It has been speculated that this Friday would be Conan’s last night hosting The Tonight Show. This morning it was announced, that the rumors were true. Conan will end his 7 month stint as host of The Tonight Show with guests Will Farrell and Tom Hanks this Friday.
O’Brien signed a 32 million dollar contract to quit his job on Friday. His staff of some 200 people, most of which uprooted families to work on The Tonight Show, will be awarded with 12 million dollars to split between them.
As Jay Leno is set to take back The Tonight Show after the Olympics, it will be 7 months until Conan can show his face on TV again. Although it is likely that Conan will continue to be a big name in TV, it is unsure if he will retain rights to the comic creations created on his show.
David Letterman, whose iconic top ten started on NBC, eventually won the right to keep his list format after he was bumped from NBC, by Jay Leno.
Conan’s last show will feature an appearance by Will Ferrell, who was Conan’s first guest as host of the Tonight Show, and Tom Hanks, who was arguably Conan’s first big star on The Tonight Show.
