Jackson Free Press

I grew up wanting to be Johnny Carson -- I thought he was a comedic genius and I watched more religiously than I imagine most teens did in the 80s. While Jay seems like a nice guy, I never really enjoyed watching him. I was also a fan of Letterman in high school and college and that carries over to today -- if and when I eschew the Roku and decide to watch late night TV, I'll watch Dave, followed by Craig Ferguson, who is easily bests anyone for a monologue in years, perhaps in the history of television. I'll flip to Conan between and after breaks in Ferguson's pre-monologue and monologue.

Conan won a little more respect in our household for the 'Triumph the Insult Comic' bits done during the presidential conventions, which took Triumph from bathroom humor bit to split-a-gut satire. Triumph beat anything I saw from Comedy Central during the conventions, which were tense times given the Palin factor, the hurricanes and the era of the suspended campaign. But I've never been a big fan.

So, imagine my surprise when I decided we needed to rush home last night (yes, that's when we left the office) to make sure we got to see Conan's first show. I was mildly amused at the opening -- the "move to LA" bit was cute, the set has a very retro feel, I was pleased to see that Conan's theme song was the same and I dig Max Weinberg "and the Tonight Show Band."

I was totally confused as to what was going on with Andy Ricker's hair, although I thought it was interesting and amusing to have him to the laugh-sidekick thing with Conan.

I thought it was interesting to see Conan trying to be a little more low-key, with less back and forth with the audience. (Although he did go to his "this is starting to get ugly" line that he uses with the audience in NY.) I don't know if that's a function of the larger studio or if he'll get that groove back -- on Late Night, I thought it was good TV to see him just yell back and forth with the audience. I thought that added a DIY feel to the show.

But, now he's got the Tonight Show -- the venerable institution that Dave always wanted, that Johnny made whole, that Jay turned mushy and flat. Will Conan have the gravitas to bring the Tonight Show to some level of relevance in a Daily Show/Colbert Report world? What do you think?

Previous Commentsshow

I love Conan, but I'm a loser and missed the show last night. I will watch tonight for sure. I always preferred to watch something else while Leno was on, then switch back for Conan. He's just silly and his monologues were funnier.

andi

Jun 2 2009

I've always enjoyed Conan. I really liked the set. It was bright and classy, unlike the new Jimmy Fallon set that looks dingy to me. Conan's skits outside of the studio are always the highlights of his show. Can't wait to see more of those. I do agree, though, that all the network shows face a real challenge to be relevant in the face of Colbert & Stewart. One thing I'd love to see on the new Tonight Show is a greater variety in guests than movie stars promoting their latest movies. One of my favorite parts of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report is the interviews. They bring on varied guests, usually authors, and have real exchanges about ideas that also manage to be hilarious and entertaining. I've seen videos of interviews that Carson did with the guy who wrote 'The Population Explosion.' Imagine Leno or Conan talking about something so controversial while making it accessible and funny!

darren

Jun 2 2009

Darren: Good point; they really do seem to be all about celebrity interviews. It's possible that Johnny so owned the late night spot that he could afford to do some of those interviews he used to do with people who won awards, wrote books, genius kids and so on. I sometimes wonder if the art of talent booking has gone by the wayside as well. One thing to note -- John Stewart is probably the most intelligent, capable and entertaining interviewer on "chat" television today (with apologies to Charlie Rose). Even though his interviews tend to come down a bit on the silly side, if you watch carefully it's clear that he's read the book, seen the documentary, researched the guest...etc., and that he's not just "prepped." He's simply a bright, bright guy who happens to be dangerously funny. (I remember seeing him sub in for Tom Snyder years ago on the Late Late Show and his interviewing skills were out of control.) Conan's interviewing is always dangerously about himself (how much he trills his tongue at the babes or does his 98-lb weakling stuff with macho guests) and it'll be interesting to see if he can get out of the way of his guests on Tonight.

Todd Stauffer

Jun 2 2009

Different strokes for different folks. I can tolerate Conan but he can't touch Jay's monologue. I grew to love Jay. I don't like Letterman and don't count him funny. Conan is likely to get cancelled if he can't do better than last night. He had better get some rappers and dancing girls if he wants to survive. His band leader reminds me of a little boy learning to play and love the drums. I can't stand him either. Bring back Jay and Kevin else I'll start to go to bed early. Some people like the Steelers and some people like the Cowgirls. Some players recently visited the white house and some didn't.

Walt

Jun 2 2009

If I'm answering your question (wasn't that the point?)...I think he did a splendid job. Yes, a bit jerky getting used to the bigger space, the bigger audience, but overall, great first night. If anyone was dealing with jitters, it seems Max Weinberg and his band were. Love them, but they seemed very subdued. I hope to see more interaction with them as Conan had in the late night days. And Walt, Max has been playing for ages and is very capable at his instrument (not "a little boy learning to play and love the drums" - by any stretch of the imagination.)

2599

Jun 2 2009

Yeah Max plays the drums old school, which is why he appears "stiff," - but he is very capable. Otherwise I doubt Bruce Springsteen would have had him in his E Street band for so long. ;)

andi

Jun 2 2009

Never had been much of an O'Brian fan. Don't really watch a lot of late-night TV on the networks anyway.

golden eagle

Jun 2 2009

I fell asleep watching the 10 O'Clock news and missed Conan's debut. I was certainly a fan of Johnny Carson and hated to see him go. I agree with itodd that Carson was a comedic genius.I remember being told by older relatives years ago that Johnny Carson spent some time in Jackson MS during WWII,I believe at Millsaps College,but I don't know if he was there as a Student or as a Comedian. I very much miss the Tonight Show Band,with Doc Severinson,and looked forward to the times when the band was allowed time to play during the show,seeing guest artists such as Buddy Rich,Al Hirt,Pete Fountain,and other greats over the years play with Doc and the band. The Tonight Show Theme Song will always remain within my musical memory.Wasn't Steve Allen the original host of the Tonight Show or was it Jack Parr.

65GTO

Jun 3 2009

itodd, Give me Carson every day of the week. Letterman, I avoid like the plague...unattrative karma and chi Unlike Carson, I have the impression that Letterman consistently had a real mean streak in his interviews and monologues without any empathetic redeeming value. Kinda like Dick Chaney with a teleprompter, rather than a shotgun. Maybe I just always caught Dave at less than his best. Johnny always gave me the impression that he was laughing with his guests and he used his gentleness to communicate respect for his more silly or confused guests. What I find most hopeful about the recent re-invigoration of the talk show are the new formats now on cable in the guise of Stewart, Colbert and yes, William Shatner. I agree with our assessment of Colbert and Stewart, but watch William Shatner once and you may get hooked Shatners's set, and interviewing style are a refreshing improvement over the three minute interviews of network TV. Shatner's 30 minute show is of much higher quality than the one hour to 90 minute fawning format of "The Actors Studio". I am always amazed that the Actor's Studio host invites his guests to provide their favorite expletive. Finally, if anyone really believes that Stewart and Colbert read ALL of those books, they truly don't understand time management or how large, information based organizations, communicate with top executives. Judging from the large staffs credited at the end of each show and on the show websites, the books are probably MOSTLY read by producers and the producers produce executive summaries, taking points and yes, jokes for the "on screen ""talent" to use.

FrankMickens

Jun 3 2009

Itodd, To answer your question I find Conan show to be as intellectually and entertaining light weight as the thickness of his hair flip. I am not trying to be mean with my comment, I am just using a visual reality to illustrate a intellectual reality..in my opinion of course. You were asking for opinions, weren't you?

FrankMickens

Jun 3 2009

William Shatner has a talk show?

Todd Stauffer

Jun 4 2009

Finally, if anyone really believes that Stewart and Colbert read ALL of those books, they truly don't understand time management or how large, information based organizations, communicate with top executives. Judging from the large staffs credited at the end of each show and on the show websites, the books are probably MOSTLY read by producers and the producers produce executive summaries, taking points and yes, jokes for the "on screen ""talent" to use. Good point. What I was trying to communicate is that he seems to take a genuine interest in many of the more serious topics that his guests bring to him, even though he's able to make those same interviews very funny. Other talk show hosts that I've seen seem often to have relatively less interest in the work of their guests. And, yes, I did ask for your opinion. It'll be interesting to see if Conan grows into his job or if he languishes.

Todd Stauffer

Jun 4 2009