[hyteckit]

I stopped watching late night.

Now I'm just watching Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert online.

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I also think Conan needs to do more jokes about eggs.

How about more awkward dancing while telling egg jokes?

[Brien]

Watching it now. It's like he never left.

I miss Max Weinberg, though.

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I also think Conan needs to do more jokes about eggs.

I don't think the infertile female crowd would enjoy that.

[Lateralus]

TBS must have done something to Andy. He's funny again.

[The Final Dakar]

Somewhat random comment, but amazing set. Looks like they wanted to give Conan the Tonight Show feel still.

Otherwise, nothing too special going on. The extra guest segment instead of the extra comedy segment kinda sucks.

Weirdest of all was it felt like it picked up right where his last Tonight Show left off, right down to him playing with the musical guest at the end.

Also, the name "Basic Cable Band" seems played already. It's beating a dead joke that we all know will be beaten to death in the coming months to utter pulp.

[ort888]

So it's the exact same format... again.

Why does the world need 10 shows that have the exact same formula?

[The Final Dakar]

They think it "works".

Never mind that the most viewed late night program for October has a completely different format.

[Lateralus]

The Daily Show is completely different? How? Aside from being half the length, it pretty much uniformly follows the monologue>guest[>guest]>goodbye formula. Being politically centric doesn't in and of itself equate to having a different formula.

The Daily Show had a unique format, but you'll have to dig all the way back to Kilborn to really see it.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Lateralus 

The Daily Show is completely different? How? Aside from being half the length, it pretty much uniformly follows the monologue>guest[>guest]>goodbye formula. Being politically centric doesn't in and of itself equate to having a different formula.

The Daily Show had a unique format, but you'll have to dig all the way back to Kilborn to really see it.

It breaks down the news in a completely different format, frequently uses a correspondent (rather than Stewart) for its second segment, and the guest is pinned at the end, so once he comes on I don't have to worry about ever coming back.

[Lateralus]

Hmmm. I can understand why TBS reached for the cookie cutter. As they say; better the devil you know...

Taking on Conan ($) and supporting him as much as they knew they were going to need to ($) was a big gamble in itself. Why risk diminishing the payoff by doing anything other than luring in his throngs of fans with something they're used to and, more importantly, love him for already?

If you wanna try something new, you don't recruit old guard (which Conan is now), you go with somebody new. Somebody that wont have expectations set upon them by the audience before their first show even airs.

[ort888]

It's completely different. I mean, yeah, it's one guy talking at you, but it's just not the same at all.

It's 100% centered on the news/current events. And not pop culture news and celebrities. It has extended segments where the various anchors go and investigate small stories.

I mean, there are some similarities, but the subject matter is completely different.

[Lateralus]

Don't get me wrong - I love the Daily Show and watch it online daily. But I tend to think that any differences between it and its more traditional competition stem from its much shorter run time and a choice to go extremely topical. And having a blue screened 'live report' isn't really that different from Conan driving his desk through city streets.

Jon Stewart is a comedian. Comedians are topical. Conan is not a comedian and never was. He is an entertainer.

Topical, snarky monologues aren't entertainment to a lot of people, particularly not network primetime viewers.

I'll also say, before people pile onto Conan too heavily for continuing his routine, that Conan is half the reason shows like The Daily Show were green lit in the first place. 20 years out, it's easy to accuse Conan of playing it safe, but he spent a good number of years proving that a smart ass with oddball humor can host a successful late night show.

[The Final Dakar]

The irony being that the mainstays of the old talk show format don't play to Conan's strength (I may have said this just yesterday, too lazy to check). But I agree with Lateralus, of course TBS is going to go that route, that's the format he got those ratings with on his way out. I just hope they allow the show to evolve a little if they have some new ideas.

[Brien]

The biggest thing I'm hoping to see is that being on cable will allow him to return to the edgier humor of Late Night.

[The Final Dakar]

Conan O'Brien grabs 4.2 million viewers in TBS premiere | Show Tracker | Los Angeles Times

The 11 p.m. "Conan" rounded up 4.2 million total viewers, according to early data from the Nielsen Co. That soared straight past NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.5 million) and CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" (3.4 million), both of which start at 11:35 p.m. Perhaps of more interest to late-night connoisseurs, however, was that in head-to-head competition during his hour-long time slot, "Conan" put a serious dent in the "Comedy Central" power block of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (1.3 million) and "The Colbert Report" (1 million). Last Monday, "Daily Show" delivered 1.9 million viewers.

Best news of all for TBS? The youth of the "Conan" audience, which makes it a relatively easy sell for advertisers. The median age of the O'Brien viewer was 30, which is music to a marketer's ear. By comparison, the comparable figure for "Daily Show" was 38. For "Tonight," it was a relatively ancient 59. For "Letterman," it was 53. A more stark illustration of the generational dynamics among the various talk shows cannot be found.

The article goes on to point out that this doesn't mean shit for the long run.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Brien 

The biggest thing I'm hoping to see is that being on cable will allow him to return to the edgier humor of Late Night.

Interesting side question: Seth Rogen swore a few times last night, but I wasn't paying enough attention to discern what the beeped words were. Last time I checked cable was ok with saying "shit" after 10 pm, but maybe only on fictional programs?

Just sayin' a late night talkshow where they can give some more expletives than usual would be nice.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Interesting side question: Seth Rogen swore a few times last night, but I wasn't paying enough attention to discern what the beeped words were. Last time I checked cable was ok with saying "shit" after 10 pm, but maybe only on fictional programs?

Just sayin' a late night talkshow where they can give some more expletives than usual would be nice.

Technically TBS doesn't have to bleep anything, so it's really up to that network's execs.

[The Final Dakar]

I'm aware. I'm kind of pointing out the fiction vs. non-fiction program taboo, seeing if anybody can think of any exceptions.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

The article goes on to point out that this doesn't mean *beep* for the long run.

It's 4PM. Fixed.

[Captain Obvious]

Seth Rogan as a first guest = fail

With all the good will Conan supposedly has in LA he should have been able to score someone more notable and less of an idiot. Rogan was simultaneously annoying and uncomfortable to watch.

The start and the end of last night were the only parts that were memorable.

[andi*pandi]

Somewhere in the last year comcast decided I didn't need TBS anymore.

[ajprice]

Yes folks, its a thread resurrection. I haven't read all of this thread, I don't watch any of the American talk shows over here, but I do generally know what happened to Conan last year. This is Conan making the 2011 Dartmouth College commencement speech to the graduates

YouTube - ‪Conan O'Brien's 2011 Dartmouth College Commencement Address‬‏

IMO a great, funny and wise speech. Well done.