The whole ordeal launched one of the biggest fan campaigns of all time, creating "Team Coco", a name that was actually thought of by none other than frequent guest and good friend Tom Hanks. There was artwork, a twitter trend, pins, shirts...you name it. Still, despite the campaign, NBC decided to NOT listen to a key demographic and insist that Conan be put on later.
And so, in the best interest of both himself and his crew, Conan decided to leave NBC. For a while, nobody knew what was next for Conan-he talked with a bunch of different networks, and we wait with baited breath. Finally, it was announced Conan had signed with TBS for a new late night talk show, and it would be premiering in November. Most people reacted with a mix of intrigue and excitement-Conan's back! But on TBS?! Yes, TBS, and Conan made his return on Monday after months of anticipation.
The episode began with a cold open that bridged the gap between NBC and TBS and took a humorous approach to Conan's departure and subsequent signing on basic cable. It could've been unfunny and tired, but there were a number of gags that made it work, including a parody of an infamous scene from The Godfather. You can watch the whole thing at the end of this post.
After a new intro (still announced by Andy Richter), Conan launched into his monologue, which, unsurprisingly, consisted of lots of jokes about his scuffle with NBC and the decision to move to TBS. He even included a bit about his characters being stolen, including the infamous "masturbating bear". A lot of people have argued that the NBC jokes got old fast-but what did you expect?! That's the topic on everyone's mind when Conan returned-he's got every right to rip NBC. It also showed he's been keeping good humor about it, which is important.
Conan's first guest was Seth Rogen, who obviously was having an awesome time on the show. He talked about his engagement, weed, and his upcoming movie The Green Hornet. All in all, he was a good first official guest (the real first guest was Ariene Wagner, a curator for a Nutcracker Museum...Conan's first real gag). Lea Michelle from "Glee" was next, and she was equally as excited and congratulatory about Conan's new gig. Her spot was a bit boring though-she herself was very cute and charming, but she didn't really have anything interesting to say.
Finally, Conan wrapped up with a musical appearance from Jack White, that he himself joined in on. The two of them jammed out on a blues/rockabilly number, and Conan actually showed some pretty impressive singing chops (remember his epic jam from the end of The Tonight Show?)
Following the song, he sat down with Jack for a minute to talk to him and reveal how the two met (it involved a bowling alley in Detroit in 1999). That was probably the best part of the night, as Jack and Conan are two good friends, and so seeing them play together and chat for even a minute was cool to see.
Overall, I really enjoyed Conan's first show back. He's been hit with criticism for it-people have been saying the NBC thing is already tired, the guests weren't that entertaining, and that not much has changed. My reaction to that last one is...isn't that a good thing?! For months people speculated about whether or not Conan's return would be in his true form. It was, and now people are saying that's boring. Come on folks. It was vintage Conan, and that's what we've all been waiting for. On top of that...give it some time! It's silly to judge his entire new show on the first episode. As a matter of fact, if you tuned into the second episode, Tom Hanks appeared and they once again had a hilarious interview in which Hanks was funny and charsimatic.
Bottom Line: Conan's return, while a little soaked in NBC jokes, was classic Conan and worth the wait. I'll be continuing to tune in.
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