Conan O’Brien’s return to TV Monday with his newest program — simply titled “Conan” — proved to be all that Conan fans really wanted: Their gangly, pale, ginger best friend simply returning to where he belongs.
It was a long, laughless nine months with O’Brien legally prohibited from appearing on TV. He toured the states with a variety show that helped tide over those lucky enough to get their hands on a ticket, but late-night television definitely felt the gaping hole accompanying his departure.
That hole was filled last night with the premiere of TBS’s “Conan,” and oddly enough, it almost felt like he had never left.
The opening montage acted to summarize O’Brien’s move from NBC with mafia killings, a failed gig at Burger King and guest appearances from Jon Hamm and Larry King.
It immediately threw to the normal O’Brien stage entrance — string dance and all — announced by Andy Richter and music led by Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band (replacing the departed Max Weinberg).
His opening monologue was loaded with wisecracks about the late-night shakeup and his job security on TBS ("People ask me why I named the show ‘Conan.’ I did it so I'd be harder to replace."). The rest of the show followed in the normal path with two guests (Seth Rogen and Lea Michele from “Glee”) before musical guest Jack White appeared with O’Brien to play the single White produced for O’Brien, “Twenty Flight Rock.”
It was almost surreal how much O’Brien’s return settled so smoothly; it was all vintage Conan — from the jokes to the set — and it didn’t actually feel like he had been off TV for so long.
There was nothing particularly flashy or extravagant about the premiere, and decidedly so. His return was enough, and all his fans ever needed.
Still, the funniest aspect to “Conan” is the idea of TBS execs thinking that I will stick around for “Lopez Tonight.”
The Oklahoma Daily is pleased to provide you the opportunity to share your thoughts about this article. We encourage lively debate on the issues of the day, but we ask you refrain from using profanity or other offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting advertising, or straying from the topic at hand. To comment, you must be a registered user of OUDaily.com. Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register
toastergirl 1 year, 6 months ago
Leno>Conan. I can watch Conan and not laugh once