Impressions on the First Conan

This was one show I literally couldn't wait to watch. I actually thought of calling a friend on the East Coast this morning to get a play-by-play. But he probably has two jobs and was too tired. Or maybe still at work on his third. So I ended up reading the (rave) reviews, which just upped the anticipation even more. Anyway, it's 11 and its finally here!

1. Music for the first bit: Cheap Trick's "Surrender" which happens to have "Philippines" in the lyrics. Very auspicious. For us.
2. Hey, it's the Late Night theme. Good move. My heart actually skipped a beat hearing "And I'm Andy Richter!"
3. Quick string dance drives audience wild. Pretty relaxed monologue. Andy -- at the podium -- better turn down the yuk-yuks the next shows. We don't need a white pudgy Kevin Eubanks.
4. The set is too blue.
5. Silly enough but the Universal Tram Tour not quite doing it for me. Was that a Pinoy in front of the line in green?
6. Not feeling the Taurus bit at all. Shot of the floor stick shift (!) was the most interesting part, all of 0.8 seconds.
7. Will Ferrel not trying too hard, which is good. "Forget Twitter, I'm on the cb!"
8. Glad to report Pearl Jam is still with it. Overall intensity is somewhat muted though. Maybe because the set is too blue.
10. Hey! Will Ferrel's still on his chair. Warm, raucous applause for Andy, Max and PJ drowns the already unrecognizable closing theme.

Went quite smoothly for a first show. Pretty good but not quite the mind-blowing experience I set myself up for. Thanks to the kind critics for the heightened expectations.

Conan was every bit the seasoned talk show host and kept his word that he would be his same silly self at Tonight as he was on Late Night. It's obvious he and his writers did their homework to manage a well-staged debut with just enough material to announce their takeover and showcase what's in store for the next thousands of nights. Promises to be a good run.

PS. When the house band is way cooler than the host, that poor guy's in trouble. I'm talking about The Roots and Jimmy Fallon. Can't believe he started his monologue with "Happy Monday everyone!"