THE TONIGHT SHOW with Conan O'Brien
In his entire run on late night, Conan has made me laugh maybe half a dozen times. I've always admired and laughed from some of the bits. But I never really found the guy funny. In fact, I always found him way too overbearing, working WAY too hard to sell his jokes, his unending and completely unwarranted self deprecation (how many hair jokes at his own expense can we endure.) In fact, self-deprecation might have been Coco's downfall. He always, always, always went for that joke. If a guest said "I chopped down a tree in the forest" Conan would go on to say "That's me, just a tree in a forest - nobody cares" followed by a series of wacky faces he calls comedy. In fact, I suspect Conan's comic "mania" is what kept him in place so long, and also never allowed him to mature as a talk show host.
I know a lot of people loved Conan and personally, I hear he's the real deal. A great guy in a sea of show biz is a rare find indeed and although I've never met the man, I have no trouble believing Conan is an especially kind human being. Not funny, but kind.
In any case, the last week of shows had its moments. The bit with costing NBC all kinds of money was pretty good, and some of his anti NBC and Leno barbs were great. But let's face it - after 15 years or so on the air, Conan could never do a good interview. Never.
Anyway, I watched the final episode...and what can I say? Nothing special. He didn't do any great bits. His guests were largely uninspired. Tom Hanks was funny for about one minute. While a big name, what the fuck was he doing there as a final guest? Plugging some movie? Then you had Steve Carrel - the hidden big surprise that was supposed to wow us in a bit that went over like a lead balloon. (I love Steve Carrel - but the bit really didn't work.) Lastly, you had Will Ferrell - one of the funniest guys in showbiz. And he sang. There was a nugget of comedic inspiration there - but it never took flight. It just went on and on.
The two best things about the finale: Conan's speech about not being cynical. That was actually pretty great and insightful. The other great thing was the joke Conan pitched out as a premise for a show - The Andy Richter show with Conan as his second banana. I know they were kidding, but boy, I'd watch that show. Andy Richter is funny.
Grade: C -
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