Conan's first TS -- I watched it, and this review kinda sums up my thoughts

[Darren Dirt]

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/06/conan_obriens_tonight_show_deb.html

Some quick thoughts on Conan O'Brien's debut as host of "The Tonight Show" coming up just as soon as I hit the 99-cent store...

When Conan wrapped up his "Late Night" stint in February, I wrote "there was a sense that Conan's 'Late Night' was less a traditional talk show than a sketch comedy show with occasional interviews." His first episode of "Tonight" was, essentially, "Late Night" on a larger stage: a monologue, lots of filmed comedy pieces, and only one interview -- and even that was with a guest, Will Ferrell, who approaches these appearances as an excuse to goof around with the host.

By going with so much comedy upfront -- and so much of Conan's own oddball kind of comedy, like the bit where he drove his beat-up Ford Taurus around LA to the strains of Billy Ocean's "Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car" -- Conan was simultaneously reassuring his fans that he wasn't going to change too much in the new gig, and telling the traditional "Tonight" audience what they might expect from the new landlord.

This was the smart, and really only, play Conan could make on night one of such a high-profile job. I just wish the execution had been a little better. There was a lot of Conan-style comedy, but other than the Taurus bit and the opening cross-country run (scored, perfectly, to Cheap Trick's "Surrender," a song that automatically makes any montage at least 10% better), most of the bits fell fairly flat. Conan as Universal Studios tour guide went on way too long (and unlike, say, Conan at an old-time baseball game, there wasn't enough of a payoff at the end to make the time worth it), the "Hollywoo" and Laker game gags weren't especially funny even at a brief length, and there wasn't enough interaction between Conan and Andy, even with Andy in his new role as announcer instead of sidekick. I think I laughed more at the tease Conan showed on Jay's final "Tonight" on Friday of Conan undercover with a focus group (which I guess we'll see more of later this week) than I did at everything in this episode.

It wasn't a bad show, and Conan has certainly banked so much goodwill from me and most "Late Night" viewers that him being uneven on his first night isn't that big a deal. And I'm certainly not predicting doom for him -- you would think we all learned that lesson after his first couple of years on "Late Night" -- but I do wonder if any Jay fans who were on the fence about giving this freakishly tall replacement a shot may have hopped off the fence after last night to wait for their man to return in primetime in September.

...then again, maybe having the "old" Conan (the wild-and-crazy, reminds-us-of-Letterman-at-his-prime goofball) fill the shoes of Johnny is a bad idea? this open letter seems to express a concern that might be valid. (sorry, it's multiple pages, here is the printable version)

[Tom]

I always found Conan to be too goofball. Back in the day i preferred the other late night talk show to his, just because he was too goofy. At least while that tall dude was still on the other show.

[Lazybones]

Conan, is not something I would watch often, but you have to admit some of his out of the box thinking is really good.

During the writers strike I loved the Conan, Stewart, and Colbert crossover. Not sure who's idea that was but it was interesting to say the least and late night needs more surprises and interesting stuff.

[Darren Dirt]

Sadly I tuned in a few minutes too late to see it live, but hooray for the internets cuz the inarguably funny opening 5 minutes of his first ep can be found embedded within a review here. (Direct link here)

[Lazybones]

Conan's New Backdrop Sure Looks Familiar?
http://gizmodo.com/5278719/conans-new-backdrop-sure-looks-familiar

Would not surprise me if this was intentional.

Also I have watched a few more of his shows now. I like how he is getting this guests involved in things. I did not expect what they did with Tom Hanks. His monologues probably could use some work, and the "future segment" needs some better jokes.