Conan Critique

I didn't realize I missed Conan O'Brien so much until he walked through that curtain on TBS tonight.  A smile instantly came on my face right from the moment the show started with the "Previously on Conan" Godfather video bit, but when I saw the giant red man himself in the studio, I was overjoyed.

I think that the Conan that we saw tonight is similar to the Conan that we saw right after and during the writer's strike (and I'm not just talking about the beard.)  During the writer's strike, Conan had nobody but himself to get through those shows.  Once the writer's strike was over, Conan knew what he could do and his confidence and performance level grew.  After touring the country and seeing just how big Team Coco really is, I think Conan has more confidence by again being forced outside his comfort zone.  Conan didn't hide behind his beard, he came out and had a great time being in front of the cameras and studio audeince again.  The monologue to me was the highlight of the show, which can often be the lowest part of a talk show.  It can be slow, too long, or the current events of the day may not easily lend themselves to humor.  Conan was loose, energetic, and visibly happy to be back.

I think Conan was back better than ever but unfortunately I found some elements on the show to be not as great.

The first problem that I had began before even seeing the show: the guests.  We have known for a little while that Seth Rogan would be Conan's first guest.  I have a firm belief that the first guest on your first show needs to either be hilarious or bring out the best in the host (obviously the best would be a combination of both.)  There are a few problems with Rogan as a first guest.  The first is that he just isn't a great guest.  I have seen Rogan on many talk shows and I never have seen him be great.  He's likable and says a few funny things but he tells stories and doesn't have conversations.  And he talks about weed.  The second problem is that he basically treated the interview like it was another appearance on any other talk show.  He told some stories and then promoted his upcoming movie.  I think a good first guest will talk to the host, especially with the way Conan has been in the news it seems strange not to ask Conan what he's been up to, how he's doing, anything.  The first show should be about the host more than anything.  That's why I actually think that the best guest was Jack White.  Even though White was the musical guest, it showcased Conan's talent and Basic Cable Band.  Then you could tell that he enjoyed talking to White and White had some funny stuff to say.

As I watched Rogan I began to think of guests that Conan has had in the past that would have been excellent, even if they may not have been movie stars.  Here are some of my favorite guests that have already proven that they can be good on talk shows.  Jeff Goldblum, James Lipton, Will Ferrell, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Oprah, Norm McDonald, Tom Hanks (at least he is tomorrow.)  The more I think about it the more that I think James Lipton would have been perfect.  Lipton would have nothing to promote and because he is a skilled interviewer and pretty funny we would have had a funny exchange and learned about Conan in his time off.

My only other problem was the set.  The set seemed to be almost the same as his Tonight show set.  I know a lot of talk show sets are basically the same but my main problem was that the color scheme.  After googling his old set and his new one, it is not immediately evident which is which.  The giant moon and ocean certainly is different from the cityscape but on first glance the colors make the sets seem the same.  I would like to see a visual departure from the old shows and try new colors or take a risk in some way.  I like that there was a new theme song and opening credits sequence and I think the entire look of the show should have been new and different.  It's a small detail, but it matters to me.

Believe it or not: these are two different sets.

At the end of the day though, I think that this is a very exciting time to watch Conan because this is his first time hosting a show that he didn't inherit.  For Late Night he was compared to Letterman and for the Tonight Show it's Carson and Leno.  Now Conan has a great opportunity to do it his way.  I think it's going to be very interesting and I'll definitely keep watching.


Some writer's strike footage.