Well the fiasco at NBC concluded last night as Conan O’Brien exited The Tonight Show for the very last time. NBC’s big experiment to save prime time programming money failed miserably, and a very talented young host has had his career derailed by the stupidity of accountant-driven executive programmers.

Conan "COCO" O'Brien

It was high time for Jay Leno to retire and turn over the reigns to a younger host, and Conan O’Brien had indeed paid his dues to be rewarded with the most coveted position on television. But NBC couldn’t simply have a nice orderly Bye Bye Leno transition. They had to screw up prime time programming to inject a useless Jay Leno Hour at 10 PM.

NBC’s big money saving idea eventually cost them nearly $100 Million as you consider the reported $45 Million in severance pay to Conan and his staff, along with the expense of a new $50 Million Studio for the show.

NBC has made some real blunders over the years, and this latest fiasco should keep their ratings in the dumper for a long time to come.

Remember, this is the network that cancelled the original Star Trek Series claiming it wasn’t rating worthy and had no lasting power!

It’s also the network that interrupted the 1968 AFL Football Playoff Game when in the final minutes of the game,  had a tide turning ending play, instead went to a Holiday Special called Heidi!

 That fall day in Oakland, California was a showdown between two of the best teams in the American Football League–the defending champion Oakland Raiders and the upstart New York Jets, a team that had become a force to reckon with, thanks to its able and flashy quarterback Joe Namath. Because the game was set to begin at 4:00 Eastern Time (1:00 PM in the Western time zone), there was no concern the game would run over into prime time. Most football games usually took less than three hours, so NBC felt confident it could air the game within the three-hour period, allowing the much-hyped “Heidi” to air on schedule.

What the Peacock Network did not count on was a nail-biter. Both teams were in fine form, with the lead changing hands often. By late in the fourth quarter, a 26-yard field goal by Jim Turner put the Jets ahead 32 to 29. By that time, it was just before 7:00 PM Eastern Time, and the game had just 65 seconds left to play. With so little time left, it seemed there was no way–short of a miracle–the Jets could lose. Immediately, viewers were treated to NBC’s animated peacock colour logo, before “Heidi” went on the air.  Here’s what they missed:

The game resumed after the commercial break, and the Jets suffered a penalty, giving control to Oakland. Charlie Smith ran for 43 yards for a touchdown, putting the Raiders ahead 36-to-32. But during the kick-off for the next play, the Jets’ Earl Christy allowed the football to land on the two-yard line, giving the Raiders’ Preston Ridlehuber a chance to grab the pigskin and score a SECOND touchdown for Oakland. The final score: Raiders 43, Jets 32–one of the most sensational plays in American football history.

The fallout was tremendous. It wasn’t bad for the Raiders, who later that year defeated the Jets in the AFC games and went on to win Super Bowl Three with a 16-to-7 victory over the Baltimore Colts. But the National Football League was so angry it demanded future broadcast contracts to include a provision that required the networks to air all football games in their entirety. The “Heidi Game” was one of those rare television events that caused a chain reaction–and proved once and for all the popularity of professional football in the United States. Perhaps the best final words came from Val Pinchbeck, who was the National Football League’s chief of broadcasting: “Probably the most significant factor to come out of ‘Heidi’ was, whatever you do, you better not leave an NFL football game….It sure let you know that you better not take my football away from me at 7:00 PM.”

Well, it seems NBC still hasn’t learned it’s lesson when it comes to Prime Time Programming!

Tags: conan, conan o'brien, Entertainment, max weinberg, NBC, prime time, robin williams, televison, tom hanks, will ferrel