Conan's Return is Modest and Effective

I watched the premier of Conan O'Brien's new late night talk show, Conan, last night, and I must say that I was overall impressed.

Admittedly, I was kind of expecting some sort of epic, over the top premier complete with music and huge celebrity guests and appearances from everyone from Triumph to The Masturbating Bear. (The bear actually does make a brief, humorous appearance.) The debut was led in (brilliantly, in my opinion) by a Family Guy mini-marathon, the perfect show for Conan's demographic to sit through while they watched the countdown timer on the screen tick to zero. The show's opening, an elaborate sketch fictitiously and absurdly recounting Conan's move from NBC to TBS (including, for example, NBC-hired goons attempting to murder O'Brien), seemed to support my initial prediction of grandiose showmanship.



Ultimately, however, Conan and TBS decided to stick with the formula that made Late Night with Conan O'Brien such a big hit in the first place.

The experience of watching Conan was almost identical to that of viewing classic Late Night, complete with improvised banter between O'Brien and Andy Richter (did I mention Andy Richter was on board?), absurdist comedy involving a confused nutcracker museum curator and of course the Masturbating Bear, and those awkward half-in-earnest displays of nervous insecurity that makes Conan O'Brien the accessible TV darling that he is.

The show's guests, Seth Rogen and Lea Michele, were not mega superstars, but people just famous enough for the show to be taken seriously. In fact, George Lopez--who graciously moved his show to midnight eastern time to make room for Conan--had a bigger guest star, Janet Jackson (as well as Antoine Dodson, who honestly is probably more famous than Seth Rogen right now).

The only part of the show that was unlike what we're used to from Conan was the musical performance, featuring Jack White. Conan stepped out from behind the desk to get on stage and perform with White, a friend of his, even going so far as to rock a duet of guitar solos. It wasn't what we are used to from Conan, but it was awesome, so obviously we're going to allow it.

All in all, Conan hasn't missed a beat in his time off. He's back in his element, and I'm excited to see which old Late Night memories he will conjur up, not to mention what new elements we will see in his brand new show.