LAWRENCE, Kansas – The Winter Olympics can’t come soon enough for NBC. Until then, there’s little the network can do to stop their talk show hosts from taking nightly jabs at their apparent late night ineptitude. Meanwhile, Conan O’Brien has finally broken his off-air silence, rejecting the proposed move to 12:05 a.m. ET in a statement released today:

“For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news.  I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting.  The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show.  Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot.  That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this:  I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it.  My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction.  Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter.  But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next.  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.”

Though infused with humor at the beginning an end – addressing the letter to the “People of Earth” and ending with an apology for his hair, the statement clearly shows how hurt O’Brien is by NBC’s actions. Most surprising – perhaps because I’ve been jaded by Jay Leno‘s desire to blaze his own trail with little regard for those who came before him – was O’Brien’s appreciation for both the legacies of Johnny Carson and David Letterman as well as an awareness of where he fits in the bigger late night picture.

I’m not big on history books, but television history piques my interest. No matter the genre, television always reflects society in the moment, and the inner-workings of what is still a young medium are filled with inevitable growing pains. I don’t get easily fascinated, but this stuff does it for me.

So, when O’Brien said he would decline NBC’s 12:05 offer because of what it would mean to the institutions of The Tonight Show and Late Night, of which he clearly views himself as no more than a standard-bearer, that’s huge. Couple that with how he’s approached his decision, looking at how it will affect not only his successor at Late Night but also his staff and crew, and I may have just become the biggest Conan O’Brien fan that doesn’t watch his show.

Because of his level-headedness, it’s perfectly fitting that O’Brien never mentions Jay Leno by name, except to refer to The Jay Leno Show. The only other reference is to Leno is as “my predecessor.” As with NBC’s previous late night spat, Jay Leno somehow comes out of this looking least sympathetic of all.

No matter what’s going on that the rest of us can’t see, this would appear to cement Leno’s legacy as the guy who forced out two hosts of The Tonight Show. And he doesn’t look any better this time around.

So, what does all of this mean for Conan O’Brien? Well, he isn’t explicitly saying he will leave NBC. But the only option left to keep him is the one thing the network will never do: choose O’Brien over Leno. Even in a parallel universe where NBC would consider such a thing, O’Brien has made it clear that he will not sacrifice Late Night for himself.

In essence, O’Brien is telling NBC to let him and his crew go where they want if they refuse to leave the late night lineup in tact. Don’t count on that happening. Based on what all parties are saying, “tact” is not a concept the network understands.

But there is good news. O’Brien has now published a wish list for his future employer. Take note, Mr. Murdoch. That could be you.

Filed under: Late Night TV, Opinion/Editorial, Television