As someone who has enjoyed late night television for almost as long as I can remember and as someone who took great interest in the Tonight Show drama of the early 90′s, I’ve been keeping an eye on the current NBC debacle with peaked interest.

For the most part I’ve been posting links to Facebook as to not muddy up my blog, but the outcome seems to have become quite a bit clearer today when first TMZ reported that Leno and NBC made a deal that put Leno back on the Tonight Show and later this article where Dick Ebersol slams Conan was published.

The NY Times article is brutal:

- He added that “what this is really all about is an astounding failure by Conan.”

- “He was just stubborn about not being willing to broaden the appeal of his show.”

- In this case, he added, “we bet on the wrong guy.”

The whole article is a good read that puts a little perspective on the whole thing.

And here’s an article from 1992 where shortly after taking the Tonight Show, Leno was in pretty much the same boat Conan is in. I do believe that NBC actually offered Dave the show at one point after Leno had taken over hosting duties.

Crazy stuff.