BURBANK – Following a week that saw its late-night line-up explode in controversy, NBC has now announced that ex-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich will be the new host of the “Tonight Show,” and that the show will be moved to Sunday at 8 a.m.

“We’re really excited about this,” said NBC spokesman Lawrence T. Johnson. “Newt truly speaks to the people and his opinions are really the only opinions athe American people deserve to hear anyway. This move will give a whole new life to the Tonight Show.”

NBC also announced that Conan O’Brien has been fired, explaining that he has long been a thorn in the side of NBC Executives.

“Conan’s a jerk,” said Johnson. “That he would spend 17 years of his life on NBC trying to entertain the public just shows what a jerk he really is. How dare he?”

The move will be an easy one for Gingrich, as he normally spends his Sundays at NBC filming “Meet The Press,” where he has long been a regular guest.

Surprisingly, the move to make the “Tonight Show” a once-a-week program on Sundays hosted by Gingrich was met with little controversy, as the general public has come to expect seeing Gingrich on their televisions, said a source.

Gingrich – who has been considering a Presidential run in 2012 – said that he’s happy to take the Tonight Show down a new path.

“We need to get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade,” said Gingrich, showcasing his off-the-wall wit. “We need a serious dialogue — not knee-jerk hysteria — about the First Amendment.”

A spokesman for Gingrich said that new “Tonight Show” will feature some of Gingrich’s greatest skits, including “Guess who I married today?”, “What God should I pray to in order to make myself a more viable Presidential candidate?” and “Who should we nuke today?”

The new “Tonight Show” will only feature one guest, as Gingrich will spend 30 minutes of each show interviewing Maverick Senator John McCain, also a popular Sunday morning political-show guest.

NBC has also announced that they will be giving Jay Leno the coveted 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. time slot Sunday through Saturday so that he could premeire his new show “Everyone Loves Jay! It’s the Law! He likes Cars for God's Sake!”

–WKW

Crossposted at William K. Wolfrum Chronicles