For the last few months one of the most fascinating subjects of American popular culture has been Conan O'Brien. From his publicized exile from NBC, to his shocking decision to sign with TBS, to his nationwide comedy tour of tears and beers, it seemed like you couldn't go two clicks of the mouse without stumbling onto Coco. As such, he could have done anything on Conan last night. What made it odd, though, was that Conan's return to late night felt a lot like his last return to late night: Funny opening sketch, Andy Richter's terrible announcing skills, a self-referential monologue about his new time slot, Andy Richter's fantastic sidekick banter, then a very rehearsed and very forgettable chit-chat with Will Ferrell. Er, Seth Rogen. Yep, Conan's back!
Yeah, yeah, I know that I sound a little negative, but I can't help it: Conan was disappointing. I mean, O'Brien made multiple references to the fact that he's now on basic cable, but he still treated his show as if it were The Tonight Show. (And yes, I mean that in the worst way possible.) I'm not suggesting that he completely upend the entire format of a talk show -- but then again, why not? Why not take some risks? TBS has invested in Conan for the long haul, there isn't a TBS-version of Leno to worry about -- Conan is going nowhere. Why not differentiate this new show from the old one as much as humanly possible? Or at least for the opening show. There's no precedent for Conan. No pressure to uphold the "standards" of his predecessor. Why not make the first Conan, instead of the tenth incarnation of The Tonight Show?
Conan is, and has been, the story ever since NBC tried to move The Tonight Show back 30 minutes. Perhaps, for his first show, instead of a relentless assault of passive-aggressive jabs at NBC (hold this thought), Conan should have taken the time to reintroduce himself to his audience. Rogen seems like a nice enough guy, but he wasn't the right choice for a first guest. Conan should have chosen someone like Norm MacDonald, someone who would have engaged Conan in conversation and made Conan talk -- not a rehearsed conversation about how Seth Rogen proposed and how we all can't wait to see The Green Hornet in January. I would have much rather seen John Goodman and George Wendt leg wrestle again as they did on Conan's first episode of Late Night. (With that in mind, Conan's all too short conversation with Jack White was fascinating.)
Having said all that, last night's show did have its moments -- it certainly wasn't Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn awkwardly singing "Happy Birthday" to Oliver Hudson on the first episode of Chase's self titled talk show (which premiered one week before Late Night with Conan O'Brien). Conan obviously knows what he's doing; he's a professional and can do this in his sleep. But therein lies the problem: Halfway through the episode it already looked like he was going through the "talk show motions." The opening sketch, featuring an NBC sanctioned Sonny Corleone-style execution was fantastic (and Jon Hamm was too, even though, at least on my television, his makeup seemed...off); it's not surprising that a guy who made his name as a writer on SNL excels at sketch comedy. My hope is that he incorporates more of this style of comedy into his show: Less boring guests, more Conan O'Brien. Most nights Jon Stewart gets away with bringing on an author that most people haven't heard of and it never matters. If the show is good, people will watch.
I've seen some complaints about O'Brien's tendency to still bitch about what happened at NBC. I'm not too concerned about that...yet. This is his first show after a very public breakup with his former employer, he was never going to ignore this fact during episode one. Then again, he did go a little overboard; outside of a Brett Favre penis punchline, every joke during the monologue was related to NBC.
In the end, Conan's first night felt similar to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. Scottie Ferguson was able to "remake" Judy Barton into his fallen love, but their relationship never felt quite right. If Conan wants Conan to be an invigorating success and not just a staid retread of what he's done before, it might be time for him to try on a different type.