Speaking of Superbowl week, a story is only now cropping up that apparently has its roots in last year’s Superbowl week (and it’s kinda interesting).

Recently we’ve all witnessed the strange goings-ons over at NBC, whereupon Conan O’Brien was relieved of his duties as Tonight Show host after only a few months (a buyout worth between 40 and 60 million depending on who’s doing the reporting). The former incumbent, Jay Leno, is now the returning incumbent, as he will be resuming his old job.

Reasons for the switch-back are as rangy as the number of opinion-ators reporting on this whole fiasco. But I think it’s reasonable to conclude (gleaning from Conan’s scathing humor the last week of his show) that NBC executives didn’t see Conan as the right mascot for their network (which is pretty much what the show’s host has become). Whereas, presumably, the network favored Leno’s more wholesome, Midwestern appeal (he definitely has that over them city slickers, Dave and Conan).

Now, to the good stuff.

So, while we my never know all the reasons behind the decision (and the reasons were no doubt cumulative), this Super Bowl week, a story has sprouted that suggests Conan O’Brien’s Bud Light Super Bowl ad from last year was the lynchpin for this whole shakeup.

That’s right. The conservative minded NBC executives freaked out over, “Vroom Vroom Party Shtarter!”

If your memory of the ad is a bit hazy, the goofy Conan (who doesn’t really appear to take himself all that seriously) was convinced by his agent to shoot a Bud Light ad that would only be seen in Sweden. The next thing you know, Conan and his agent are standing in Time Square watching the Swedish “ad within an ad,” and it comes across as a little bit wild and hairy (literally).

Like everybody else in the country, NBC saw the ad. Unlike everybody else, they got really torqued.

Fine. However NBC wants to go about crafting their image is their business. No doubt, most of the board members over at the peacock network see themselves (and by extension the whole of reality) as good old fashioned, down-home folk, and from all accounts, that’s exactly what Leno is, too.

Comedy is such an acutely subjective field, and unlike many other professions, when the people don’t like your work as a comedian, then in essence, they don’t like you as a person. It’s all very personal, and feelings are often wounded. I’d say the only job where it’s harder to gauge whether or not you’re doing a good job is teaching.