Conan

After the debacle at The Tonight Show, Conan O'Brien gets a new late night show on basic cable TBS. He gets to return more towards his irreverent show of the past and travel around the globe. In Tonight Show, he was restrained to appeal to middle America. It's not until the last few months when Conan vs Leno turns it into must-see TV. I most appreciate about his new show is a return to happy childishness. There is no need for the false dignity and reverence for the Tonight Show. The new show never got to the level of must-see or social importance but it is still good work. After 11 years, the TV landscape has changed significantly and it's the end of another chapter.

I love conan... He is hilarious.. Much much much much better than every other "talk show" hosts

I've been watching Conan O'Brien for a very long time. I've seen his Late Night show on NBC and even seen a bit of his tenure on The Tonight Show. However, it's his show on TBS where the bulk of my fandom comes from. Conan, even after all these years and during quarantine, still continues to bring the laughs, the heart, and the energy that Late Night should have. At first, I was skeptical when the show moved to a half hour, but it really works.

Conan has that special spark that very few Late Night show hosts have. James Cordon isn't really my thing, Jimmy Fallon is fine, Stephen Colbert is entertaining enough, and I adore John Oliver and Seth Meyers. But it's Conan who keeps me entertained for hours on end. Even in small snippets on YouTube, it's always a guaranteed good time. When it comes to famous talk show hosts, Conan sits comfortably next to David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Johnny Carson, and Regis Philbin as one of the all time greats.

If you haven't seen his show, go to the Team Coco YouTube Channel and check it out next time you flip through the channels.

All hail Conan O'Brien, the king of Late Night.

"Conan" has been on the air now for almost nine months and 100+ shows, so I think a relatively accurate picture can be painted of the future of Conan O'Brien's new venture. As a fan, that picture is regrettably not the masterpiece I was hoping for.

When it was announced that he would be moving to TBS, I had hopes that Conan would do something radically different; re-invent the genre as it were. I was, therefore, sadly disappointed when the first few episodes felt not just like retreads of his "Tonight Show" (which I felt had been lackluster), but lacked the freshness and spontaneity one might expect from being freed of the shackles of broadcast TV. I watched fairly religiously as time progressed, in large part because any Conan is better than no Conan at all. But after a while my viewing tapered off and now I watch it irregularly.

The fundamental problem is that the once wholly original beast of Conan has become the well-oiled machine of Conan. While creativity is still apparent, the surreal nature of his early years where guests would perform in regular skits and odd, strange things happened throughout the entire show have been replaced by "sanctioned" times of zaniness. The show follows such a rigid structure that it feels like a conveyor belt of hilarity where pieces are assembled according to order and design.

And that design is what, in my opinion, inhibits this show from reaching the heights of genius that the old "Late Night" program had. There is a lack of energy and commitment to the sketches that are detrimental to the fun. Add to that that the sketches and characters have become half-baked retreads of old gems (Minty the Candy-cane and Ted Turner excluded) and a seeming desire NOT to break new ground and what you have is a third-generation copy of a once great show.

The technical elements are decent but obviously cheaper. The new theme is catchy but unremarkable. Honestly, the two best ideas have been to make Andy more active and put the desk in the center of the stage. Aside from that, this Conan fan is disappointed. It's not a train wreck of network mandated mainstream mush like his "Tonight Show" was, but it simply cannot reach the heights of it's original predecessor.

The sad reality is that after almost 20 years of this, I doubt Conan would want to change his well-oiled (but less original) machine. And given that he's now on TBS and capable of doing basically whatever he wants, the desire not to embrace change is the most disappointing fact of his new show.

A half hour show is not long enough for a comedy. I loved this show when it was an hour long. Bring it back to an hour long.