After months of drama and speculation, it was formally announced Thursday that Conan O'Brien will once again be putting late-night TV viewers to bed with a smile on their face, when his new show launches on CTV.
"The Conan O'Brien Show" will air on the national network Monday through Thursday beginning at 1 a.m. ET. In the U.S. it will air on TBS, starting two hours earlier.
The program, which will debut in November, will also air on the Comedy Network, though a time slot has not yet been announced.
"I'm absolutely thrilled to be coming to you on CTV," O'Brien said in a video message.
"Canada was the first place to embrace me... when I took my show here to Toronto several years ago, you treated me like a rock star and I never forgot it. I love your country. I love your people. And I really love your comedy."
For months late-night TV was a subject that dominated water cooler conversations and online discussion boards due to the very public battle between O'Brien and Jay Leno.
O'Brien took over the Tonight Show on NBC from Leno last year, when the network undertook a risky experiment that saw Leno moved to a 10 p.m. timeslot with a new platform, "The Jay Leno Show."
After several months of low ratings, NBC tried to backtrack, asking O'Brien to move to just after midnight, so they could offer Leno the coveted 11:35 p.m. slot.
O'Brien refused, opening up several months of buyout talks and an intense period of back-and-forth gibes, not only between Leno and O'Brien but with virtually every comedian on television joining in the milieu.
Eventually, after seven months at the helm of 'Tonight' a jobless O'Brien was off the air, with Leno returning to his old show and old timeslot on March 1.
At the time the red-haired New Yorker said walking away, rather than accept a demotion was the hardest thing he had ever had to do -- though the US$45 million buyout he took with him may have eased the pain.
When it was all said and done O'Brien called on his fans to look for the positive.
"Every comedian dreams of hosting the 'Tonight' show and, for seven months, I got to," he said. "I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know, and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-Eleven parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun."
