Quick Thoughts on Conan vs. Jay

This whole Jay Leno in prime time thing has blown-up in NBC's face hasn't it? Here's my thoughts on the parties involved:

NBC

Pretty much everybody agrees they screwed up royally here. In the first place, I wonder whose bright idea it was to put Jay in prime time EVERY NIGHT anyway? Since when has something like this ever worked? The time slot they put him in is a key slot for drama and by putting him there every night of the week, you take away almost any shot your network has at new, serious drama shows. A much better solution would have been to do it one or two nights a week, but I suspect Jay wanted none of that.

Second, why would NBC even consider giving Jay Leno his old show back? Why would top talent go to the network now considering how willing they are to go back on their deals? NBC is constantly in last place for a reason. They might have lost Leno, but they would have kept their respect. But I figure NBC must be run by morons anyway because only a moron would make a fight between late-night comedians so public. What, exactly, do you think these guys talk about on their shows anyway?

Jay Leno

Oh Jay, what will we do with you? You clearly have the network in the palm of your hands and couldn't give a damn about what happens to Conan O'Brien. What I wonder is why you would even want your old NBC slot back? Who, after a shot at a much bigger stage, wants to admit defeat in such a way and go back to where you know you dominate? I don't blame you entirely. You were put in a bad situation, but your ego and lack of consideration towards your other late-night hosts has been pretty disgusting.

Conan

The real loser in this. Yes, his ratings haven't been that good, but can you blame him? Nobody watches Jay's show, so nobody watches the news, so nobody watches Conan. It's a simple chain. Is he not cut out for that earlier slot? Hard to tell, he was never really given a chance. Jay had years to build his audience, Conan had 7 months. But that said, I think he would do much better on a network like FOX anyway where his edgier brand of comedy would go over better. I will watch for a while simply out of the outrage of injustice being done.