A TV Drama

UPDATE 3:08 p.m.: Maybe the speculation is right?

Website TMZ, who if often right more times than not, is reporting Jay Leno is going back to The Tonight Show.

TMZ is reporting The Jay Leno Show will go on hiatus February 1, and Leno will return to The Tonight Show after the Winter Olympics.

NBC officials said an announcement will not come today, and they did not deny TMZ's report.

As for Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon, it is unclear what becomes of their shows, and what becomes of the 10 p.m. spot.

There are reports surfacing Conan O'Brien may be the odd man out. If that is the case will Mr. O'Brien find an new gig on an new network?

A lot of speculation and no real clear answers right now.

UPDATE 7:07 p.m.: The New York Times is reporting an leak from two senior NBC executives who met with Mr. Leno and Mr. O'Brien in Burbank today telling the Times the tentative plan is Mr. Leno will have an half-hour show at 11:35 p.m., followed by Mr. O'Brien's one-hour show at 12:05 a.m., which will still be called The Tonight Show, followed by Mr. Fallon's hour show at 1:05 a.m.

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As people scramble to cover their rears and call their public relations people in Washington, D.C. following today's press conference with President Obama, who took responsibly for the attempted Christmas Day terror attack, back here in the land of infinite sunshine and palm trees those inside the Peacock at Alameda Avenue in Burbank are covering some feathers of their own.

Today television industry website FTV reported NBC is ready to "pull the plug" on The Jay Leno Show, possibly next month as an reporter from FTV told KNX 1070 earlier today.

While the Show was expected to be an loss-leader for NBC-Universal, ratings have been dismal, much lower than NBC anticipated.

Despite horrible ratings Burbank and Rockefeller suits are pleased the cost to produce the Show is cheap, compared to an drama, comedy, or even an reality show, affiliates however have been furious that lead-ins to their 11 p.m. news have shrunk, cutting into profits.

Local news is where many affiliates make their money.

As expected NBC is denying Leno is about to be canceled, however NBC brass are indicating some changes are in the works to appease affiliates.

In an statement today NBC claimed, “Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jay’s show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network. It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve the performance.”

Problems with affiliates began before Leno arrived in prime time.

Last April Boston NBC affiliate WHDH-TV attempted to expand its newscast into the 10 p.m. hour overriding Leno.

Station owner Ed Ansin told the Boston Globe last April, "We don't think the Leno show is going to be effective in prime time. "It will be detrimental to our 11 o'clock. It will be very adverse to our finances. "It fundamentally is a better financial plan for us. We are already suffering from weak lead-ins."

Despite Mr. Ansin's plans Leno went on to air in Boston after NBC threaten to cancel their affiliation with WHDH-TV.

In addition to lowering costs NBC offered Mr. Leno the prime time spot to prevent him from ending up on some competing network. Now one wonders if Leno, still a very talented man, is now damaged goods for television.

There has been some speculation NBC has considered giving Mr. Leno his old gig back at The Tonight Show.

Following this line of speculation that has been kicked around Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien, who has been crushed by David Letterman in ratings (no doubt helping Mr. Letterman's towering ratings was his own little sex and blackmail drama), would be pushed back to his old show on Late Night, and as for Jimmy Fallon, well, is Carson Daly still doing that late-night show (if he is can he wake up in time for his morning show on KAMP-FM 97.1).

As NBC brass mulls their options and slowly publicly recognizes problems with The Jay Leno Show it looks like the road to repairing NBC's prime time damage and relations with their affiliates is going to be an very expensive legal mess for NBC-Universal, and their new owners, Comcast, fueled by accusations and allegations.