Conan O’Brien’s final Tonight Show could have been an all out attack on NBC, but instead we ended up with possibly one of the classiest final shows that anyone could have put on under these circumstances.

Some folks have said Conan O’Brien’s refusal to move his show to 12:05 am was the decision of a spoiled child.  What I personally see it as is he refused to damage an iconic franchise that has a rich history of six decades.  If he had allowed NBC to move the show instead of giving back to Jay Leno, his name would have been in the history books as The Tonight Show host that had possibly killed the franchise.  Yes, he would have still had the show, he would have been the host, but would it have really been The Tonight Show if it aired 30 minutes later?

To be blunt, no, it wouldn’t have been.

I know I have written a ton about this situation, and to be honest, I’m not even a rabid Conan fan.  I find him amusing, but I can’t say I watched his show with any regularity.  The reason that I found this whole thing immensely fascinating is that this man gave this network 20 years of his life, and because of poor decision after poor decision on the part of the executives, he was thrown under the bus along with a 60-year-old icon of television to appease a man who hasn’t been with the company nearly as long and has an ego matched in size by only his chin.

In short: Conan O’Brien was stabbed repeatedly and then told to smile about it.

I have no clue if I could have handled this situation with the amount of class and professionalism he has displayed.  To those of you who say he has acted the impitent child, I’m sorry, but there is no explaining this to you obviously.  He was robbed.  End of story.

What follows is a transcript of his last speech.  It is heart felt, touching and moving.  And, no, the irony the fact that a member of The Cynical Bastards found this beautiful when he bluntly says how much he hates cynicism is not lost on me.

Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.

Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for 7 months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.

And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.

To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism- it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere.

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. As proof, let’s make an amazing thing happen right now. Here to close out our show, are a few good friends, led by Mr. Will Ferrell…

All of this was followed up by an amazing all-star musical performance playing the Lynard Skynard classic, “Freebird”. The video is lengthy, but worth every second. And if you’ve never really listened to the lyrics of this song, you need to, there was no more perfect song to end this show with.

(please note that NBC keeps pulling this video everywhere, I will continue to try replacing it)

Come Sept. 1st when he is allowed to host a television show again, count me in as watching.