It’s all but confirmed, Conan O’Brien is going to leave the tonight show with a $30 million dollar buyout from NBC (more on them later). With so many potential options for where Conan could end up, one that’s particularly interesting to me is hosting a midnight show on Comedy Central.

It sounds preposterous at first; leaving NBC and broadcast television to work for Viacom / Comedy Central and a cable network. With FOX being a step back, since they are really not known for late night comedy, and ABC/CBS are out of the picture it’s time for Conan to start thinking out of the box. After all, he’ll have millions of dollars if things don’t go well in his next gig.

Seriously... his hair is from another planet.

He is a younger late night comedian, which is why you see so many more “Team Conan” movements on Facebook than you do “Team Leno”. You know who is on Comedy Central from 11:30-12; just a guy named Stephen Colbert, a cult hero amongst the younger demographic. Conan would benefit from a HUGE lead in to the 12 o’clock hour if he were to go to Comedy Central.

It would also let him do a style of comedy he enjoys more. Colbert is a tremendous political satirist; Conan quite frankly struggles with it. With a solid 1 hour of politlcally centered shows before him, he would be under no pressure to feel the need to make jokes about politics. He’d also be able to revert to the days of the Masturbating Bear, and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. I’m not suggesting he dumbs his comedy down, but he would certainly be able to push the envelope on Comedy Central.

This move would benefit the network as well as Conan. They would boast a solid hour and a half of some of the most beloved talk show hosts out there. Landing a big name like Conan would give them a huge ratings boost initially, which if done right would parlay into loyal viewers night after night.

This guy is an idiot. NBC should hire Alec Baldwin for real.

The network is suffering from a lack of good original programming. South Park remains its only watchable show, and John Stewart and Colbert are the remaining two guys keeping the network afloat.

If Comedy Central is serious about drawing in new viewers, providing advertisers more opportunities, and keeping their network relevant, offering Conan a deal he can’t turn down is a no-brainer. Of course, NBC is run by a bunch of idiots (their only watchable programming is Thursday night comedy) so I wouldn’t put it past the suits at Comedy Central to completely overlook this opportunity.