FX joins long list of suitors for Conan O’Brien

[HMG] – With Conan O’Brien due to tape his final Tonight Show on Friday, networks who stand ready and eager to snatch him away from the incompetent talons of NBC are already numerous, and continue to grow.

Newest among them is the basic-cable station, FX, whose President, John Landgraf has been quoted as saying he would ‘jump at the chance,’ and add Coco to the team at FX “in a heartbeat.”

“I think Peter Rice [Fox's CEO] gets to decide whether Conan goes to the big brother or the little one,” The Wrap reports Landgraf as saying. “But we’ll see how it plays out.”

Insiders believe Conan’s most likely new home is with FX’s big brother, the Fox network itself…assuming the suits in control can ever assemble the corporate cajones to man-up and make him an offer;

Speaking at yesterday’s meeting of the ‘Television Critic’s Association’ in Pasadena, CA, Mr. Landgraf said he would love to have such a show on FX’s schedule “if it’s as good as Conan or ‘The Daily Show’ or Stephen Colbert.” He also called the ability to endure all the rigors of hosting that kind of show, as Conan does, “very, very rare.”

However, Landgraf admitted the chances O’Brien would sign with a network whose average audience could get lost in a phone booth were probably ‘small.’

Those in charge at FX’s parent are still stalling about signing Conan. And given his ratings for the past seven months, plus the migraine that awaits anyone who tries to persuade their affiliates to carry the show, they could still take a pass.

But Conan’s a free agent from Friday and can start work somewhere else as soon as he likes – so what network do you think should be his new home?