tonight show with jay leno

NBC must be doing a lot of regretting these days for moving Jay Leno to 10 p.m., and not just because it screws up the perfect headline alliteration with his former competition.

It seems that David Letterman's Late Show reruns are getting higher ratings than Conan O'Brien's brand-spanking new Tonight Show episodes.

The margins aren't very wide, but it must hurt when a rival is kicking your lily-white hide and he's not even throwing any punches. It's like getting your ass kicked by a one legged Stephen Hawking.

The world is facing a population explosion of Biblical proportions. People are procreating and reproducing faster than sustenance reserves and housing requirements can keep up with it. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have officially given up adoption for the next three Lents.

Something has to be done that doesn't involve condoms, birth control pills, or taking a hammer to certain parts of the human anatomy.

India claims they have found a solution. Television?

Not only did the "Fire David Letterman" crowd completely fail at their attempt to oust the late night host from his desk chair, but they actually helped him.

That makes them the least successful protest effort since 1977's memorable campaign to "Keep Pies Away from Anita Bryant." I believe it had something to do with preventing the spread of diabetes.

Variety reports that Letterman surpassed The Tonight Show in the ratings for the first time in nearly three-and-a-half years while the whole Palin family "Jokegate" debacle was still slowly being scraped off the fan.

If you live in New York (first of all, you have my deepest sympathy) and you've been itching to catch Late Night with Conan O'Brien in person since you moved out there to pursue some crazy dream that will only leave you penniless, heartbroken and homeless, your time is running out.

The big-headed one will film his last show in the New York studio on Feb. 20, according to the show's website.

And since he leaves no corner of his little universe jokeless, anyone can get tickets to his remaining New York shows by shooting an email to conangobyebye@nbc.com.

A lot of comedy geeks called "shenanigans" on NBC when they announced Jimmy Fallon would get Conan O'Brien's Late Night slot when he moves to Los Angeles next year. I wasn't a big fan of the Fallon when he was on SNL and his movie career lacked a certain something (like entertainment value), but late night comedy is a different monster. Even O'Brien had problems establishing himself and I was willing to give Fallon the benefit of the doubt.

Then NBC announced that Jay Leno would get his own primetime spot when he leaves The Tonight Show, an announcement that couldn't have shocked me more if NBC delivered it with a 20-watt tazer.

Then I watched the first episode of Jimmy Fallon's web premiere and I understood why.

NBC is adding a dozen shows to Comcasts's On Demand service, starting in May. That means you can buy the show for $.99 after it airs, in case you missed it. Unfortunately, it's not for everybody. In fact, it's not for many of us. The deal is only valid in markets (aka 'cities') where your local NBC affiliate is actually owned and operated by NBC. For instance, here in Portland, our NBC affiliate is owned and operated by BELO Corp., so no luck here. Eh. TiVo is better, anyway.

The shows hitting VOD are: