Conan (2010)

The first few nights showed O'Brien settling in with his charmingly original humor, which is sophisticated yet twerpily silly. [29 Nov 2010, p.41]

Whatever the case, he and his show are easier to like. The hour flew by, and it seemed much looser, organic and easy-going than anything I saw last year by him on NBC.

Not everything worked, of course, and anyone expecting Conan to reinvent the wheel or drastically shake up the genre is probably disappointed. But if you were simply glad to see his brand of quirky comedy back in late night--and free of the network guardrails--it was cause for celebration.

Conan O'Brien's new show, Conan, finally debuted on TBS last night after months of hype--looking pretty much like his two former shows, "Late Night" and "The Tonight Show."

The show is called Conan, but it felt at times as if it should have been labeled "I'm Not Jay."

Once he got past the opening, very little in the premiere could be called inspired. The set didn't break any ground cosmetically, and director Allan Kartun's fondness for shooting O'Brien from behind during the monologue seemed perplexing, if not distracting.

It’s a wobbly excuse for a fresh start, and so far, "Conan" makes the case that less is truly less. ... The good news is that the amiably self-deprecating, wryly peevish, can’t-do spirit of “Conan” appears to have survived the makeover intact. But it feels as if neither O’Brien nor Richter have their hearts entirely in the endeavor--and who can blame them?