Wow. So this is not the news that we were expecting. According to Variety, TBS revealed this morning that Conan O’Brien will be hosting a late-night show on their network beginning in November. He’ll take the 11 p.m. time slot that’s currently occupied by Lopez Tonight, which in turn will be pushed into a new midnight slot. (George Lopez is reportedly ecstatic about the news: “I can’t think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as my lead-in. It’s the beginning of a new era in late-night comedy.”)
Variety reports that a deal with FOX was hampered by both financial restrictions and the fact that the show would have had to air at 11:30 p.m. or midnight in most markets. Conan’s official statement about the move: “In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly.” What do you think? If you factor in The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, could this signal the end of late-night network TV for anyone under the age of 40? Click through for the first teaser ad, featuring Mike Mitchell’s now infamous “I’m With Coco” graphic.