Video: A Giant Leap to No. 2

Programmer Brandon Tartikoff leads NBC out of the cellar

Fade in: Midnight at the Tartikoff home in the Coldwater Canyon section of Beverly Hills. Baby Daughter Calla Lianne has awakened, and her parents are trying to lull her back to sleep to the strains of the Tonight show. The guest is Comedian Bill Cosby, who is doing a funny routine about the trials of middle-aged parents. As the father watches, a light goes on in his head.

Montage: Actors being hired, sets being built, scenes being rehearsed.

Cut to: NBC's offices in Burbank, several months later....

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