(CNN) -- Jay Leno pulled no punches on his show Monday night, the first since NBC confirmed the TV host was being kicked out of his low-rated 10 p.m. slot after just three months.





"Welcome to 'The Jay Leno Show.' As you know, we're not just a show anymore, we are now a collector's item," he said to open the show, before launching into a string of scathing one-liners making not-so-light of the situation.





Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, announced Sunday that the network was taking Leno -- formerly the host of "The Tonight Show" now helmed by Conan O'Brien -- out of the prime-time slot because the show "didn't meet affiliates' needs" despite performing at acceptable levels for the network. The last show will air February 11 to make way for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which airs starting February 12.





"NBC said the show performed exactly as they expected it would and then canceled us. Don't confuse this when we were on at late night and performed better than expected and they canceled us. That was totally different," Leno quipped.





Gaspin said the plan now is for Leno to host a new, half-hour show at 11:35 p.m. ET, followed by "Tonight" with O'Brien at 12:05 a.m. and Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night" show moving to 1 a.m.





O'Brien had his own zingers for NBC during his monologue Monday night.





Among them:





-- "Good evening, I'm Conan O'Brien, the new host of 'Last Call with Carson Daly.' "





-- "This weekend no one was seriously hurt, but a 6.5 earthquake hit California. The earthquake was so powerful that it knocked Jay Leno's show from 10:00 to 11:35."





-- "On the positive side, I have learned a valuable lesson from all this: never sign a contract that ends with the word 'NOT.' "





As of Sunday, NBC was still negotiating with the three hosts over the proposed line-up.





"Supposedly we're moving to 11:30. Even this is not for sure. My people are upset. Conan's people are upset. Hey, NBC said it wanted drama at 10:00 -- now they've got it! Everyone's mad," Leno said Monday night.





Before turning his monologue to other current events, Leno had one last piece of mud to sling:





"I take pride in one thing. I leave NBC prime time the same way I found it -- a complete disaster."





NBC moved Leno to the prime time slot in September with "The Jay Leno Show," a decision that raised eyebrows in the industry. In an unprecedented move, NBC was pitting a talk show up against the hourlong dramas that have typically done well at 10 p.m.





Although Leno's ratings were on target with NBC's expectations, the low average of nightly viewers left affiliates feeling the brunt of "the Leno effect," causing the ratings for nightly news to drop.





This announcement fueled rumors that O'Brien, who took Leno's spot on "The Tonight Show" in 2009, is considering making an exit.





Scott Grogin, a spokesman for Fox, had no comment on whether the network had reached out to offer O'Brien his own show. Fox reportedly went after him six years ago, which led to NBC offering him the "Tonight Show" chair after Leno's eventual departure.





"This is still being sorted out," said Ben Grossman, editor in chief of the industry trade publication Broadcasting and Cable, who added that he expects the network to reach a conclusion over the next few days.





"The bottom line is that NBC has decided -- correctly or incorrectly -- that they're going to try and keep all their late-night talent. That's very expensive and a very questionable strategy."





Grossman thinks it's very likely Leno will remain at 11:30 post-negotiations.





"I just don't know that you need to pay that much money in late-night. I
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