never liked jay, don't like conan, and really don't like carson, so i bet nbc'll pick carson!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool1.gif" alt="" />

Planning for Tonight in advance is a smart move. We're not talking about a sitcom, we're talking about the Tonight Show. It's one of the network's staples and it's not going anywhere. NBC will "still be a network" (if that was supposed to be clever it wasn't) and The Tonight Show (or some variation of it) will still be there in 2009. Plus, in theory, Conan will be able to take over before 2009 if things just go to hell in a hand basket with Jay before then, which is unlikely. I assume that is basically the whole point of planning it in advance to begin with. Jay was announcing his retirement for '09 anyway (the end of his contract), they didn't want to lose Conan to another network, and they wanted to start planning for the "transition" now, instead of being in limbo and looking like it when the time came. Now, in a few years they can go about the business of planning who will fill the 12:30 slot. It's just a matter of avoiding the '91 debacle all over again.