Dick Move of the Week—NBC-TV:

According to the AP (which bloggers can’t quote directly anymore or we’ll be up to our asses in frivolous litigation), NBC is considering bumping Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” back a half hour to 12:05 a.m. in order to move an abbreviated, 30-minute version of Jay Leno’s mirth-free crapfest back to the 11:35 p.m. time slot.

As Seth Meyers pointed out last night on SNL, 12:05 a.m. isn’t even the Tonight show anymore, it’s the Tomorrow show. NBC’s own internal logic is screaming “ICEBERG! ICEBERG AHEAD!!” They should be floating lifeboats, not test balloons.

Have they even watched Leno’s and O’Brien’s shows since the initial time slot switch? Conan’s “Tonight Show” is better than Leno’s “Tonight Show” ever was—funnier, faster, sassier—and way better than Leno’s current incarnation. The idea that they’re considering kicking Conan’s can even further down the street is madness on its face.

It’s like they want to fail. Like Leno at 10 isn’t killing them quickly enough.

I actually feel bad for Leno, who I’ve never liked much to begin with. He gambled and lost. But if he never worked another day in his life, he’d still be set if he lived to be a hundred. And he’s bound to remain a popular draw on the upscale comedy circuit.

But how long is Conan going to keep taking it? Both AP and Seth Meyers also reported that the Fox TV network has expressed an interest in giving O’Brien his own late-night berth. He should grow a pair and tell the geniuses at NBC to take their Dick Moves and shove them in their time slot.

EXTRY! EXTRY! NBC just made the announcement while I wrote. (Monday morning in-house update here.) They thought their test balloon floated! Doesn’t anyone at that network even watch TV or read the trades? Oh I can't wait for the TV-movie about the whole madcap affair. “Jay Leno killed our network, what do we do?” “Quick, we’ve got to get Jay Leno! Only he can save us, now that he’s killed us! You know, like in fairy tales...?”

Dicks.