After nine long, tragic, sleepless months without my Conesy fix, tonight marked the return of television's most recently screwed former late night King to his rightful throne...or rather, to a much lower paying basic cable semi-equivalent. The bright side of this tragic turn of events is that TBS won't expect high ratings for the show, and will give Conan all the freedom he wants to go a little crazy.
And that's exactly what he does tonight, opening with a "Last Season on Conan" montage that summarizes his battle with NBC, complete with the full hit squad that brutally attempts to assassinate him, and a look at his rock bottom job search that takes him from the office of Don Draper circa 1965 (where he's told he has no experience, and is two), to Burger King, a short stint as a party clown, and finally to near suicide before he is rescued by taking the advice of his still living Guardian Angel, Larry King. The bit is vintage Conan, and is every bit as funny as any opener I could have hoped for.
The rest of the episode falls a little flat by comparison, though to be fair pretty much anything would. The monologue was mediocre, and the "Completely Rigged First Guest Contestant" was a funny bit that was a little rushed for my taste. Seth Rogen was very fun to watch, and Lea Michele was very fun to look at, but neither interview sizzled like Conan at his best. That's not to say either was anything short of very entertaining though, full of the absurd asides and hilarious interplay that Conan brings to every interview. And watching Conan perform with musical guest Jack White was nothing short of stupendous. Conan is an incredibly talented individual, and where The Tonight Show squandered his best qualities, it looks like Conan will let him put them on full display.
The new set is a little blah, with a mediocre painting of a shockingly flat ocean, but it has a moving moon, which I hope will be used for jokes for a long time coming (after prognosticating that I'd be watching Conan on The Tonight Show for years to come last June, I think I'll stay vague this time), but Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band are solid, and Andy Richter is as hysterical as ever, with a much better first outing tonight than he was given by the Nazis in charge of NBC last year. I'm sure there will be criticisms of the show for not reinventing the wheel now that Conan has more freedom, but I never expected Conan to be anything other than a less controlled replica of his other shows, and I'm satisfied just to have him back doing what he does best. At the end of the day this was a very solid premiere to a show that seems primed to showcase the multi-talented, completely insane, always hysterical Conan Obrien, and hopefully in a place that will appreciate him and treat him with the respect and admiration he rightly earns on a nightly basis.
Grade: B+
Notes:
-Obviously I won't be covering Conan on a nightly basis, but I may check in on it a few months down the road to weigh in on how its developed, especially considering most late night shows get much better after they find their footing. If this idea interests you, please feel free to comment and let me know.
-A very funny Ricky Gervais cameo as he recorded various messages to document his predicted downward trajectory for Conan.
Showing posts with label Conan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conan. Show all posts
Monday, November 8, 2010
Sam's Review: CONAN
So let's get this out of the way first--reviewing the first episode of a late-night talk show is pretty a futile as the first show (for that matter the first week of shows) will look drastically different than what Conan's new show will really look like. Now, how was the first episode of CONAN? It was great. First because comedy nerds across America got their late-night champion back and second because it generated laugh out loud comedy.
The opening to the episode was probably the funniest bit of the night. With a Sonny Corleone-esque sendoff from NBC, Conan had to being looking for work. Thankfully he applies to SCDP and Don Draper has none of it because Conan would only be two years old. For the record, Jon Hamm cameos are welcome at any time anywhere.
Of course, Conan takes the deal with TBS and gets shot up again by NBC hoodlums. I got chills when Conan walked out from backstage as he was introduced by Andy Richter. Now walking to his star with Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, Conan O'Brien looked at home. Conan's monologue was solidly funny but the most noticeable change was that he could actually walk up and touch the audience (which he did frequently). He also walked around quite a bit which was a bit disconcerting but I could see myself get used to it. In fact it seemed more in line with his monologue MO as he usually loves to jump off frame.
One of the other hilarious bits of the night was a recorded message from Ricky Gervais that predicted his next downfall, and the few fumbles after that. Conan introduced his "winner" of the first guest poll and it was a nice old lady who was the curator of a nutcracker museum. This was a bit of a dud though it was comfortably familiar crazy Conan fare.
As for the night's guests, Seth Rogen was what he always is--funny and crass yet somehow charming. Lea Michelle was a bit of a thorn in the side but we shouldn't expect more of a Glee castmember. The show was capped off wonderfully with Conan joining Jack White in a song recorded for the album the pair made together earlier this year. It was fun and showed off O'Brien's pretty sweet guitar skills.
The problem is this episode is not very representative of what the show will be. In fact it wasn't a perfect episode. Conan fumbled some intros and outros a bit and was a bit overconcerned about Rogen saying "shit" on the air. Hopefully Conan can embrace the fact that he's on cable and use it to his comedic advantage. People made the argument that when Conan took over The Tonight Show that he'd have to be toned down. Well, he's on cable now so that should not be an issue. This late night endeavor should make for an interesting experiment in whether the format can thrive outside of network television. Yes, I know George Lopez has done it for a year or so, but Conan's the first Major League late-night talent to make the venture. One thing is for sure though, it's great to see Conan O'Brien back on my TV. Maybe the best part of the premier was knowing that he'd be on again tomorrow night.
A
Observations:
-It seems as though the masturbating bear has returned! Great news since this seemingly means that Conan has some rights to his old characters and bits though time will tell there.
-Conan displayed his most valuable asset during his interview with Lea Michelle, his ability to think on his feet and make funny of an awkward situation. When something backstage made a startling sound he pulled the biggest laugh of the interview out of it.
-Conan's "getting shot repeatedly by machine gun" was hilarious, the funniest thing I'd seen all night.
-Good to see Andy function as sidekick again rather than awkward podium guy.
-Conan's back on tv, just wanted to throw that out there again.
The opening to the episode was probably the funniest bit of the night. With a Sonny Corleone-esque sendoff from NBC, Conan had to being looking for work. Thankfully he applies to SCDP and Don Draper has none of it because Conan would only be two years old. For the record, Jon Hamm cameos are welcome at any time anywhere.
Of course, Conan takes the deal with TBS and gets shot up again by NBC hoodlums. I got chills when Conan walked out from backstage as he was introduced by Andy Richter. Now walking to his star with Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, Conan O'Brien looked at home. Conan's monologue was solidly funny but the most noticeable change was that he could actually walk up and touch the audience (which he did frequently). He also walked around quite a bit which was a bit disconcerting but I could see myself get used to it. In fact it seemed more in line with his monologue MO as he usually loves to jump off frame.
One of the other hilarious bits of the night was a recorded message from Ricky Gervais that predicted his next downfall, and the few fumbles after that. Conan introduced his "winner" of the first guest poll and it was a nice old lady who was the curator of a nutcracker museum. This was a bit of a dud though it was comfortably familiar crazy Conan fare.
As for the night's guests, Seth Rogen was what he always is--funny and crass yet somehow charming. Lea Michelle was a bit of a thorn in the side but we shouldn't expect more of a Glee castmember. The show was capped off wonderfully with Conan joining Jack White in a song recorded for the album the pair made together earlier this year. It was fun and showed off O'Brien's pretty sweet guitar skills.
The problem is this episode is not very representative of what the show will be. In fact it wasn't a perfect episode. Conan fumbled some intros and outros a bit and was a bit overconcerned about Rogen saying "shit" on the air. Hopefully Conan can embrace the fact that he's on cable and use it to his comedic advantage. People made the argument that when Conan took over The Tonight Show that he'd have to be toned down. Well, he's on cable now so that should not be an issue. This late night endeavor should make for an interesting experiment in whether the format can thrive outside of network television. Yes, I know George Lopez has done it for a year or so, but Conan's the first Major League late-night talent to make the venture. One thing is for sure though, it's great to see Conan O'Brien back on my TV. Maybe the best part of the premier was knowing that he'd be on again tomorrow night.
A
Observations:
-It seems as though the masturbating bear has returned! Great news since this seemingly means that Conan has some rights to his old characters and bits though time will tell there.
-Conan displayed his most valuable asset during his interview with Lea Michelle, his ability to think on his feet and make funny of an awkward situation. When something backstage made a startling sound he pulled the biggest laugh of the interview out of it.
-Conan's "getting shot repeatedly by machine gun" was hilarious, the funniest thing I'd seen all night.
-Good to see Andy function as sidekick again rather than awkward podium guy.
-Conan's back on tv, just wanted to throw that out there again.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Sam's Review: The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
Conan O’Brien is the host of The Tonight Show. I’ve been waiting a long time to say that. Or in this case, write it. Anyway, the big question about Conan is how he would change with his move to LA and to a timeslot that’s an hour earlier. Guess what? None of those questions were answered in the premier, and the really couldn’t have been answered. The first week of Conan’s Tonight Show will likely be aimed largely at getting new viewers. I’m sure the producers behind the show are well aware of the die-hard Conan fan-base (which I am proudly apart of) that will gladly move to the earlier hour. Conan’s job at during the infant stage of his show is to let people in on the secret and that most likely means, turning down the crazy, just for a bit.
The show opened with a great bit where Conan is twenty minutes from the start of the show when he realizes he forgot to move to LA. So naturally when he can’t catch a cab, he decides to run the length of the country, in 20 minutes. I think watching Conan run, who is comprised of 75% legs and 25% hair, is comedy gold on its own. This is really an introduction to the wild world of Conan O’Brien. I’m not sure if there is any recorded evidence of Jay Leno running anywhere. Conan let people know he’s different. He’ll run across the country, he’ll swim with his suit on and run across Wrigley Field.
The rest of the show seemed to also be an intro to what Conan does best. He started with an awkward monologue (always Late Night’s weakest part) where Conan would often be self deprecating. He showed his shitty 1992 Ford Taurus (which fans of the show have seen on numerous occasions), he showed his shitty seats at the Lakers game and he showed how absurdly stupid it was to steal the D in the Hollywood sign (which turned from a shitty joke to a funny joke when they broke the D, the faces were priceless). Max Weinberg returns with the same band but now they’re Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band. You can tell the show is taking it slow with introducing everything because there was really zero banter between Max and Conan or Andy and
Conan or quips about La Bamba (be patient, it will come).
My guess is it will take about a month before this show can really be defined. This show had the luxury of a funny guest (Will Ferrell) and Conan did not need to show off his aptitude for quick thinking funny interviews. Conan did a pretty funny remote segment where he went on one of those stupid tram rides at Universal. I’d say the bit was pretty funny. I think it will take some before the show seems less like a television event and more a part of the week. I felt as though I was watching Conan host an awards show or some sort of anniversary special. For it to fell commonplace like with the old show it will take a bit. The show’s first musical guest was Pearl Jam and I didn’t really care at all (as I often don’t for musical guests on talk shows). So to give the show a grade seems a bit ridiculous because this was a special episode it has been planned for months and doesn’t feel really natural yet and Conan is still introducing himself to the rest of America. I think we should review the show a year from now to see how it’s grown but since we grade here, this is what I think:
B+
Notes: Man, has Andy been working on his announcer voice, he sounded nothing like himself in the opening. When he started talking to Conan he went back to that kind of child-like giggle voice he has.
-Can’t wait for the standards to come back (Triumph, Masturbating Bear I hope, random F-List celebrities making appearances this was previously Abe Vigoda’s job)
-That new set is fucking gorgeous; they hit it out of the park.
-Liked the classic NBC peacock at the beginning I hope they keep that.
-I also was expecting a different opening song for the new show but it is kinda comforting to hear the old song.
-As stated before, patience is important. I believe Conan is gonna tone it down to reel some people in and then he’s gonna be able to do more of what he wants.
The show opened with a great bit where Conan is twenty minutes from the start of the show when he realizes he forgot to move to LA. So naturally when he can’t catch a cab, he decides to run the length of the country, in 20 minutes. I think watching Conan run, who is comprised of 75% legs and 25% hair, is comedy gold on its own. This is really an introduction to the wild world of Conan O’Brien. I’m not sure if there is any recorded evidence of Jay Leno running anywhere. Conan let people know he’s different. He’ll run across the country, he’ll swim with his suit on and run across Wrigley Field.
The rest of the show seemed to also be an intro to what Conan does best. He started with an awkward monologue (always Late Night’s weakest part) where Conan would often be self deprecating. He showed his shitty 1992 Ford Taurus (which fans of the show have seen on numerous occasions), he showed his shitty seats at the Lakers game and he showed how absurdly stupid it was to steal the D in the Hollywood sign (which turned from a shitty joke to a funny joke when they broke the D, the faces were priceless). Max Weinberg returns with the same band but now they’re Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band. You can tell the show is taking it slow with introducing everything because there was really zero banter between Max and Conan or Andy and
Conan or quips about La Bamba (be patient, it will come).
My guess is it will take about a month before this show can really be defined. This show had the luxury of a funny guest (Will Ferrell) and Conan did not need to show off his aptitude for quick thinking funny interviews. Conan did a pretty funny remote segment where he went on one of those stupid tram rides at Universal. I’d say the bit was pretty funny. I think it will take some before the show seems less like a television event and more a part of the week. I felt as though I was watching Conan host an awards show or some sort of anniversary special. For it to fell commonplace like with the old show it will take a bit. The show’s first musical guest was Pearl Jam and I didn’t really care at all (as I often don’t for musical guests on talk shows). So to give the show a grade seems a bit ridiculous because this was a special episode it has been planned for months and doesn’t feel really natural yet and Conan is still introducing himself to the rest of America. I think we should review the show a year from now to see how it’s grown but since we grade here, this is what I think:
B+
Notes: Man, has Andy been working on his announcer voice, he sounded nothing like himself in the opening. When he started talking to Conan he went back to that kind of child-like giggle voice he has.
-Can’t wait for the standards to come back (Triumph, Masturbating Bear I hope, random F-List celebrities making appearances this was previously Abe Vigoda’s job)
-That new set is fucking gorgeous; they hit it out of the park.
-Liked the classic NBC peacock at the beginning I hope they keep that.
-I also was expecting a different opening song for the new show but it is kinda comforting to hear the old song.
-As stated before, patience is important. I believe Conan is gonna tone it down to reel some people in and then he’s gonna be able to do more of what he wants.
Jordan's Review: The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien
Since 2004 I have been waiting for Conan to ascend from Late Night to his rightful place atop the throne of after hours entertainment: The Tonight Show. Last night I finally got my wish. Conan stepped up to the plate, and true to form, he didn’t disappoint.
The show opened with a humorous, if expected, montage of Conan charging from New York, across America to his new home in Los Angeles, to the tune of the surprisingly apt “Surrender” by Cheap Trick. Conan assured us from the very first moment that he would not “give himself away” just because he was on an hour earlier. No, Conan is going to be as wild and wacky as ever, and middle America can just learn to deal with it.
After a bit of classic Conan monologuing (with his standard “zany motions”, dancing at the crowd before mocking their zeal) he brought out another classic bit in which he gives some Universal Studios attendees a tour, Conesy style. With his hilarious overreactions, excellent chanting of “Circle!” and awesome drive through the streets of L.A. this sketch showed an example of what I hope the new tonight show will be.
Not every one of Conan’s bits tonight fired on all cylinders, however. The Lakers game gag was tired and expected, and I cringed when he made an octomom joke (I don’t think she was ever funny, or really deserving of news coverage. A great number of people aren’t very good at birth control and they don’t get months of fame and bad late-night jokes), yet I was willing to forgive his misses because they were absurdist in a classic Conan sense. I didn’t care that they weren’t the funniest things he’d ever done, because they were done in his way, and that’s the most important thing about the first show: Conan more than proved that he is going to be doing things his way.
His guest on the show was Will Ferrell, who can always be trusted to be a great guest, and he was in rare form tonight. From calling Liza Minelli a commie to giving Conan ridiculous tips about life in lala land, Ferrell worked hard to “not upstage Conan.” Fortunately, Conan can keep up with, and really, surpass, any guest he has, and he met Ferrell quip for quip, showing any new watchers what a capable, and hilarious, interviewer he is.
I usually detest “musical acts” on late night shows, and unless a band I love is on I generally fast forward through them. But tonight I watched Pearl Jam for you, gentle reader (if there is still one of you out there) and I was not too disappointed. They sang a decent (though far from earth-shattering) song and Conan wrapped up the show nicely by thanking friends old and new.
Announcer and side-kick Andy Richter didn’t have a lot to do this first time out, yet he was easily able to coast by on sheer chemistry with Conan, and I’m sure greatness will come out of this duo in the future. And that actually sums up the show for me. While parts of it were less than brilliant, each bit gave me faith that the Conan I have loved for so long would be inhabiting The Tonight Show for years to come. He will still be absurdist. He will still make jokes about his lack of facial hair and his pompadour. He will still focus on bits over a monologue and even over guests. He will still be Conan O’Brien. And at the end of his first show, that is all I could ask for.
Grade: A-
The show opened with a humorous, if expected, montage of Conan charging from New York, across America to his new home in Los Angeles, to the tune of the surprisingly apt “Surrender” by Cheap Trick. Conan assured us from the very first moment that he would not “give himself away” just because he was on an hour earlier. No, Conan is going to be as wild and wacky as ever, and middle America can just learn to deal with it.
After a bit of classic Conan monologuing (with his standard “zany motions”, dancing at the crowd before mocking their zeal) he brought out another classic bit in which he gives some Universal Studios attendees a tour, Conesy style. With his hilarious overreactions, excellent chanting of “Circle!” and awesome drive through the streets of L.A. this sketch showed an example of what I hope the new tonight show will be.
Not every one of Conan’s bits tonight fired on all cylinders, however. The Lakers game gag was tired and expected, and I cringed when he made an octomom joke (I don’t think she was ever funny, or really deserving of news coverage. A great number of people aren’t very good at birth control and they don’t get months of fame and bad late-night jokes), yet I was willing to forgive his misses because they were absurdist in a classic Conan sense. I didn’t care that they weren’t the funniest things he’d ever done, because they were done in his way, and that’s the most important thing about the first show: Conan more than proved that he is going to be doing things his way.
His guest on the show was Will Ferrell, who can always be trusted to be a great guest, and he was in rare form tonight. From calling Liza Minelli a commie to giving Conan ridiculous tips about life in lala land, Ferrell worked hard to “not upstage Conan.” Fortunately, Conan can keep up with, and really, surpass, any guest he has, and he met Ferrell quip for quip, showing any new watchers what a capable, and hilarious, interviewer he is.
I usually detest “musical acts” on late night shows, and unless a band I love is on I generally fast forward through them. But tonight I watched Pearl Jam for you, gentle reader (if there is still one of you out there) and I was not too disappointed. They sang a decent (though far from earth-shattering) song and Conan wrapped up the show nicely by thanking friends old and new.
Announcer and side-kick Andy Richter didn’t have a lot to do this first time out, yet he was easily able to coast by on sheer chemistry with Conan, and I’m sure greatness will come out of this duo in the future. And that actually sums up the show for me. While parts of it were less than brilliant, each bit gave me faith that the Conan I have loved for so long would be inhabiting The Tonight Show for years to come. He will still be absurdist. He will still make jokes about his lack of facial hair and his pompadour. He will still focus on bits over a monologue and even over guests. He will still be Conan O’Brien. And at the end of his first show, that is all I could ask for.
Grade: A-
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