After five months, Jay Leno leaves prime time tonight, returning his "magic" to late night.

You've read about the Cold War-level skulduggery that went into keeping that Letterman/Leno/Oprah Late Show promo secret in the days before the Super Bowl. Tonight, Jay Leno gave his side of the story on his show.

• Super Bowl XLIV made history last night: It's now the most-watched TV program in U.S. history, having bypassed the finale of M*A*S*H in 1983. [THR]
• Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have filed suit against the Rupert Murdoch's News of the World for reporting the couple was separating. [Guardian]
• Talks between Fox and Conan O'Brien seem to be moving ahead. As for the Super Bowl ad featuring Letterman and Leno, Letterman was reportedly interested in having Conan appear as well, although it didn't pan out.
• Ellen DeGeneres makes her debut on American Idol tomorrow. Meanwhile, talks to have Howard Stern replace Simon Cowell next season are progressing.
• Mixed news for the magazine business: newsstand sales fell in the second half of 2009, although the situation was even worse a year ago. [NYT, AdAge]
• Sarah Palin won't have to fly to NYC to tape her appearances on Fox News: The network is building its new "contributor" a TV set in her living room. [NYT]
• After dominating the box office for seven weeks, Avatar was dethroned by Dear John this weekend, although it remained No. 1 internationally. [MTV]
• Ads for Snickers, Doritos, and Google were big winners with Super Bowl viewers this year. As for the Motorola spot starring Megan Fox, she may be the first person in history to have had a "thumb double." [Reuters, NYT, NYM]

You think it's easy getting Oprah Winfrey, Jay Leno, and David Letterman in a room together to tape a 15-second gag for the Super Bowl? Then you're wrong! This thing took private jets, corporate rescheduling, even espionage!

Welcome to our post-Super Bowl XLIV world. Did you see that David Letterman/Jay Leno ad? Aren't The Who so old and busted? OMG: PUPPY BOWL. Gay horses or something? A lot of amazing things happened. Then there was the football.

File under: WTF and DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING. Remember the Late Show ad starring David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey that aired during the 2007 Super Bowl? Well, they just did a reprise... with the addition of Jay Leno. Video, inside.

How badly does NBC just want to put this Whole Conan Thing behind them? Via Peter Kafka at All Things Digital, so badly, they're trying to eradicate all history of it ever having existed from The Internet. What history? Exactly.

NBC made yet another blunder yesterday when The Roots' ?uestlove posted a photo to his twitter of the network's lunch menu created for Black History Month. Sykes was not amused and asked, "is the whole damn network on medical marijuana?"

If you're NBC, how do you save face after your worst PR crisis ever? Apparently, you have one of your two remaining late night hosts (Carson Daly doesn't count) appear on the other's program. Jimmy Fallon on Jay Leno, inside.

Frances Buss, Pioneer of Early Television, Dies at 92 [NYT]

Conan O'Brien isn't just leaving the Tonight Show, he's also being excised from NBC's corporate propaganda. The embittered late-night ginger's already dead to corporate headquarters, judging by the mural in the lobby. Click through for before and after shots.

And the old clips portending doom continue to emerge. Conan sits down with Charlie Rose and some water in 2006 to discuss the arc of his career thus far. Turns out Conan wanted his legacy to be with NBC...badly.

Everyone has moved on from the Late Night fiasco except Howard Stern. Today he decided to meticulously dissect Leno's interview with Oprah to show how much of an asshole Leno is. Hey Howard, tell us something we don't know!

Have you seen a "Whose side are you on?" poll related to the Late Night Wars recently? Did you notice the small number that reflected support for Jay Leno and wonder, "Who are those people?" Well, wonder no longer.

Tom Green—bet you haven't heard that name in a long, long time!—says he'd be more than happy to wait in the wings for the next 10 years to take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno. Good to know! [VF]

Yesterday, Jay Leno told Oprah Winfrey that he was "sucker-punched" by Jimmy Kimmel when Kimmel appeared on his show and took him to task over the NBC late night fiasco. Last night, Kimmel told the real story behind the setup.

Jay Leno is known for being middle-of-the-road. But compared to Scott Brown, Leno is a gay hippie communist smoking hash out in weirdo Los Angeles. Brown was on Leno tonight, and he set a new standard for normality.

Tonight's Larry King Live ran the pop culture gamut: Jay Leno on Oprah, John and Elizabeth Edwards—even an appearance by non-gay Ted Haggard and wife Gayle. The best moment, though, was a sassy caller from Boca Raton. *Snaps*

• It's the end of the line for Miramax. The studio that Harvey and Bob Weinstein founded in 1979, sold to Disney in 1993, and departed in 2005, was officially shuttered today, and 80 people were let go. [Wrap, NYT, Guardian]
• Jay Leno went on Oprah today to try and redeem himself. He acted like a cry-baby and flat-out lied (and may have gotten away with it anyway). In related news, Conan's final week on the air turned out to be his biggest, not surprisingly. And there are some signs the late-night debacle may have Comcast's bosses thinking about showing NBC chief Jeff Zucker the door.
• 48 million people tuned in to the State of the Union address last night. [NYT]
• Only 35 people have signed up for a subscription to Newsday.com since the paper set up a pay wall a few months back. But it's all going according to plan and Newsday management couldn't be happier, the paper claims. [Crain's]
• This is a bit awkward: The Wall Street Journal is rolling out a local edition this spring that it hopes will compete with the New York Times. But it may actually need the Times' help printing the papers to make it happen. [NYT]
• A growing number of Time Inc. staffers are defecting to Bloomberg. [NYP]
• Samantha Harris is bidding goodbye to Dancing with the Stars. [People]
• Is Fox News reporter Major Garrett a fan of hookers? Maybe! [Gawker]

Uh-oh, Jay Leno is playing the victim again. He was on Oprah today to set the record straight, and by set the record straight, we mean throw himself a pity party while Oprah gives him a shoulder to cry on.