I'm with Coco

Dear Internet,

Few things have sent me into uncontrollable rage.

Jay Leno taking "The Tonight Show" from Conan O'Brien is one of them.

I started watching Conan on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" when I was a pubescent punk. It appealed to my sensibilities. The Masturbating Bear. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. In the Year 2000/3000. Conan's off-the-wall skits.

It was funny.

All I could manage from Leno was his Monday staple, "Headlines." His show was a bore; his monologue tired. His interviews were completely without effort. His sole appeal was to the nursing home demo.

And now this 12-year-running Lewinsky joke is about to take "The Tonight Show" back from Conan O'Brien. In case you haven't been following this story, here's a run-down of what happened:

1. "The Jay Leno Show" got bad ratings.
2. Since nobody was watching Leno's show, the late local news shows on the NBC affiliates had no lead-in and thus received poor ratings as well.
3. Pressure mounted on NBC executives to make a change, and since Conan's ratings weren't at the same place Leno's were when he signed off, Conan became the scapegoat.
4. NBC offered an ultimatum to Conan: Move his "Tonight Show" to 12:05 to make room for a half hour of Jay at 11:35 or leave the network.
5. Conan refused, stating that "The Tonight Show" belonged at 11:35.
6. Conan was forced out, with terms of the settlement giving him and his crew a pay-out totaling $45 million. The settlement also contained a no-compete clause and non-disparagement clause that are in effect until September 1. In essence, Conan can neither host a show nor talk bad about NBC until that date.
7. Jay Leno will return as host of "The Tonight Show" after the Winter Olympics, two weeks of coverage that will lose NBC $200 million, mind you, on March 1.

Jay Leno seen Indian giving "The Tonight Show" to Conan O'Brien.

So why is this all so unfair for Conan? First off, late night shows take more than seven months to grow and develop an audience. Leno took over "The Tonight Show" in 1992. He lost the ratings war to Letterman until the famous Hugh Grant interview in 1995. When Conan started doing his 12:30 "Late Night" show in 1993, his ratings were so bad that he was essentially on a weekly contract. Eventually he became the king of his time slot.

What's worse is that Conan didn't have the benefit of a good lead-in. His lead-in was Jay Leno's epic flop, "The Jay Leno Show." Jay, meanwhile, benefited from having possibly the greatest primetime line-up in television history, NBC's "Must-See TV," leading-in to his "Tonight Show" in the mid-90's.

Why didn't Conan get the same time to let his show evolve and find an audience? It's highly unfair, but that's how the biz goes, I guess.

So why do I care? Because Conan is funny. His skits are great. Conan was zany, which is probably why the Medicare crowd that Leno appealed to didn't watch. Contrast all of that to the dire bore of a "Tonight Show" that Leno hosted, a show that built its legacy on tired Lewinsky jokes and unoriginal comedy bits.

In short, Leno sucks.

And Jay, why not show some respect to a fellow comedian and let Conan develop his show? You had your run.

I guess it should be no surprise that comedians are now coming out and attacking Jay. Conan is respected. Jay isn't.

Now I can only hope that Conan finds a home in September that gives him free reign. Personally I'd love to see him land on Comedy Central. Could you imagine a line-up that goes "Daily Show"-"Colbert Report"-"Conan O'Brien Show"? It would be the greatest late night block of programming in television history. At this point though, it seems as if Conan is FOX's to lose.

Photographic evidence of Will Ferrell doing something cool for once.

Conan's final episode of "The Tonight Show" last night was not only totally epic, going out with a 7-minute rendition of "Freebird" led by Will Ferrell, Beck, Ben Harper, and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, but pure class. Conan is the man. His final statement was touching, and I have to admit, I choked up. This is the man who's had my loyalty for almost a decade. I'll watch him wherever he ends up.

But until Conan is back on the air, all I can say is that I'm with Coco.