Friday night, Conan O’Brien said goodbye to “The Tonight Show” after seven roller coaster months and NBC after an illustrious run that included a stint writing “Saturday Night Live” and a long tenure hosting “Late Night.”

The farewell was extremely classy given all the public outrage.  Let’s face it, Conan was never more popular than when NBC wanted him gone.  He thanked the network for the opportunity to live his dream and generally seemed to enjoy the end of this sad saga.

As part of the deal, Conan can’t host a show until September…at the earliest.  This isn’t the time to discuss where he will go.  What I want to know is…Team CoCo – watcha watchin’ at 11:35pm now and why?  Here are your options:

- David Letterman – The “forefather” of Conan’s current position.  He parlayed being shunned by NBC into a lucrative career with CBS.

- Nightline – A staple newsmagazine on ABC.  (No self-pleasuring wildlife or crass hand puppets on this show…)

- Jay Leno – The old/new “Tonight Show” host returns after the Olympics.  He WAS #1 in late night before he was replaced with Conan.

- Re-runs – Most local markets run popular syndicated re-runs, like “Seinfeld” or “The Simpsons” at 11:35pm.

- Colbert Report – Comedy Central’s parody of Bill O’Reilly is definitely a favorite in my household.  Plus, with the speedskating  tie-in, it should be entertaining over the next several weeks.

- Other – There is an entire cableverse of options, right?

Whatcha watchin??

Conan O’Brien has won the current PR battle over NBC as it regards to hosting “The Tonight Show.”

Jay Leno, the former host who NBC retained to host a nightly comedy program (sounds kinda like “The Tonight Show,” right?), had his new 10pm show cancelled.  And, in the best cancellation in the history of TV, NBC wanted to give him his old time slot back…or at least part of it, pushing O’Brien to 12:05am.  Translation, “The Tonight Show,” would technically be “The Tomorrow Show.”

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Conan basically said he would not agree to move the show to 12:05am, citing the “destruction” of the show, while also acknowledging how unfair it would be to Jimmy Fallon, the new host of “Late Night,” O’Brien’s old show.

The absolute zinger of the statement was this:

My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work. – Conan O’Brien

While Leno and NBC have remained hush on their thoughts, O’Brien was proactive.  He cited valid reasons for not wanting to be a part of this mess AND planted the seed for any other network to welcome him with open arms.

Sounds like a PR win to me.

What do you think?  Is there any way NBC can recover from this in the short term?

Suggested Reading: My good friend TJ Dietderich breaks down why Conan Rules Your World over the at PR Breakfast Club!