The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien Review

On,June 1, 2009 at 11:30 pm EDT, The Tonight Show changed hosts for only the fifth time in history.  How significant is that.  Well, The Tonight Show began in 1954 with the legendary Steve Allen as host.  How long ago was that?  That was 55 years ago. FIFTY-FIVE.  In all that time, it has been hosted by Allen, then Jack Paar starting in 1957, then Johnny Carson in 1962.  It was Carson, of course, who turned the show into an institution and he is the yard stick by which all other talk show hosts are measured.  Carson turned it over to Jay Leno in 1992, and now, 17 years later, Leno moves to prime time and the man who used to write jokes for The Simpsons becomes the fifth man to host The Tonight Show.  His first night wasn't too shabby.  Wasn't great, either.

Mr. O'Brien, of course, was shoved into the limelight all those years ago when Letterman abdicated the Late, Late Show on NBC and bolted to the 11:30 slot on CBS, where he has been the defacto king of late night ever since.  Never mind Leno's ratings wins.  We all know a lot of people kept watching The Tonight Show because it IS The Tonight Show, and not because of Jay Leno.  Leno got the ratings, but Letterman got the Emmys and the respect.  Jay did nothing to embarrass the legacy of Johnny Carson, but he didn't make it better, either. In fact, The Tonight Show under Jay Leno was, in my humble opinion, a mere shell of its former self.

On the Late, Late Show Conan morphed from a nervous and unskilled noob into a more than competent interviewer with an edgy show that took chances and genuinely entertained.  In fact, he became so good at it, NBC decided to force Leno into prime-time and give Conan the reigns of The Tonight Show so he wouldn't bolt the network when his contract was up.  Of course, Leno was given the Monday-Friday 10 pm slot for the very same reason.

So, with perhaps as much fanfare as the night Leno took over for Carson, Conan O'Brien debuted his version of The Tonight Show on Monday, June 1st, 2009.  The New York based comedian moved himself to the west coast and a brand new set, built just for him at Universal Studios.

The show opened with O'Brien sitting in his office, checking off things on his  to-do list, 20 minutes prior to going on stage.  Unfortunately he sees he's forgotten an item.  --Move to California.  What follows is an amusing clip of Conan sprinting across county to his new home accompanied by Cheap Trick's "Surrender".

Climaxing the bit by driving a bulldozer into the building, we are taken to the set.  And a gorgeous, spacious set it is.  If you remember Johnny Carson's set, this one is eerily similar, with the desk and couch far stage left and the band (Max Wienberg and what is now called "The Tonight Show Band"), far right, with the band member sitting behind individual podiums.  O'Brien enters stage center to thunderous applause.

After introducing the returning Andy Richter (who acted much like Ed McMahon did with Carson, guffawing at every Conan joke), and his band, he launches the talk show staple, his monologue with this joke:

"Well, I've timed this moment perfectly. I'm on a last place network, I moved to a state that's bankrupt, and tonight's show is sponsored by General Motors."  Not bad.

O'Brien was nervous, paccing about and clasping his hands a lot, and why wouldn't he be?  The man is talented but he's now entered a surreal place that can only be imagined.  Almost all his jokes centered around his new show and digs, so we didn't get a feel for how his monologue might normally go.  He did give us a couple of nice bits about is car and leading a tour of Universal Studios.  Both were good for a few laughs.

His guests were Will Ferell, who, of course upstaged everyone, and Pearl Jam who pretty much rocked the house.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Conan O'Brien is now treading where only four other men trod before him.  He was more amusing than funny this first night, but he was personable and had presence.  The set is magnificent. (I hated Jay Leno's set), and since O'Brien had a big hand in designing it, you can tell he wanted to respect The Tonight Show's legacy. I think he did that.  His interviewing style is off-beat and his sense of humor far edgier than Leno's.  He got off to a solid, if unspectacular start.  I think he might turn out to be a better fit than Jay ever was, but time will tell.  For now, Dave is the man, but based on tonight, if O'Brien settles in good, he will come closer to achieving the greatness of Carson than the host he replaced.  GRADE: C+