Farewell Conan

Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show aired its final episode last night. NBC can now continue to circle the drain.

Conan had been on fire since NBC told him to take a hike so Leno could bomb in his old time slot. The last two weeks when it had been clear he wasn't going to be on long have produced comedy gold. The masturbating bear had returned, the Tonight Show itself was put up for sale on eBay, and Conan sang the closing credits among other things.

What NBC actually hopes to accomplish with this move is unclear. Paying Conan $40 million to go work for someone else so you can bring a guy who washed out in primetime back at the same time you're hemorrhaging money (they stand to lose $200 million on the Winter Olympics alone) doesn't seem like good business to me. Beyond that, while you'll get the five hardcore Leno fans in Fargo back, but you've probably lost an entire generation of fans loyal to Conan who will never forgive the network for their treatment of O'Brien.

Conan will land on his feet, but we won't be seeing him on air for seven months. I look forward to his new show this fall which will likely be on Fox.