When Conan O’Brien took over hosting duties on The Tonight Show almost two years ago, there was little pressure to succeed immediately. Or at least that’s what we thought. Historically, a late night gig is one you settle into. It takes time to transition to an earlier timeslot that caters to a wider demographic. The suits are shinier, the guest stars are bigger and the atmosphere is more formalized. But as we know, that transition period for Conan never happened. He was unceremoniously booted, and now he’s found his way onto cable, network television’s freewheeling, zany younger sister. In many ways, it’s the right fit for Conan’s off-brand, goofy humor, but with it, comes an entirely new set of pressures. Just as Coco was never truly given a transition period with The Tonight Show, the time to achieve is now on TBS. He has to succeed immediately before advertisers sour and his budget is cut. Will Conan be a viable third alternative to Letterman and Leno, or will he be a nice alternative to The Daily Show? No doubt he’ll put up solid numbers this week, but can a talk show on TBS viably compete with NBC and CBS? We’ll know within a few months, but if tonight is any indication, the answer is a resounding yes.
This evening’s debut episode wasn’t the best we’ve seen from the wild-haired host, nor was it the edgiest or funniest, but it did outline a useable, familiar, yet distinctly Conan format that can thrive opposite Letterman’s smug high-brow schtick and Leno’s everyman approach. I suspect some of Conan’s ardent Twitter supporters may be a little disappointed at how inside the box he played it, but that short-sighted perspective fails to account for the base he now has to play to. Conventional wisdom would suggest cable offers the perfect medium for Conan to dance and sing and go off on wacky tangents, but at the end of the day, for a late night show to truly blossom, it has to be about attracting high-level guests and addressing important daily topics. With Seth Rogen leading the charge and a monologue that included references to the oil spill, Brett Favre’s penis and Conan’s own return to late night, the affable host accomplished both, and threw in dancing, singing and wacky tangents to boot.
The evening started with a look back at last season on Conan. He was fired, then gunned-down in a Godfather homage. His fake wife and fourteen kids, furious about his employment, implored him to get a new job. He tried working for Don Draper, then Burger King and then a stint as a clown before TBS rode in and wooed him with promises of “less money”. Like the epic introduction to Conan’s stint on The Tonight Show, this initial preamble is sure to blow up on YouTube. It was genius and just the right level of goofy to set viewers at ease. What followed was a little more in line with what we might expect to see on a nightly basis. The evening’s monologue mostly addressed his firing and subsequent move to TBS, but the new bearded Conan had a slightly different look about him, beyond just the scruffiness. You can’t go through what he’s gone through the last year and not let it affect your outlook. Conan is still the same scatter-brained dude that miraculously ended up with a late night show almost two decades ago, but there’s a reserve about him now. Just as David Letterman debuted on CBS with a little more pessimism, Conan has gone through the fires of network hell and emerged with a little jade to his smile. I like it. It’s a little more stately, but then again, I’ve always preferred clever to brash.
After the monologue, Conan progressed into the interview portion of the show, first chatting with Seth Rogen and then Glee’s Lea Michele. Rogan said “shit” a few times, Conan inserted his face into those obnoxious Glee pictorials for GQ and all went just about as you’d expect from a seasoned late night host with almost twenty years of interview experience. And then Jack White showed up. Conan got out his guitar, and we were all reminded of why the giant redhead is such a refreshing late night alternative. Singing, laughing and ultimately telling a story about hanging out with the White Stripes frontman in a bowling alley before he was famous, Conan shined as the likeable, good-natured guy many of us had gone to sleep listening to for years. He may not be as sharp or pointed as Letterman or as formulaic and easy-to-digest as Leno, but he’s Conan, goddamnit. And even though he’s got a beard and a little fuck-you to his step now, he’s still the same dude that giggles inappropriately and showcases a masturbating bear. Yes, that stupid bear was back tonight, and I couldn’t help but smile. He’s what makes Conan, Conan. He’s the last link to the Saturday Night Live writer who tried to say penis one hundred times in one sketch.
Tonight’s debut episode of Conan didn’t crush expectations. It was good. More importantly, it was solid. This format, regardless of whether it’s on NBC or TBS, can work. It can be that viable third alternative we’ve been searching for, but it has to move forward using this model. Devoted viewers would rather see more dancing, more Andy Richter interjections, and yes, more of the masturbating bear, but what Conan really needs to be successful is more of what we saw with Jack White. Conan’s the host that randomly decides to jam with the guests. He’s the one that tells stories about hanging out in a bowling alley, and deep down, you love it because you know he really did hang out with a not yet famous Jack White in a fucking bowling alley. Conan has always been the alternative late night host, but in order to succeed, in order for my mother and your aunt and my boss’ step-uncle to flip over from Letterman, he has to be a late night host first, regardless of whether basic cable gives him the freedom to say “shit”. Seth Rogen said “shit” three times during his interview. After the last one, Conan said “we get it, it’s cable. You can swear. You don’t need to abuse it.” That means he gives a shit about what my mother and your aunt and my boss’ step-uncle think, and that’s why tonight’s episode was a raging success. That’s why I think people will watch, beard, jaded perspective and all.
