Gah-wha?

Just so we get this straight, here’s how we thought the late night lineup would shake out up until late last night: Jimmy Fallon takes over for Conan on March 2nd, Conan takes over for Leno on June 1st, Leno goes into sweet retirement for a year before bursting on the scene with an 11:30 PM NBC slot, killing off Jimmy Kimmel Live and Nightline.

Well a cog just got thrown in that well-oiled plan…

From Broadcasting & Cable:

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

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 be a cost-effective manner in which to essentially cut down the amount of hours it must program with fare from the entertainment division. Jeff Zucker foreshadowed the move at a UBS media conference Monday, saying that NBC has to look at options including programming less primetime hours.

It would be a much-needed victory for struggling NBC in the wake of a massive round of layoffs and a re-organization of the entire way the network and studio are structured as the network continues to languish in fourth place.

Now, NBC doesn’t need to plan five hour-long dramas for next fall’s lineup. Which is nice, because NBC’s new programming has been sucking our left nuts. And that’s a lot of only left nuts.

Take that, Ben Silverman (to add insult to injury: Ben “My Own Worst Enemy” Silverman).