O'Brien to Take Over for Leno in 5 Years

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

NEW YORK - NBC chose the 50th anniversary of the "Tonight" show on Monday to announce that Jay Leno will be succeeded by "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien in five years ? or thousands of jokes from now.

The unusual succession plan solves a delicate problem for NBC, blocking other networks from poaching O'Brien to move him to an earlier time slot.

Leno planned to make the announcement on Monday's "Tonight."

"In 2009, I'll be 59 years old and will have had this dream job for 17 years," Leno said. "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.

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[Shawn]

I like Conan but I doubt his ability to hold the closer to prime-time audience.

[Kooperman]

I like Conan but I doubt his ability to hold the closer to prime-time audience.

I recall similar critiques long ago concerning both David Letterman and Jay Leno....

[DudeAsInCool]

I prefer Letterman - the mantle should have been his

[Ken]

I think right now, Letterman and Leno are no longer funny.

O'Brien has his moments, but sometimes I just can't even crack a smile at his shit.

Although as far as comedy goes, i'm hard to please sometimes.

[bmc]

conan annoys the hell outa me

go KIMMEL

[Yoda]

I dunno Conan is funny as hell everytime i watch him.. his stand up is not very good but his little skit thing he does after that is always funny as hell.

[joeyz]

I watched Leno once or twice - .....HATED IT!.... but Letterman on the other hand deserves 3 snaps in 'Z' formation......

I am afraid 5 years is not nearly short enough.... But good for Conan that wacky bastard always makes me laugh...