A Classy Exit

Last night was Conan's final episode as host of The Tonight Show and he really went out with class. All week, he's bashed NBC and it's been absolutely hilarious, but he kept anti-NBC jokes to a minimum last night. He even offered a sincere and heartfelt thanks to the company he's been with for almost 20 years.

I really respect Conan's decision to leave his self-described "dream job" because he didn't think it was heading in a good direction. He felt that a time slot move would damage The Tonight Show franchise and he chose to leave his hosting gig than stick with a 12:05 A.M. start time. He said this was an extremely difficult decision for him, but it's better than clinging to something he didn't truly believe in and then having The Tonight Show decline and become something less than it was. So many great TV shows stay on air well past their prime and that slide into mediocrity takes away from what the shows used to be.

It's safe to say that Conan will be fine after all this and he'll end up with a great new gig in the fall. I'm excited to see where he'll be in the fall. As for the new-old Tonight Show with Jay Leno, I'm very curious to see what--if any--effect the recent debacle will have on Jay's show. It seems like a lot of Hollywood was on Team Coco and even though the blame seems to be on NBC for this, Jay's reputation has taken a hit, too. I wonder how this will change The Tonight Show's viewership, as it appears that Conan has a strong, young fan base that will follow him to another network.

We'll just have to wait until the fall to see what Conando has up his sleeve. Whatever happens, all eyes will be on him when he begins his new show.