Conan's Surprise Called "Savvy"

Conan O'Brien took the TV world aback with word he's going to rejoin the late-night wars on cable TV - TBS, to be exact - and not Fox, as was widely expected.

And the move was quickly called "savvy" by one industry observer.

The announcement came as O'Brien began a two-month, nationwide comedy tour in Eugene, Ore., called "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour."

O'Brien left NBC in January after 17 years and a protracted, very public battle, balking at being moved to a later time slot when that network gave "The Tonight Show" back to Jay Leno. Both had drawn poor ratings - Leno at 10 p,m. and O'Brien in the "Tonight" seat, when NBC replaced Leno with O'Brien.

O'Brien's new show - there's no title yet - is expected to debut in November, airing Monday- through-Thursday at 11 p.m. Eastern. That will shift "Lopez Tonight," starring George Lopez, to midnight - the very kind of shift O'Brien had rebuffed at NBC. Lopez issued a statement welcoming O'Brien.

And, on "The Early Show" Tuesday, Entertainment Weekly Assistant Managing Editor Dalton Ross said the changes make sense for all concerned -- in the everything-is-relative vein.

"I think it's a smart move," Ross told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez. "I think it's a savvy move. A lot of people were caught off guard by it, but it's already been established that Conan, in terms of mass numbers, cannot compete with Jay (Leno) and Dave (David Letterman). That's why we got into this whole predicament.

"So, even if he went to Fox or another network, that really wasn't going to change. By going to cable, he sort of has taken his game to another field. He's now competing with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (on Comedy Central), and he's not expected to have these mass numbers. As long as he brings his younger audience, his, albeit smaller but passionate audience, to TBS, it's gonna be successful."

Ross says, "People are so behind him because of what he's gone through the past few months. You're finding people that maybe weren't even originally Conan fans but, seeing the way he's gone through this whole situation and handled himself, now they relate to him. And it really plays to his best comedic strengths -- he's a self-deprecating guy."

"I think it could be good for George Lopez," Ross observed. "I think George Lopez at midnight following Conan will probably be better than George Lopez alone at 11:00. It definitely puts the spotlight on TBS and late night, and that's gonna help both Conan and George Lopez I think."