On November 8 2010, Conan O'Brien returns to late night TV on a new station with a familiar sidekick. TBS will air the new show, Conan, at 11:00 pm weeknights. Andy Richter, who first joined O'Brien in 1993 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien will again play the Ed McMahon to O'Brien's Carson.
TBS offers some strengths and limitations for the comedian as he takes over their late night slot. TBS is not a broadcast station like Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS. This means that viewership is limited. TBS, however, is known to be very friendly to comedians and comedy and it offers fewer restrictions than broadcast networks. In other words, Conan can get away with more outrageous talk and behavior on TBS than he could on a broadcast station.
Beware the return of Conan and the amorous manatee.
Conan O'Brien's Rise to Fame
The 47-year old comedian is a Harvard graduate who, after graduation, went on to write for NBC's Saturday Night Live. According to Biography, he also spent one season writing for The Simpsons. In 1992, when Johnny Carson left the Tonight Show, NBC handed the reins of that late night show to Jay Leno. This action prompted David Letterman to move to CBS, leaving an opening for late, late night, following the Tonight Show.
Numerous celebrities and comedians auditioned for the spot. The Late Night executives chose the rather unknown Conan O'Brien to fill it. The comedian would stay on the show for 16 years before starting a brief stint on The Tonight Show. With Jay Leno's return to The Tonight Show, O'Brien was left without a job. TBS brings him back to his television audience November 8.
For those Conan O'Brien fans who can't get enough, Team CoCo® has been launched. Fans can follow the Conan Blimp or join nearly 120,000 other followers on Facebook for all the latest Conan news. Show tickets and Team CoCo gear, like t-shirts and posters, are available at the site as well.
Late Night TV Still Unsettled
As the spring 2010 Tonight Show fiasco proved, TV executives are fickle when it comes to the late night slots. There is speculation that O'Brien will struggle as many in his audience will be tuned in to Comedy Central during this timeslot. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 11 pm, followed by The Colbert Report at 11:30 pm, attracts the same demographic as Conan's new show. His challenge will lie in how to move those viewers from Comedy Central to TBS. Of course the current late night shows starring Jay Leno and David Letterman remain popular choices for night owls.
According to the Sept. 24 post on Variety, it is Nightline which has been gathering the most viewers of late. The news show beat out both Jay Leno and David Letterman. Time will tell if Conan will impact late night viewers, who may be just as fickle as the TV executives in charge of programming.
Join the Conversation