There lay the late night career of Conan O’Brien. The carrot-topped comedian, host of NBC’s The Tonight Show for a mere seven months, aired his final episode on Friday, January 22 to a raucous cloud of supporters and mourners in his Los Angeles studio. Let’s not kid ourselves with the dreamy-eyed visions of a wistful send off full of well wishes and hallmark cards—the termination of the show itself has been a fiasco on all accounts. After being handed the keys to the entertainment Cadillac back in April 2009, Conan suddenly found that NBC didn’t actually want a late night host with a new style of young, biting, late-night comedy wit.  Jay Leno, former host of “The Tonight Show” from 1992-2009, was still NBC’s guy, and it turns out they were willing to do anything they could to get him back. Conan’s now out, and Leno’s back in.

One might shed a tear for Conan in sympathy for his early and awkward dethronement from the top of the entertainment world. Again, let’s not overdo things—Conan is making off with $45 million as part of his exit clause. Whether his next audience is a group of late night watchers on another network or only the pool boy at his next five-star luxo vacation get away, I don’t think he much cares. The real tragedy lies in the future of NBC as a network for the next generation. With the firing of O’Brien, NBC just nixed its biggest potential long term advantage, having a “Tonight Show” that people actually want to watch.

The Johnny Carson era of comedy is already dead, or at least well on its way out the door. Ratings figures for older viewers of The Tonight Show plummeted when Conan entered the scene, and understandably so. O’Brien was the new firebrand of late night, a well-polished host and former screenwriter who nevertheless brought more edge to the traditional format of light jokes served over a co-host’s imbecilic remarks and an old fashioned swing-band to boot. Unfortunately for O’Brien, the 50-and-older demographic was outside his ballpark, and general ratings started to sag as the generation who grew up with the Leno/Letterman rivalry felt left out. NBC felt it had to pull the plug or suffer the death sentence of falling behind Letterman, yet their decision to cut and run has only left a younger generation of viewers without a late night personality they can relate to.

The move to hire O’Brien was, without question, a risky one. Targeting a younger, college-aged audience who spends more time gorging on mind-numbing YouTube clips and cutscenes from Jersey Shore than watching “Big Three” network television involved a big risk. Yet by suddenly banning Conan from the air without giving him even seven months to settle, NBC management has shown that they’re out of touch with the younger crowd. Jay Leno is the quintessential standard for modern late-night comedy: a smiley, cool host who exudes easygoing comedic professionalism. Yet most of the people who will be watching TV in ten or fifteen years don’t want to see that kind of professionalism. We’re a generation raised off the rebellious frivolity of Jackass, the tension of Chapelle’s Show, and the irreverence of John Stewart’s Daily Show. The real world isn’t puffed up and combed over in a smooth looking coat and tie. We want a host who can bring more of the energy and even honesty to a TV show format that’s nearly as old as the TV itself.

Ironically enough, the entire debacle surrounding Conan’s exit is generating the highest ratings for “The Tonight Show” in months. Wonder why? The fracas has erased all hope of late night civility for Conan, and for this reason he is shining. As a final salute to his former employers, Conan has been running comedy skits on his nightly show with the express purpose of blowing as much of the corporation’s cash as possible. On Wednesday, January 20, Conan showed up with a $1.5 million Bugatti Veyron supercar and dressed it up in mouse ears as the new “Tonight Show” Mascot. On Friday later that week, O’Brien decided to spray “caviar” on an “original” Picasso (allegedly) worth $65 million. The antics have been nothing less than absurd. After all, that’s why we love him.

NBC has grossly failed to see that the next generation of TV viewers needs something new in comedy. The Tonight Show couldn’t pull enough ratings with Conan pigeonholed into the old format, but I believe more creativity and flexibility from NBC management would have righted the ship. Conan is neither Leno nor Letterman; he never has been. Yet apart from Conan’s vapid sidekick Andy Richter, The Tonight Show had the promise of keeping late night comedy relevant. Here lies Conan O’Brien’s career in the late night mainstream, but here will remain NBC’s dashed hopes of holding on to younger late night watchers. In a few years, Conan will be laughing from the safety of his comfy Club Med.