Live Blogging @ 11:30pm: Conan's Debut

11:20pm: Local anchor Fritz Coleman interviewing Conan, thanks to Fernando for the tip.
11:22pm: Just as I was beginning to wonder if Fritz still did weather on NBC, he notifies me it will be 78 degrees in Temecula tomorrow.
11:33pm: Closed captioning provided by Mathis Brothers furniture.
11:37pm: Cheap Trick's "Surrender" plays as Conan runs from NY to LA. Goodness.
11:39pm: Holy shit I forgot Andy was announcing.
11:42pm: "It's like a Backstreet Boys reunion." - "My name is now Conando."
11:49pm: Extended monologue going very well, lots to talk about. All jokes are on par. Moving onto a tram tour at Universal.
11:55pm: Cir-cle, cir-cle, cir-cle. Fucking hilarious. Can't wait to watch that again on Hulu.
12:06am: Tribute to the famous Ford Taurus. One of many Fabio cameos to come.
12:08am: Veronica owns up to crashing the blogger server and depriving millions of my important commentary. Way to go!
12:14am: Will Ferrell being his usual self, the interview gets split in two which is standard when he's there. Any time he raises his voice to yell is always entertaining. I liked his admission of using the CB radio instead of Twitter.
12:19am: "Liza's a communist."
12:25am: Pearl Jam is coming up next with a remix of "Daughter" produced by Sir Mix-A-Lot.
12:32am: What the hell was that? "I got some if you need it. I got some if you need it." This some they speak of is quantities of suck. Mario is in tears.

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Not much to say other than it was a great debut and was what we've all come to expect from Conan. A few other fan sites on the east coast were asking for more Andy since they didn't know this was the first of a thousand episodes to come. Whatever, no complaints here, I'll be tuned in as much as possible. Goodnight.

A Brief Comment: The Tonight Show

Is there anyone more seemingly disingenuous than Jay Leno? He can ace the monologue and JayWalk all he wants, but every time I've seen him interviewing anyone it all feels so scripted, rehearsed, and unnatural. Don't get me wrong, the pre-interview questions are essential for late night talk shows so there's at least something entertaining to dicuss. But what he does with his approach to interviewing guests makes me cringe. Always making sure to get through all the bullet points on that tiny blue card and forcing a segue to the next question without regard to any previous answers. Even in his final interview with Conan, Leno seems overly rushed and rehearsed.

Am I biased? Is it because I grew up watching The Simpsons and would later appreciate his work on Saturday Night Live 3am reruns? Is it because Conan's quick to self-depricate attitude and Late Night's brand of humor is more appealing in general to me than anything on the Tonight Show?

Poppycock. Jay Leno is terrible at feigning interest authentically. I've never watched an entire Tonight Show hosted by either Leno or Johnny Carson, but even Carson seems more genuine in 2 minute infomercials for those Best Of DVDs than Leno does in a 10 minute interview with Will Smith.

Here's to Conan getting what's deserved and to Leno's fading into obscurity.