 TV show. It's about ratings and money, just like everything else.
Wasn't Conan the one who, years ago, told NBC that he wanted the Tonight Show when his contract came up for renegotiation, or else he would walk away from NBC...? Wasn't Leno originally pushed aside by NBC and Conan O'Brien so that Conan could assume the throne? Wasn't Jay Leno given his primetime gig as a consolation prize while he maintained some class and didn't raise a big stink about it? Wasn't Leno the loyal one when so many people told him to jump ship to a different network because NBC had royally screwed him?
So, both Conan and Leno are hemorrhaging viewers, NBC decides it has screwed up in an epic way, and somehow Leno is the bad guy? Really?

Let's stop the Leno bashing! Jay is the best in late night show business and proved with his rating for 5 years till NBC screwed up the timings last year. It's a pity that Jay and Conan are are being held accountable when some heads should roll at NBC.
People are going after Leno because if he had any decency, he'd tell NBC that he won't go back to 11:35pm and give Conan the shaft in the process.
I wonder how Jay would have felt back in '92 if Johnny had suddenly said "You know what, I want my old job back"? My niece worked for Conan for years and he is genuinely a very nice guy. She met a lot of people in that business that were not, but he was the real deal. Jay's ok, but Conan is funnier. Go Conan!
It's called money.......
If Conan had proven he could succeed in the 11:30 slot, this would be a non-issue. Leno would have been canceled, and allowed to go elsewhere. The key issue here is that Conan's ratings are horrible, he's well behind Letterman, while Leno was ahead of Letterman for most of his time at NBC. I say let Conan walk, and let one of NBC's competitors overpay for the privilege of finishing third place in the late-night ratings.
It's easy to forget that it's not just Conan, but his staff and all their families as well who were stabbed in the back. All these people spent the past 5-6 years of their lives preparing to uproot their families and leave their friends and history in NY for love (and the promise) of the Tonight Show...
To go through the personal stress of the move, and the impact of that on anyone no matter what their career, added to now dealing with the very underhanded way NBC and Leno are handling all this is pretty disgusting.
Team Conan, 200%. Don't worry you big red goof, I'm pretty sure that both myself and anyone else under 40 will follow you wherever you go. Leno is about as funny as crime scene photos to anyone younger than that.
I don't think Leno or conan is funny. They are just a waste of good air time in my opinion.
I think that previous posters have hit the nail on the head. Connan has shown grace by saying he won't take down the legacy of "the Tonight Show" by agreeing to move it later. As much respect as I have for Jay Leno, it would have been nice to see him come out with a similar statement saying that rather than moving back to his previous position, he'd just accept NBC's cancellation of his prime time show and move on. I think that's why there's a little annoyance with him. He's not the person making the decisions and really not the cause of the problem, but he's not making the situation any better either.
We're on the Leno Team. Watching Conan jump and bow is sickening.
Waiting for Jay at 11:35!!!!
ZUCKER MUST GO! What a money hungry A-hole...I think it is time to start turning our attention to the other Wall Street jerks – Hollywood Execs in their 40's with WAY overblown egos...Hollywood = Wall Street in many ways because it is just a few bad men screwing all the hard working people below and their customers...All is not forgiven just because you strike a good comedy lineup "one day".
I don't get it. Leno takes the risk by leaving the tonight show. He gets his new show, but when his new venture fails it is everyone else's fault? Leno took the risk let him deal with the consequences.  He needs a new cut! He looks like woody woodpecker!
If Team Conan had been watching the show then there wouldn't be any question about who to keep. Too bad you guys were watching Letterman instead.
Leno was pushed out of the slot by NBC because they didn't think he'd still be beating Letterman after 5 years, so don't go after Leno.  Conan screwed up too because he didn't change anything about his format. It's the same old same old.
I'm for Conan. Jay was never funny to me. I didn't start watching the Tonight Show until Conan took over. The networks are really just screwing the pooch left and right these days.
How is this Conan's problem that Leno tanked at 10pm???? This is Leno whining to NBC and NBC running scared....I'd hate to be Jeff Zucker right about now.....go home and play with your cars, Jay....
Everyone seems to have a short memory. When Jay Leno was up for the Tonight Show against the man who was supposed to get the slot, David Letterman, he was ruthless in his behavior to get the spot. There has been book and TV movie on the subject. Jay Leno was supposed to give up the Tonight Show slot and cede it to Conan. By doing the 10:00 pm experiment it appeared that Leno did not want to "go gently into that good night' and wanted to keep the Tonight Show. NBC wants to put Jay back in the 11:35 pm Tonight Show spot and they do not know what to do about Conan. Ultimately, Conan will have to jump ship. It is a tough business...Leno had higher ratings at 11:35 than Conan does now and that is all that matters to NBC.
NBC made a contract with Conan 5 years ago. He clearly doesn't have the ratings because he has a HORRIBLE lead in. He needs a GOOD show before his show... and NOT another Jay Leno half our deal. Leno needs to go find something to do.  NBC is dumb. I hope Conan gets an offer from a different station and blows everyone away and that Leno goes out on bottom.
Being a good human being, I think Jay should let Conan to continue his show by not accepting the NBC offer.
...and more again. I think I am sending NBC reasons why the ratings are down with Conan. He needs to calm down and appear more "cool"; they need to ditch the second banana asap and change that set. It is too large and too cold. The vibs get lost in there somehow....not intimate enough. It looks like a hangar. Where is the plane?
Few words for Conan: It is You, YOURSEL ALONE screws the rating after NBC moved you to the tonight show. They did you a favor, and let you do the thing you always wanted. But, you didn't nail it. You lost the audience. DO NOT BLAME LENO. BLAME YOURSELF. LOSER!!!
Everyone keeps wanting to blame Leno he was prepared to leave NBC after the Tonight Show then NBC got scared when ABC started talking to him. That is the whole problem is NBC is afraid of loosing either one to another network.
Most of the posts here so far seem to come from younger people who can't yet imagine what it would be like to reach retirement age and find out they are still good at what they do and still enjoy doing it.  He wants to keep working, and there are lots of us who want to keep watching him.
NBC has the same choice it had a year ago when it found Leno was going to keep on working, either for them or opposite them. They are choosing the same option – not to let another network hire away the guy who has proven he can keep a late-night show at #1. Conan, on the other hand, drove the Tonight Show to the bottom of the ratings by appealing primarily to the younger viewer. I'm older and find him insufferably arrogant, condescending, and unfunny. To me, seven months is about six-and-a-half months more of a run than he deserved. I say put him on MTV or someplace else on cable where he can be himself, serve his own audience, and the average viewer won't have to put up with him.
I like hearing about Leno and Conan ruining the Tonight Show. I'm a Letterman fan.
I think NBC should give Conan a break and keep him on the Tonight show. I like Jay too but he announced his retirement from this show years ago. Conan should take this show in a different level. The idea of having Jay before Conan on prime time never appealed to me, it feels like he is stealing Conan's thunder.
I like Team Conan:-)! Go Conan!!!
GD a fellow New Yorker!
Let's see. The tonight show has its lowest ratings in decades and you are all screaming for Conan to stay. He is the reason the show tanked and I will never watch because of him.
so y'all know