Leno Hospitalized; Tonight Show Canceled

Agreement includes $32M for him, rest for staff

(NEWSER) - Conan O'Brien and NBC have finally made it official. The late-night host signed an exit agreement that includes $32 million for O'Brien and $12 million for his staff. The deal is also believed to bar both sides from publicly disparaging each other, and to temporarily ban O'Brien from appearing on other shows or hosting his own show on a different network, the Wall Street Journal reports. Jay Leno is now free to reclaim O'Brien's time slot. More»

Launch a Fox rival? Return to SNL ? Reality TV?

(NEWSER) - NBC's shabby treatment of Conan O'Brien has been a recurring theme of the Jay Leno-centric late-night shuffle, but "he-who-rocks-the-dopest-pompadour-on-TV" has more options than you might think. MTV ponders his options.

• Defect to Fox: The network is apparently interested, and it would be a great way to tick off NBC. But Fox has a terrible track record with late-night talk shows.
• Saturday Night Live: O'Brien's writing tenure at SNL coincided with a memorably strong run for the show, but Tonight Show host to "Cheeto-dusted anonymity" is a major step down.

Primetime debut likely won't stray far from late night formula

(NEWSER) - Two writers for Comedy.com who infiltrated a test taping of the new Jay Leno Show found it “muddled and confusing,” and they say Leno continues to “be a big ladle serving us more imitation comedy gruel.” Some insights:

• The studio: "Basically the old Tonight Show setup" but with "2 chairs and no desk, which we thought was awkward. Can Leno conduct an intimate interview with a guest?"

(NEWSER) - After months of promoting Jay Leno's move to 10pm, NBC may shake up its prime-time schedule again, moving its late local news to 10 and Leno to 10:30, the network's onetime programming head speculates. Garth Ancier, now chief of BBC America, shared his speculation with critics at the summer press tour this week in Los Angeles, Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Jay Leno remained hospitalized today but is expected to be back at work on Monday, reports Access Hollywood. He's rumored to be suffering from food poisoning, but there's still no official word. Leno reportedly has been joking with his doctors and the hospital staff since checking himself in yesterday. NBC will air another rerun tonight. More»