Conan - the Former Tonight Show Host Debuts His TBS Talk Show

After months of hype, Conan's new late night show premiered on TBS. It was simply entitled "Conan" because he figured it would make it impossible for the network to replace him. With his "2^nd annual first show," O'Brien triumphantly made his return to a highly enthusiastic audience whose applause really did last longer than his gig on "The Tonight Show." Still with that beard he grew during his "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny" tour, he does still show some of the scars NBC left him with, but his sunny disposition is still there and it was great to see him back on television.

The premiere episode of "Conan" was not necessarily spectacular, but there were several comedic highpoints throughout. Starting off the show was a satirical prologue that followed O'Brien from rejecting NBC's decision to move "The Tonight Show" from 11:30 pm to midnight to make room for Jay Leno. Of course, we all know what happened after that, and NBC's treatment of him is illustrated through network suits doing to him what the mob did to James Caan in "The Godfather"; they blew him away with a barrage of machine guns. Seeing Conan getting blown away reminds you what a skilled physical comedian he can be.

From there, we watch as he skulks around his home (looks like it's in North Hollywood) while his wife and 14 kids beg him to get a job, but his stints as a Burger King employee and a clown for children's parties do nothing to stop him from talking about the musical guests he had on "The Tonight Show" like Pearl Jam. Just as he's about to jump off a bridge, he is stopped by his fairy godmother who is none other than Larry King. It's an inspired choice to have the departing CNN talk show host be the one to tell Conan that basic cable is the way to go. It's certainly done Larry well for a number of years!

The set for "Conan" is not the same lavish one that O'Brien used for "The Tonight Show." It's actually a lot smaller and more intimate, and even he pointed out that there is no barrier between him and the audience. Conan went out of his way to shake hands and hug some of the audience members to where you wonder if they were a little freaked out by him. And whereas most talk shows have that backdrop that overlooks the city the host is broadcasting from, Conan has one that looks over the ocean with a gigantic moon hovering over the dark waters. I guess you could say it is somewhat symbolic of the way NBC kicked him to curb. In the process, that pushed him off land and into the sea. At least Conan has a cool remote controller to move the moon around all over the stage!

It's great to see so many familiar faces back alongside Conan on his new show, especially Andy Richter. Seeing him join Conan on his brief stint with "The Tonight Show" sort of brought everything around full circle. Andy originally left "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" early on to pursue other career opportunities, and while many of them didn't work out (some of which were actually very good), him coming back as the sidekick to the redheaded Irish man should never ever be considered a career setback.

The one person who is notably missing from "Conan" is of course Max Weinberg who was O'Brien's bandleader from the beginning of it all. From what I have heard, him going through open heart surgery and the fact that his family was still on the east coast figured heavily in his decision to step down. While we miss Max, guitarist Jimmy Vivino laid down some groovy tunes along with the Basic Cable Band, so it looks like musically the show will be in good shape.

In terms of show highlights, one of them featured a segment on characters from Conan's past shows that are apparently being used by NBC. We watched as the masturbating bear picked out the winning numbers for the Maryland State Lottery, and those numbers came from the part of his body he can't ever stay away from. There was also a great little bit from Ricky Gervais who did a video congratulating Conan on his new show at TBS, and then he did another take sort of as protection in case things didn't work out there. Then Ricky did an additional one in which he congratulated Conan on his new show on satellite radio. After seeing what happened on NBC with "The Tonight Show," all of Conan's friends must feel the need to be prepared for anything.

As for the winner of Conan O'Brien's "rigged" contest of who would be his first guest on TBS, it turned out to be Arlene Wagner, the same person who opened the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in Washington. She came onstage, gave Conan a present, and then walked off. How about that, she came and went! The first real guest of "Conan" was actually Seth Rogen, very trimmed down after having filmed "The Green Hornet" which opens in January 2011. Watching him and Lea Michele from "Glee" talk with Conan got a little exasperating as both were overly excited for Conan and for themselves being on his 2^nd annual first episode. It was worth it though to hear Seth talk about proposing to his longtime girlfriend while "her boobs were hanging out."

Actually, the real highlight of the premiere episode was watching Conan O'Brien jam with White Stripes guitarist Jack White to a song they wrote together while on the "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny" tour. I'm not sure if there is another talk show host out there who gets up onstage and plays guitar with his guests like Conan. It was also not some stupid song that anyone could have put together; it was a hard pumping rock and roll and blues fusion tune that got the audience revved up and people at home jumping out of their seat.

Not everything about the series premiere of "Conan" was perfect, but we can't dismiss the show just on the basis of the first episode. But it was great fun to see Conan O'Brien back to what he was doing so well on NBC. His much publicized move to TBS might just be the best thing that happened to him. Those demographics that tuned into "The Tonight Show" when Jay Leno was on never did get the chance to warm up to Conan. It does suck that he no longer hosts that show and that Jay Leno snatched it back from him, but what is done is done, and even O'Brien would say that. We all need to move on now, and Conan has done that without losing anything in the transition.

I have not even bothered watching "The Tonight Show" since Jay Leno came back on it. I never even get around to watching David Letterman which is unfortunate, and I owe it to myself to watch Jimmy Kimmel every once in awhile. At this point, Conan O'Brien is the only reason why I bother to watch late night television, and that's saying a lot.

Welcome back Conan!

See also:

Conan Out, Jay Back In. No Justice at NBC

The Last Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien