We are big Conan O’Brien fans here at Free Things to Do in Chicago and think Jeff Zucker is a total knucklehead at NBC so we were excited to hear that Conan O’Brien has reached a deal with NBC for $30 to $40 million dollars. Jay Leno will resume as host of the Tonight Show after the Winter Olympics on March 1, 2010. O’Brien’s staff has refused to comment on the deal, but it is being reported that NDCU President and CEO, Jeff Zucker, NBCU Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin and Co-Chairman NBC Entertainment and NBC Television Studio Marc Graboff were involved in the final, all-night negotiations. 
The deal was apparently brokered by Universal COO Ron Meyer, who was brought in on Tuesday, after talks had reached an impasse. For Conan’s embarrassment of moving to LA and getting canned seven months later in favor of Jay Leno, $30-40 million is such a bad deal, and rumor has it Fox may pick up O’Brien to compete with Jay Leno. What do you think of the whole thing? Let us know
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