From: nebusj-@-rpi-.edu   
      
   	Well, so, it looks like the quite silly theories about NBC   
   finding a way to keep Leno on The Tonight Show and Conan at 12:35   
   have flopped.  Now they've gone on to theories about how NBC will   
   flop to have Leno on every night at 10 pm and will therefore force   
   him back to The Tonight Show after Conan flops and is forced back   
   to 12:35.   
      
   	I'm cautiously approving of this scheme, not least because it   
   means I won't run into Leno by accident anymore; it seems like a way   
   to at least temporarily buy NBC five hours of reliable programming,   
   and avoid an unpleasant conflict between Leno on either ABC or Fox   
   going up against Letterman and our Conan.   
      
   	Some folks are calling this the death of NBC, although that's   
   really getting hyperbolic.  At worst, I suspect, it's going to behave   
   a lot like when they ran _Who Wants To Be A Millionaire_ or _Deal Or   
   No Deal_ fifteen times a week: initially appealing and then fading   
   into ignorability and replaced with more serious programming efforts.   
   More likely, I suspect, it's going to be a comfortable hour that may   
   not ever deliver exceptional ratings but will mean a stable base for   
   the timeslot, and probably not losing unpredictably many viewers from   
   earlier in the evening.   
      
   	This may sound like I view Leno as a somewhat viscous goo that   
   absorbs and modulates shocks down to a nearly imperceptible ripple,   
   and that may be accurate.   
      
   --   
   								Joseph Nebus   
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)