With its beloved mascot swirling 'round the toilet, letting out a meager peacock "yorp" as its exhausted claws scratch helplessly at its porcelain confines, there truly was nothing left to come out of NBC HQ today we thought could possibly shock us. We were, of course, hopelessly wrong, as it is now emerging that Jay Leno—the longtime poster boy for NBC mismanagement for the way he was being forced out of his Tonight Show spot at the top of his ratings game—is being given the 10 p.m. slot on the network. Every night of the week.

In a surprise move, Jay Leno is taking over the 10 p.m. slot on weeknights on the network.

The move is a huge coup for NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker, who has long said he wanted to keep both Leno and his replacement, Conan O’Brien, in the NBC family. [...]

The move would also bring to an end a potentially messy transition in the coming year that had industry speculation centered on Leno potentially moving to ABC, which would set up a three-way brawl for the dwindling late-night dollars between Leno, O’Brien and CBS’s David Letterman.

Presuming the show is something akin to what Leno does now, and not some supersized Jaywalking strip or Pimp My Old-Timey Gangster Car atrocity, then what we're looking at here is the network's first legitimate chance to reclaim the 21st Century vaudeville crown since the abortion that was NBC presents the Rosie Trading Excruciating Gay Jokes With Clay Aiken as Alec Baldwin Doesn't Fit Into His Clothes Variety Hour. It's an NBC miracle! We're sure Conan O'Brien must be just thrilled: After fifteen years of following Leno five nights a week, there must be no better feeling that knowing you've moved one hour closer to primetime, where you'll follow Leno five nights a week.