Leno, O'Brien May Both Walk

Thanks in part to a loophole in Conan O’Brien’s NBC contract, he will most likely leave the network while Jay Leno takes The Tonight Show back—or Leno might also ditch NBC entirely, depending which gossip site you read. Sources tell TMZ O’Brien’s contract guarantees he will host The Tonight Show—but does not guarantee a specific time slot, meaning the unhappy host will likely move to an 11pm show on Fox.

Assuming Conan leaves, sources tell TMZ Jay Leno will be back as the Tonight Show host as soon as the network and Leno work out a new deal. But PopEater hears that Leno is furious with NBC for making him look like the bad guy, and is considering following Conan out the door. Meanwhile, Leno, O'Brien, and other late-night hosts continued to use the situation as fodder for their shows—watch the videos at left. A Conan gem: “When I was a little boy, I remember watching The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and thinking, ‘Someday, I’m gonna host that show for seven months.’” (More Jay Leno stories.)