Conan

I'll have to open with a simple statement, Conan is the King of Late Night. This is a man who's been on the air for more than two decades, with a career spanning from writing for The Simpsons to hosting the Emmys, twice. The show follows of course the historical talk show format, but that's about the only conventional thing about it.

On TBS I feel Conan's much more free to experiment and to express himself, not always to critical acclaim, but certainly to great amusement, showcasing ridiculous gags and segments that often involve cheap costumes, fake infomercials, and props.

Guests are varied, and unlike The Tonight Show, it's not the usual A-listers with boring stories about their dog or diet. While Conan's historical reputation still attracts movie stars to TBS, guests are usually the more interesting middle tier of actors with stronger followings but less popularity.

While on most talk shows people tune in for the guest, Conan is one of the few programs where I tune in for the host. Many times I won't even know who the person being interviewed is, but Conan's effortless humor makes it worth my while to stick around.

His signature style is foolish and self deprecating, but no part of it is dumb. Conan is silly comedy for non silly people, fighting the American standard of Roasts and fake laughter (Cough, Jimmy) with original, heartfelt jokes that aren't shy of hitting back at the jokester.

One overarching reason I'd give to watch this show, beyond the host's intelligence and humor, is that Conan is a class act. Throughout the years I've seen him pay tribute and homage to many comedians, actors and celebrities, and every single time I believed him. If he mourned the death of a colleague, it was because he cared about it, not because it would bring ratings to the network, and that's especially clear in many instances where he paid tribute to comedy greats who the major talk show hosts couldn't care less about like Sid Caesar or Garry Shandling. When Letterman played his last show, Conan told his viewers to switch to his channel and record his slot for later. He's a man of character, which is very hard to come by in Hollywood.

If I could boil down three reasons to watch this show they'd be its wit, its humor and the lovable Andy Richter.

Being a young male; you would think that most Live Television productions would easily bore me. Normally this is the case, but for this exact instance it's not. This show has caused all of your notions to become untrue. Never, in my opinion, has a host been as witty, intellectual, and hilarious as Conan Christopher O'Brien. This show features hilarious bits that have been purposefully made stupid and/or amusing all at once. The interviews are rock-solid, and you as a viewer, never feel displeased or uncomfortable during a single conversation. Plus, if worse comes to worse, Conan just uses his comedic, slapstick improv to shoot down any hint of awkwardness. The greatest component of his show by far, is the series of remotes. Whether it's visiting corporations, or chatting with employees, or even just strolling casually around a city; Conan and his improv are unstoppable when it comes to his comedic effect. Conan, Andy, and the rest of the staff create an amazing environment for viewers alike and that is why this is the most amazing show on television...besides New Girl (because I love Zooey Deschanel as much as Conan, if not more).

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.

I have been a huge Conan fan going on ten years now. Ever since I was in high school and I started watching Late Night. He pretty much had me in stitches every night. The only time I'd check out the competition was if Conan was a repeat, yet I never felt the others really matched up to him.

When Leno announced that he would be giving the Tonight Show to Conan to avoid any confusion as to who was going to succeed Leno, I had a lot of respect for him doing that. (and I could never stand Leno) So then Conan gets the Tonight show and Leno precedes him with a poorly thought out prime time show. We all know what happened next so I won't bore you with the details. I like most people, completely sided with Conan and felt awful that my favourite TV personality was getting a raw deal.

But now Conan is back and it has been close to a year since his new show started airing. I have to admit the first two weeks seemed a bit shaky. Almost like all that was going through Conan's mind was "I don't feel like I should be back on the air. What's going to happen this time?" and I'd say a good chunk of the monologue jokes for the first two weeks were taking jabs at NBC and so on. It was expected of course but it got very tedious and sounded much more like bitterness and complaining and by the end of the first week I was getting sick of hearing it. I kept watching however, remaining hopeful and sure enough, once they got over the initial jitters things started improving greatly, Conan seemed comfortable in his new digs and was back to his old self, almost with a new found confidence that he doesn't have to worry about pleasing anybody but without the arrogance that would lead to laziness. Andy is also much funnier too. I have to admit that I didn't really like him on The Tonight Show (I started watching Conan after Andy had been gone for a while) so my only impressions of him were from Tonight Show and he wasn't really allowed to do much except pipe in with a stupid joke from his podium. Just seemed forced and annoying. Yet now that he's back to his co-hosting duties, I can see why Conan and him are best friends. They have great chemistry and Andy is just as funny as Conan.

While it sucks that Conan had to get screwed over, and that the two-faced, giant-jawed Leno is still allowed to keep the Tonight Show; I must say I like Conan's new show much better than the Tonight Show. While Conan vowed he would not change his style of gags and skits on Tonight show, it was clear he was forced to tone it down and now on TBS Conan seems to have free reign to do the show how he wants and I will continue to watch!

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.