The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien in 2009

Best idea ever. Just don’t change.

NBC’s “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno will retire at the end of his current five-year contract in 2009 and be replaced by “Late Night” host Conan O’Brien, the network said on Monday. O’Brien signed a new contract on Monday that guarantees he will assume the job as host of America’s top-rated late night talk show, “The Tonight Show,” sometime during the 2009 season.