Tonight Show

Conan O'Brien isn't making a single cent off his upcoming 30 city comedy tour -- sources tell TMZ that Coco is doing the whole thing so he can employ his former "Tonight Show" staff.

We're told roughly 40 people have been hired to work on the production -- many of whom are "Tonight Show" alums.

The move is no sweat off Conan's back -- dude scored a $32.5 million severance deal from NBC before they kicked him to the curb.

And more good news for the crew -- tickets to "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour" are selling out so fast, more shows have already been added.

Will made the comments on the Todd N Tyler Radio Empire morning show in Omaha yesterday.

During the interview, they asked Will if he thinks Leno would still have him on the show since he's such a Team Coco kind of guy ... and he said, "I don't know. My vote's with Conan."

Conan O'Brien is shelling out his own cash to some ex-staffers who didn't get jack from that $7.5 million separation deal from NBC.

According to sources close to production, Conan's stagehands from "The Tonight Show" were not covered by the NBC severance plan. But we're told Conan is stepping up -- promising to pay his nearly 50 person crew at least six weeks severance out of his own pocket.

Conan's people had no comment.

The union for his former crew -- IATSE Local 33 -- says all the members who worked with Conan are "very happy" with the way he handled the whole mess.

Conan O'Brien is losing "The Tonight Show" but he'll be getting a $32.5 million consolation prize courtesy of NBC ... sources tell TMZ.

In return, we've learned Conan has agreed to sit on the bench until September. Translation -- he can't host another show until the fall.

In addition to the $32.5 mil, we've learned NBC is also paying severance to Conan's "Tonight Show" employees. In all, we're told NBC's payout is around $40 million.

But Conan probably won't see close to the $32.5 mil. Under the deal, any money Conan makes during the remaining contract period with NBC will offset the network's obligation. So, if Fox were to make a deal with Conan and pay him $25 mil during the NBC contract period, Conan would only score $7.5 mil from NBC.

One well-placed NBC source told us something surprising -- looks like NBC may keep its intellectual property rights. So Conan can't take his creations -- such as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and the Masturbating Bear -- to his next gig.

We're told the Conan/NBC deal still isn't completely done, but it's very close.

The protest -- which gained a lot of support on Facebook -- was set to start at 12 PM PT, but a bunch of Conan's brave, raincoat-clad faithful have been hanging around near the "The Tonight Show" studio for hours.

Jeff Zucker was not one of those people -- but Andy Richter, Masturbating Bear and La Bamba all addressed the crowd.

We're told "The Tonight Show" has handed out doughnuts and coffee to the supporters.

Former TV exec Fred Silverman was quoted this weekend saying the "Tonight Show" shakeup was "a corporate embarrassment" and that moving Leno back to 11:35 PM was a "Mickey Mouse scheme."

But TMZ has obtained an email sent by Silverman in 2008 to two top NBC execs in which Fred seemingly concocts the entire plan of moving Jay to 10:00 PM. He pitches the idea as, "Here's a way to solve your Jay Leno problem, improve your primetime ratings, save untold development costs and make a gazillion dollars at the same time." Did any of those things actually happen?

For all you TV newbies -- Fred Silverman is the only person to have ever been in charge of programming at three different networks. He was a legend at CBS and ABC ... but, ironically enough, failed miserably at NBC with such memorable disasters as "Supertrain" and "Hello, Larry."

It's one thing to play Monday Morning Quarterback, but it's a whole other thing when you called the plays.