There’s a problem a-brewing in Universal City. Well, actually the problem has already been brewed, aged, and packaged for delivery. Now it’s being consumed by the masses, and it has the bitter taste that only NBC can produce.

In a way that is uniquely its own, NBC has another late night comedy debacle on its hands like it did when Johnny Carson was succeeded two decades ago. We all know the story at this point: Younger-appealing Conan replaces Jay as Tonight Show host even though Jay didn’t want to relinquish his post, NBC makes up for its snafu by giving Jay a nightly show at 10 even though Jay doesn’t want it, NBC wants to renege on its decision and go back to the good old days because David (karma) is winning the battle for the 11:30 comedy slot.

Hold on, my head hurts. Give me a second…

And I’m good.

We had to see this coming. Replacing a 10 pm slot traditionally reserved for dramas with a late night comedy show, no matter how popular the host is, is a moronic thing to do. Human beings aren’t capable of laughing between 10:00 and 10:59. They want to watch medical dramas and cop dramas and, occasionally, courtroom dramas. It’s in our genes. It’s science!

…Or at least it’s common sense. We’re creatures of habit. Why did NBC have to rock the boat that we’ve been sailing on for so long? We watch sitcoms from 8-9, then maybe switch over to VH1 for a terrible reality dating show, then go back to one of the major networks at 10 for Medical Drama or Cop Drama, followed by a half-hour of local news to feel like we’re connected to our communities, and finally topped off with a healthy dose of late night laughter before going beddy bye. Sounds nice, don’t it? What else do you expect us to do? Read?

NBC ruined things, of course, for other reasons besides just wanting to throw a monkey wrench into the traditional order of things. In tough economic times like these, everything is all about money money money. Since NBC was already in the ratings cellar among the majors, they needed to make a move that could both save money and attract viewers. What’s less expensive than five hour-long dramas? One late night comedy show. A lot less expensive, actually. So filling that 10 o’clock slot with the late night ratings king couldn’t miss, right? [insert scoff here]

On the other side of this problem is Conan O’Brien, who owns younger male demographics like Twilight owns teenage and tweenage girls. This is a very coveted demo. I’m part of it. While I may not have the disposable income advertisers would like, this age bracket is generally supposed to have an abundance of it, and advertisers love us for it. However, we might not be the most loyal TV viewers. I’m sure a lot more young people can say they love Conan, especially up against David Letterman, than can say they watch Conan. Personally, I haven’t watched a second of The Tonight Show since watching every episode over the summer when Conan took over until the start of September. This kind of viewer behavior is a problem because now Coco’s getting killed in the ratings, and NBC is in a frenzied panic to try to undo the decisions it made to put them in this position.

The rumored proposal to fix this boo-boo is to move Jay back to 11:30, where he’d only have a half-hour show. Conan would slide back to midnight and continue to host an hour-long program under the guise of The Tonight Show. Let’s face it, though - if Conan O’Brien hosts a show at midnight after an 11:30 Leno show, it won’t be The Tonight Show. In fact, if NBC goes ahead with this move, whether Conan walks (to FOX?) or not, they will tarnish a proud Tonight Show tradition that has been established over more than half a century. On top of that, Jay Leno will become the Grover Cleveland of late night hosts.

Of course, the most damaging result of all of this will be on NBC’s ruined 10 pm time slot. Is the network supposed to magically turn out five dramas - all hits - for the start of next season? To really answer this question I turned to my TV insider. (That actually makes me sound legitimate.) She was the first person to point this potential problem out to me almost a year ago, and understands “the catastrophic impact of cancelling five nights of hour-longs.” She adds, “[T]o relaunch would be a financial and creative nightmare. Now the good news for NBC is that they have a terrific person, Angela Bromstad, pulling it together. She had overseen NBC development, lost a power struggle, I think with Silverman, and left. Now they have brought her back.” As far as I know, you can’t get that kind of information anywhere else. How’s that for an insider?

Now that I’ve established her superior intellect and credibility, here’s her proposed strategy for NBC to fix the 10 pm problem: “NBC ordered 18 pilots. I suspect they might move the CSI’s back to 10 for now and fill the 9 hour with new comedies and a couple of hour-longs. In the meantime, they will be furiously developing material to rebuild a fresh 10 o’clock hour.”

They ordered 18 pilots? So much for saving money. Whether NBC implements her proposed plan or any other, they have a pretty big mountain to climb to get out of this mess. Things will get worse before they get better, too, and things are already bad enough. Leno’s poor ratings meant a weaker lead-in for affiliate newscasts at 11 than dramas offered in the past. Then with the local news tanking in the ratings, a weaker lead-in to Conan may offer a partial explanation as to why he didn’t fare as well as NBC had dreamed. The trickle effect of NBC’s decisions caused the network to slowly but surely bleed out.

Ultimately, the effects of this fiasco are yet to be seen. Watch closely as everything plays out, as it will surely be a source of more entertainment than what most networks have to offer, even in their primetime slots. In the end when all is said and done, Jay might be back where he wants to be at 11:30, Conan might be starting a late night tradition at a network that doesn’t have one, and 10 pm on NBC might be a Ghost Town.

In the end, it looks like FOX has the only potential to come out as a winner in this one.