TBS gets Conan in the fall

This should improve those slumping unemployment statistics.

After only three months out of work, Conan O'Brien is back punching the clock - albeit a little earlier at night.

TBS announced Monday that it has signed the fret-locked and lanky redhead to host a new talk show in the fall, originating from Los Angeles. The five-year deal, which makes O'Brien the owner of the show, calls for a Monday-Thursday schedule starting at 11 p.m., probably in November. That would give O'Brien's program, which doesn't yet have a name, a half-hour head start on Jay Leno and The Tonight Show.

Lopez Tonight, which currently occupies that time slot for TBS, will move to midnight. The show's host, George Lopez, set the deal in motion just last week when he called O'Brien to lobby him personally to join the cable channel.

The announcement took the TV industry by surprise because O'Brien has been in extended negotiations with Fox to develop a late-night talk show. Apparently that plan failed because local Fox affiliates expressed a clear preference for sitcom reruns at that hour.

"It's a good move for Conan and a better move for TBS," said Brad Adgate, the senior vice-president of research for Horizon Media. "I think Conan is relieved that now he won't have to compete head to head and get graded every day against Leno and Letterman. The [audience] expectations are different on cable.

"TBS gets one of the top names in late-night TV," Adgate added. "To get someone of his stature to come to a cable network is a real feather in their cap."

O'Brien's primary competition at 11 p.m. will be Comedy Central's tandem of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Adgate projects that he will beat their numbers (1.4 million for Stewart, 1 million for Colbert), something Lopez has not been able to accomplish.

But he is not expected to approach the ratings for the late-night network institutions (4.7 million for Tonight, 3.7 million for CBS's The Late Show).

"Conan has been the comedic voice for a generation," crowed Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks in a statement. "For decades, late-night TV has been dominated by broadcast television. Now . . . TBS is set to be the choice of comedy fans for years to come."

O'Brien's deal was disclosed on the same day that he launched his "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television" comedy tour. The title refers to his acrimonious exit agreement with NBC, which stipulated that O'Brien could not make TV appearances. That ban expires in September.

"In three months," said O'Brien after yesterday's announcement, "I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly."