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.

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

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).

"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.