Lindsay told Jay that she’d like to be on The Tonight Show again, but this time after having won an Academy Award. This got a strong positive reaction for the audience, but in order for it to come true, she actually has to be in some movies first, and in order for that to happen, she has to try to stay out of jail for more than a couple of months at a time.  Good luck with all that.

Jay Leno (Photo: NBC)

Almost 6 million people watched Jay Leno’s return to The Tonight Show on Monday for the first time since last May. The question remains, however, whether Jay Leno can continue to pull high enough ratings to justify the late night NBC shake-up that resulted in Conan O’Brien ditching The Tonight Show and leaving the network.

Conan O’Brien failed to bring in enough viewers to be consistently competitive against The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS after he took the reins of The Tonight Show. Meanwhile, Jay Leno floundered in his new 10:00 PM slot badly, pulling in disappointing ratings and making NBC sponsors quite unhappy. NBC decided to push Conan O’Brien to a later time and put Jay Leno back in late night, but O’Brien decided he’d rather leave than get the short end of that deal.

NBC has risked a lot on Jay Leno being able to reclaim his late night glory on The Tonight Show. Right now fans are tuning in for the curiosity factor, but if Leno can’t keep them interested, the whole shake-up could backfire on NBC big time.

Personally, we thought Jay Leno’s return to The Tonight Show was rather yawn-worthy. It’s really like he never even left and that’s a bad thing. Leno needs to change things up and take some real chances. The same old, same old isn’t going to give him the ratings he needs to prove he deserved to win the Leno – O’Brien late night war.

>> Previously:  Conan O’Brien $45 Million Dollar Deal with NBC Final

Conan O'Brien (Photo: U.S. Embassy at Helsinki)

The deal will allow Jay Leno to resume his former post of 17 years as host of The Tonight Show on March 1st. As part of the deal, Conan O’Brien has been asked not to return to television for eight months. “NBC and Conan O’Brien have reached a resolution of the issues surrounding O’Brien’s contract to host The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” the network said in a press statement Thursday.

“Under terms of an agreement that was signed earlier today, NBC and O’Brien will settle their contractual obligations and the network will release O’Brien from his contract, freeing him to pursue other opportunities after September 1, 2010.”

“We’re pleased that Jay is returning to host the franchise that he helmed brilliantly and successfully for many years,” said Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment. “He is an enormous talent, a consummate professional and one of the hardest-working performers on television.”

Conan O’Brien will make his last appearance as host of The Tonight Show on Friday.

Frankly, we could do without seeing either one of them on the air for a while. All this media frenzy about the Jay Leno versus Conan O’Brien feud has just left us bored with both of them – and once again astounding by the stupidity of television network executives in general.

>> Previously:  Conan O’Brien Furious Over Jay Leno Late Night Shake Up

Conan O'Brien (Photo: John J. Kruzel/American Forces Press Service)

Under the $40 million deal for Conan O’Brien from NBC, The Tonight Show host would not be able to launch a new television show until fall, according to the Wall Street Journal. O’Brien would take home just over $30 million from the deal.

The remainder of the payout would be given to O’Brien’s Tonight Show staffers and crew. Many of them moved from Los Angeles to New York with O’Brien to work on The Tonight Show and were reportedly upset and angry that they might not be compensated properly for losing their jobs.

The terms of the deal also ban Conan O’Brien from bad-mouthing his former employers once he leaves the network. Not that he hasn’t already had his fill of trashing NBC since this whole drama started.

>> Previously:  Conan O’Brien Furious Over Jay Leno Late Night Shake Up

Jimmy Kimmel as Jay Leno - (Photo: NBC)

Jimmy Kimmel appeared on The Jay Leno Show Thursday night for Leno’s “10 @ 10″ segment. During the segment, Kimmel answered 10 questions from Leno via satellite, with some of his answers leaving Leno looking none too happy. If anything, Kimmel was even more scathing than he was Tuesday night on his own show!

“What’s the secret to a good Jay Leno impression?” Leno asked Kimmel during the segment.

“Well, I don’t like to give away my secrets,” Kimmel said. “But it’s a combination of Sylvester the Cat, Curly from The Three Stooges and Scrappy-Doo.”

When asked what his favorite prank was, Kimmel told Leno: “I told a guy that five years from now, I’m going to give you my show, and then I gave it to him and took it back almost instantly,” Kimmel said. “I think he works at Fox or something now.”

“Ever order anything off the TV?” Leno asked.

“You mean the way NBC ordered your show off the TV?” Kimmel replied.

Wrapping up, Jimmy Kimmel landed one more good smack to Jay Leno in closing. “Listen, Jay, Conan and I have children,” he said. “All you have to take care of is cars. We have lives to lead here. You have $800 million. For God’s sake, leave our shows alone!”

>> Previously:  Conan O’Brien Furious Over Jay Leno Late Night Shake Up

Conan O'Brien

Conan O’Brien was allegedly stunned and furious over the announcement his show would be knocked to a later time slot, according to the New York Post. “This level of sh–iness was not expected. He’s done a great job for NBC. He moved his entire staff, he moved his family to LA,” an unidentified ‘insider’ told the Post. “And five months later, they repay him like this?”

NBC head Jeff Gaspin said the network hopes to keep Leno, O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon all on their late night lineup. They may not get their wish. Conan O’Brien is reportedly in talks to possibly jump to a rival network, according to The Wall Street Journal. Fox, in particular, has reportedly been courting O’Brien heavily for a late night program.

Conan O’Brien’s rep issued a statement saying that the late night comedian “has made no decisions yet” about his future with NBC.

>> Previously:  Jay Leno Moving Back to Late Night

Jay Leno

“I can confirm, starting Feb. 12, The Jay Leno Show will no longer air at 10 p.m.” NBC Chairman Jeff Gaspin said in a press conference on Sunday. “While [Jay Leno] was performing at acceptable levels for the network, it did not meet our affiliates’ needs and we realized we had to make a change.”

The move of Jay Leno back to late night will cause major disruption for NBC’s other late night shows. The network insists, however, they hope to “keep Jay, Conan [O'Brien], and Jimmy [Fallon] as part of our late-night lineup.” Gaspin said he has spoken to all parties involved and “proposed that The Jay Leno Show move to 11:35, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien to 12:05, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon would then start at 1:05.” Gaspin added, however, that “it’s not a done deal yet.” Leno will reportedly be replaced at 10 p.m. with “two hours of scripted, another reality hour and combination of expanded Dateline or repeats.”

Conan O’Brien reportedly has several other networks interested in picking up his late night show if he’s not pleased about being shoved to a later time slot. NBC hinted that O’Brien would not be abandoning the network despite rumors to the contrary. “Conan’s motivation will become more clear as time goes on,” Gaspin said cryptically.

As for Last Call with Carson Daly? Gaspin said NBC wants him to remain a part of the network, but right now there seems to be no place for the show in the new late night shakeup.

>> Previously:  Jay Leno Talks About Show Cancellation Rumors

Jay Leno

Leno went on to mock his own host network a bit by saying NBC only cancels shows when “they are in first place” and opined that NBC stands for “never believe your contract.”

The rumors of a drastic change for The Jay Leno Show continue to swirl, however. The latest gab roaming the Net is speculation NBC may move Leno back to the old Tonight Show 11:35 p.m. spot – pushing Conan O’Brien to 12:05 and Jimmy Fallon to 1:05.

Check out the Jay Leno Show video below:

>> Previously:  Jay Leno Show Cancelled? Not According to NBC

The Jay Leno Show

FTVLive.com cited unidentified sources Thursday morning saying NBC might be closing down The Jay Leno Show shortly after the Winter Olympics because the network considered it a “failure” for its lack of ratings and inability to bring in profits.

“Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jay’s show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network,” NBC said in a press statement Thursday. “It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve the performance.”

So, basically, NBC is saying that The Jay Leno Show‘s rather pathetic ratings are exactly what they expected from the show? If so, the powers-that-be at NBC really need to raise their expectation levels before they end up putting even worse crap on the air.

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Left: Russell Crowe- “The Tonight Show”; Right: Cowardly Lion From Wizard Of Oz