Conan, Part Two

Thanks for all your comments, pro (about 3) and con (about 300). There is obviously a passion for Conan that transcends the love for most TV personalities. (And also thank you for helping me discover the "spell check" feature of this rococo blogging platform.)

When Conan  premiered in 1993, critics wrote way worse stuff about Late Night than I did about his new TBS effort. The judgment was almost unanimous that he was inept and wouldn't last. Here's what I wrote:

"Gently unpredictable, sometimes genuinely funny, slated to feature lots of guests - especially musical ones - who may not be familiar to people over 30. Sounds like it's goin' pretty good, for starters, Conan."

It's not unpredictable anymore. Other, newer late-night hosts, from Jon Stewart to Conan's stablemate, George Lopez, to Fallon and Ferguson, have come along with fresh ideas and personalities. Conan just keeps trying to be outrageously cool with an above-it-all shtick that might be appealing if it weren't for one thing.

David Letterman.

Nobody knows what goes on inside of Letterman. That's one of the main attributes that makes his seeming disdain for the whole late-night comic process so effective. It's all so easy and comfortable. Letterman's self-deprecation seems organic; he's as neurotic as a Persian cat. Conan sweats to try to convince you that it's no sweat.

And those of you who tell me to stick with Leno are way off the mark. I can't watch him for more than 10 minutes, again because he seems to be trying too hard. And also because his jokes don't strike me as funny, just old and tired, from the black & white era of TV. Conan's style, at least, incorporates the concept that television comes in color these days.

I don't think you're right that I'm too old for Conan (and give me a break, I'm not 70!). I love Jimmy Fallon, after all, and I don't get half his music references.

Or maybe I am too old. Maybe Conan's the Jay Leno for a younger generation.

Read the previous Conan blog post, Conan O'Brien: Once more in desperation.