It's not often that a network e-mail can cause my jaw to drop to my desk and leave me gasping for breath.
But NBC managed it on Monday when this came across — "Jay Leno to turn over 'The Tonight Show' to Conan O'Brien in 2009."
You're kidding, right? I mean, I always assumed that NBC would have to pry "Tonight" from Leno's cold, dead hands sometime 25 or 30 years down the road.
This is a guy whose job is more than a job, it's his life. A guy who hates to take vacations. A guy who, every time I've talked to him the past dozen years, was just as excited about being a late-night talk show host as he was the day his former manager managed to maneuver him into the job as Johnny Carson's successor.
Leno made the announcement to viewers on Monday night, which was, coincidentally, the 50th anniversary of the debut of "Tonight," then hosted by Steve Allen.
Leno issued a statement saying, "In 2009, I'll be 59 years old and will have had this dream job for 17 years. When I signed my new contract, I felt that the timing was right to plan for my successor, and there is no one more qualified than Conan. Plus, I promised (his wife) Mavis I would take her out for dinner before I turned 60."
There is, however, immediate speculation as to whose idea it was for Leno to retire. O'Brien's contract with NBC didn't have long to run, and it was no secret that after more than 11 years on "Late Night," the 40-year-old is interested in getting an earlier time slot. And that, if NBC wouldn't oblige, there were other networks that would.
Notably, CBS is not only looking for a successor for "Late Show" host David Letterman — who's been reportedly thinking about retirement for several years — but is currently looking for a new host for the post-Letterman "Late Late Show" after Craig Kilborn's surprise exit a few weeks ago. Rumor was that CBS was trying to lure O'Brien to the "Late Late Show" with a promise of the "Late Show" sometime in the not-so-distant future.
NBC beat CBS to the punch on this one, keeping O'Brien on "Late Night" with a promise of "Tonight" five years from now.
I've got to hand it to NBC executives for what looks like a brilliant move. It keeps both Leno and O'Brien — who consistently finish first in the ratings in their respective time slots — in the network's lineup for the next half decade. And five years is a loooong time when it comes to TV. (By 2009, odds are most of the execs who pulled this off won't even be at NBC anymore.)
Plus, NBC has tied up the second-best late-night host in the business — O'Brien trails only Letterman in that category — for an undisclosed number of years after that.
And, hey, isn't it nice that this time around NBC will give "Tonight" to the person who really deserves it — the host of "Late Night"? Too bad it didn't make the same decision 12 years ago.
O'Brien — who generally has something funny to say in any circumstance — played it straight in his prepared statement: " I am thrilled to get this opportunity. I am thankful to everyone at NBC . . . and I am particularly grateful to Jay for all the generous support and kindness he has always shown me."
Meanwhile, Fox is still out of the late-night business (as it has been since "The Chevy Chase Show" bombed in 1993). ABC has "Nightline" and Jimmy Kimmel, who hasn't set any ratings records. CBS has Letterman, whose ratings are up (he's greatly closed the gap with Leno) — but the 57-year-old, first-time father won't be there forever.
The O'Brien announcement makes CBS's search for a new "Late Late Show" host a whole lot more interesting.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com