Conan O’Brien gets April Fools’ Day renewal (while Jay Leno’s fate stays unclear)

Even though it may have been announced on April Fools’ Day, the following is not a joke in any shape or form: Conan O’Brien will be staying put at TBS for a while longer. On Monday, the network put out a statement saying that they have extended the late-night host’s current deal, which will put him on the air until November 2015. This move comes in response to the show consistently bringing in solid ratings (around 900,000 viewers), even though it airs against a plethora of competition from network TV and cable.

In a statement, TBS programming head Michael Wright had the following to say about the much-deserved pickup:

“When we invited Conan O’Brien to come to TBS, we knew he would bring with him a passionately loyal following of young adults … Conan and his colleagues at Team Coco have gone far beyond that by making Conan the top late-night brand in the digital arena. We are proud to extend our relationship with Conan as he continues to forge the future of late night. I just wish we didn’t decide to tell him on April Fools’ Day.”

The irony in this announcement happening now is pretty clear, as NBC is currently in debate about whether or not it is going to replace Jay Leno (who replaced Conan) on “The Tonight Show” when his contract expires that fall, that way they can launch a new late-night show featuring Jimmy Fallon as host. To this post, Conan has been quiet about the newest round of Leno drama.

As for O’Brien’s show this week, he is going to be broadcasting four special shows from Atlanta, which is a place that TBS holds especially dear thanks to it being a hub for Ted Turner and the site in which many of the Tyler Perry programs are filmed.

What do you think about getting more Conan? Be sure to share your thoughts below!

Photo: TBS