Conan O'Brien to host The Tonight Show in 2009

22 months from now, Jay Leno will step down from "The Tonight Show," ending his run with the talk show he started hosting in 1992. Taking his place is the witty Conan O'Brien, the current host of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

The hoopla generated by this situation has centered on what Jay Leno will do next-- Will he still host? Will he still stay with NBC? Will he accept the alleged offers ABC, Fox and Sony are fielding?

NBC CEO Jeff Zucker has said that the decision to let Leno walk has been the most difficult in his career and I could imagine that-- Who can really replace Jay Leno? I'm a big fan of Conan O'Brien and I watch the two talk shows and I could say that the styles of the two hosts are different, with Leno being more audience-friendly and O'Brien more edgy.

One big question in mind is which band will play on The Tonight Show when Conan starts? Right now, Kevin Eubanks' band is handling the music but Conan seems to have a tight relationship with Max Weinberg and his band, The Max Weinberg 7. The TV show scene will really be interesting 22 months from now, perhaps more interesting than the shows themselves.


Tags: Conan O'Brien