Conan O'Brien's deal with TBS may have thrown every TV pundit and pontificator for a loop, but here's one that will make your head spin clear around your neck. (WARNING: TV Squad and its parent companies will not be held responsible for any head and/or neck trauma that may occur while reading this article).

While everyone thought Conan would simply jump to Fox because it was the last remaining network without a strong late night slot, Coco and company were being courted by all sorts of networks and media outlets, including ... Microsoft???

That's right, the technology giant had been talking to Conan about a deal that would have brought his nightly talk show to their XBox Live service.

Deadline Hollywood reported that while all of the reporters and pundits had their eyes on Fox, Conan's team, including executive producer Jeff Ross, WME's Rick Rosen, manager Gavin Palone and attorney Leigh Brecheen were "thinking way outside the box" (no pun intended).

It isn't known just how heavy the discussions got with Microsoft or if they were even close to matching TBS' spectacular deal. However, the very thought of such a deal inspires thoughts of awe-inspiring possibilities, not just for Conan, but for television, as well.

Video game consoles are starting to change how TV watchers get through their daily lives. Netflix is now available on all three of the big consoles, and even though they don't offer their entire library for instant streaming, they do offer quite a number of popular TV titles. Playstation and XBox also offer the chance to download and view shows for a fee, and even though the quality is good, it's still simpler and cheaper to just pay Netflix a monthly fee or to get off your lazy ass and rent or buy it at the local video store.

Both services also offer their own original programming, but most, if not all, of it is centered around gaming and gamers. A Conan O'Brien XBox show could have breathed new life into a slowly growing sector of television broadcasting. Hell, if NBC decided to stretch Jay Leno's show to two hours (don't think it couldn't happen), Jimmy Fallon would fit right in between rounds of "Left 4 Dead 2" and "Castle Crashers."

It also could have completely thrown the entire television spectrum into a completely new ball game. Sure it's only one show, but the amount of publicity and the audience it could draw would have networks, both cable and the big three (four if you count the CW), scrambling to find ways to tap into that market.

Still, it wouldn't have mattered to me if Conan had landed on Fox or Albuquerque Public Access Channel 27. All the statistics and marketing formulas be damned. Personally, I'm just glad Conan's coming back to television.