LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Jay Leno will hand over the reins of NBC's "The Tonight Show" to "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien -- but not until 2009, the network announced Monday.

"In 2009, I'll be 59 years old and will have had this dream job for 17 years," Leno said in NBC's written statement. "I felt that the timing was right to plan for my successor and there is no one more qualified than Conan."

"Plus, I promised Mavis (his wife) I would take her out for dinner before I turned 60," Leno said.

O'Brien, 41, has signed a contract to stay in his current job at 12:30 a.m. ET for the next five years and then take over the top-rated late-night show when Leno retires.

"Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien continue to be the most successful combination in all of late night," said NBC senior vice president Rick Ludwin. "We have locked in the future ... for years to come."

It's not clear just how long O'Brien is "locked in." NBC would not say how long his new contract lasts, nor how much he and Leno are to be paid.

The early announcement avoids a replay of the early 1990s, when the retirement of veteran host Johnny Carson touched off a behind-the-scenes battle between Leno and then- "Late Night" host David Letterman over who would be Carson's successor.

That feud ended with Letterman going to CBS to compete head-to-head with Leno. Letterman took an early lead in the ratings, but Leno has been consistently ahead for the last nine years.

O'Brien, in the statement, called "The Tonight Show" "one of the great franchises in television" and said he is "thrilled to get this opportunity."

"I am thankful to everyone at NBC -- which has been my home for the last 11 years -- and I am particularly grateful to Jay for all the generous support and kindness he has always shown me," he said.

The announcement leaves an upcoming vacancy in the 12:30 a.m. time slot, a position that catapulted both Letterman and O'Brien onto TV's lucrative A-list.

Leno, a stand-up comic, was Carson's guest host before taking over full-time. O'Brien was a writer for "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons" before landing the "Late Night" job in 1993.


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This is awesome!! Conan was always better than Leno!

Finally...Conan O'Brien>Jay Leno anyday of the week

Yeah it's about time. Leno's been stinking for years now and Conan is WAY into his prime, it was really stupid to have him on at 12:30. Now he's on at 11:30 i may actually be able to watch him again.

Not until 2009 though.

Yeah, which pissed me off to tell you the truth.

Very super weak.

i dont wanna wait until 2009. but im glad its still happening. Leno has just become incredibly annoying. OBrien is hilarious tho. his show is my fav late night show

The wait shall be worth it!

Maybe they could breed the two...A man with that hair, plus that chin...plus those legs..... Watch out ladies....

i havent watched conan in ages.... *turns on TV*

I'm so glad! When I first heard this I thought he was taking over like next year, but no it's not until 2009! This is great for Conan though and have you noticed that Late Night is getting pushed more? Damn it's about time!

Late Night is SOOOO much better than Leno. Everyone agrees. It's such a shame it's 'late night' because if it was earlier the rating would be through the roof.

Stupid network managers.

Leno sucks.

The only problem I have with it, is Im almsot sure that Conan's antics will be scaled back to more of a mainstream type show..... That will disappoint me.

I dunno about that, the network seems to have little to say on what Conan does. He knows what his audience likes and he delivers and if anyone has anything to say about that he makes fun of them!

I believe Conan pays for a lot of stuff on his show, which is why I think he can get away with so much.

Cool, i didn't know that. You mean he funds stuff out of his pocket?

oh, how i need my daily dose of conan. his talk show is by far the best and funniest in the land. i just wish he would shoot max wienberg more often, thats always funny.

I miss Andy.

Yeah man, when i first started watching Andy was the bomb. Especially during the 'in the year 2000' skits.

oh my I love conan. Funniest man alive. I watch the show EVERY night. He is just to funny! And I love his car. And the lever which played Walker Texas Ranger moments..those were hilarious!

I cant wait for this, Leno just bores me really...Conan!! WOO!


I hope he gets to keep the same set and band! I love max

Oh, "In The Year 2000" was the BEST. But it was really good too when he would do it with guests after Andy left. hahaha

"If they mated" is the best. XD

hehehe they did that segment last night.

It's always awesome.

my opinion on this is....who are Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno?

i prefer 'let frankenstein waste a minute of our time'


whats that frankenstien? he wants to show us old rusty pipes!!

hahaha i love frankenstien!!

Hm. Maybe you don't get them in the UK?

They're late night talk show hosts.

They're America/Canada only.

nono, the best is The recliner of rage (sp?)!

Did you see where the guy went to Vancouver and got to be a part of the stargate show? I couldnt stop laughing. I was so sore after!

the recliner of rage is freakin awesome!!!!!

Boff, i did see that. I felt good for that guy, it was a good thing Conan did, even if it was for laughs in the end. The guy was a terrible actor in that part!!!

Im pretty sure the whole thing was just for laughs, but that was awsome. I loved when he was at the airport, the camera goes by and its all chinese people rofl!

And you cant forget Conan in Canada...to damn funny. I loved when he was on border patrol as a mounty!

Its not just America/Canada.... we have them here in australia to....

Conan in Toronto was AWESOME!!!! Those were the funniest shows I'd ever seen.

Triumph in Quebec City.....

I guess mr_halo lives under a rock then

well the uk is a kind of a rock...

A giant rock sheltering you from funniness

in England, at least when i lived there, you got no american/canadian shows. none. except for maybe sessamie street and stuff. cool that you get it in australia tho!!

Conan is so much better than Leno.

i like the segment where he shows you a group of pictures and then tells you how they're related. always funny

And the Celebrity autographs are awesome too!

YAY!!! no more high pitched annoying laugh

Oh and what if they breeded cracks me up lol.

Mated.

If they Mated.

Bah whats the difference?

"If they breeded" is both grammatically wrong, and also not the title of the segment.

That's the difference.

hahaha breeded.

OWNED.

[edit]

PWNED.

No I was PWNED! I'm not afraid to admit it.

Edit for the PWNAGE.

I also like when he does the thing with the stamps. (I dont want to give a name for fear of PWNAGE)