonight Show when he did, and when 2009 did come along, he wasn't as passive about things as he makes out. Leno sort of gave NBC (whether he "threatened" them or not) an ultimatum -- I'm going to be working for you or I am going to be working elsewhere. NBC (perhaps foolishly) said "for us."
I mean, if Leno was still under contract, he would have still been getting paid, right? He wanted to be on the air. That's not a bad thing, per se, but it did put NBC in a bit of a panic. They knew he would be going elsewhere as soon as he could, and they didn't want the competition. Leno didn't want to sit-out of late night. That led to them trying him in prime time, and it didn't work. As a result, Conan is the one who got the shaft. Granted he didn't get the ratings, but it's easy to see why he didn't get the chance Leno did when he was getting killed by Letterman, and didn't have Carson still floating around.
Leno should have opened his mouth back in 2004. He should have said "no," and then NBC would have chosen right there and then between Leno and Conan. Leno jumped through certain hoops, and it made a huge mess. I guess he's only human. If one that knows how to play politics.
What's sad, is that Conan O'Brien has been quite dominant against both Leno and Letterman recently. Granted, it is because most people know that his show is ending. But they also know the same thing about Leno in prime time. Right now, Conan is the "hot" act in late night, and in seven months he's turned things around (for a time) on Letterman -- which is something Leno took years to do. Reports indicate a drastic growth for Conan's audience each night, too. It's not just one spike. If NBC plays this out a little longer, they could see how big they could get Conan and re-evaluate themselves. Releasing Conan while he is hot could also be a big mistake. Let the attention fade away, let his ratings drop again, and then Conan would be a "two-time failure." But right now, Conan would technically have to be considered the "King of Late Night."
They could give Jay Leno a show on Sunday in the meantime, or something. Not sure what NBC usually airs over there at that time, but over here, Rove McManus did quite well with a show that aired live on Sunday. People would actually really look forward to it as a way to relax before the coming week.
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