Conan O'Brien is Back

Beginning Monday, November 8, everybody's favorite red-headed comedian will be back on the air, hosting his own late night TV show once again. Conan O'Brien's new show will premiere on TBS, titled simply "Conan". For those who enjoyed Conan's work during his two other stints on late night, I am sure they are very much looking forward to this new venture. It's hard to say exactly what this new show will involve, seeing that Conan is barred from doing many of the things he used to do at NBC, such as having Triumph the Insult Comic Dog appear or doing a skit in which he and a guest will envision what the future will be like in the year 3000. However, I have no doubt in my mind that Conan will make the program his own and be just as entertaining like he was able to do at NBC. He has a great writing staff and I am sure they will not disappoint.

Andy Richter will be returning as the "side-kick" role to Conan, just as he did for a short while on "Late Night" and during Conan's short run on "The Tonight Show". However, Max Weinberg will not be returning as band leader to Conan's new show. I think it will be interesting to see a new face leading the band - although it certainly won't be unprecedented for the show because Max was quite often gone while Bruce Springstein was on tour (Max plays drums for Bruce Springstein's band). But Max was often a comedic foil to Conan and they played off of each other quite well. They had many great moments together during Conan's run on NBC so his presence will be missed. However, the show must go on and it'll be interesting to see who the new band leader will be.

I think Conan will benefit from being on the air a half-hour earlier than what he's used to. He's also going to be on cable as opposed to network TV. He just may get more freedom to do what he wants without network brass stepping in. And he still has a tremendous fan base that is greatly anticipating this new show. Obviously it's been a long while since we've seen Conan on television so seeing him back with a new show will be nice to see. I know the fans have been clamoring for it for awhile. And hopefully the show won't get yanked away from him after seven months of being on air (like it was with "The Tonight Show"). Unfortunately I'll be getting home a half-hour into Conan's first show on TBS on October 8. However, when I'm able to watch a full episode, I'll definitely prefer it to the other programs on late night right now.