The Washington Post
Jay Leno is set to return to “The Tonight Show,” unless Conan O’Brien has a last-minute change of heart about hosting the show in a later time period, according to an NBC source.
On Tuesday, Conan announced he would refuse to host “The Tonight Show” at 12:05 a.m., which is where NBC said it’s moving the franchise when its coverage of the Olympic Games concludes at the end of February.
NBC now appears willing to let Conan leave the network, said the source, who has knowledge of the situation but was not authorized to speak publicly about the fluid situation. Conan likely will be allowed to develop a show for another network before his NBC contract would have expired, and an agreement is expected to be reached soon.
But it also appears the network intends to kick Conan as he walks out the door. More…