Conan O'Brien Ready to Bail on NBC

As NBC hustles to fill Jay Leno’s 10pm time slot with a new series, rumors are flying that Conan O’Brien is ready to ditch the peacock for another network. “This level of shittiness was not expected,” a source tells the New York Post. “He moved his entire staff, he moved his family to LA. And five months later, they repay him like this? Conan would be happier somewhere else.” Insiders tell the Wall Street Journal—Fox’s sister company under News Corp.—O’Brien has already had early talks with Fox.

Sources confirm O’Brien is unhappy—and one Fox source goes so far as to tell Variety, “Conan would be a great fit for Fox." NBC chairman Jeff Gaspin, spinning a different story, insists O’Brien was “incredibly gracious and professional” when informed of the changes, and says he expects a “compromise” will be set before the Winter Olympics. For the rundown on the pilots NBC ordered to replace Leno, including a re-imagining of 1970s classic The Rockford Files produced by Steve Carrell, see the New York Times.
(More Jay Leno stories.)