Last night, Conan O’Brien began his reign as the host of The Tonight Show. As the NBC promos have reminded us, the red-haired comedian is only the fifth person to hold the position and he’s got some pretty big shoes to fill.
For the first episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, the host seemed very much at ease. Of course, hosting Tonight isn’t a far cry from his previous job. Though he’s moved to the West Coast, much about the new show seemed the same. That may help or hurt him since his old show’s ratings haven’t been as solid as Tonight’s have been.
In terms of number for last night’s show, O’Brien’s debut performed well but it wasn’t extraordinary. It was the highest rated episode of Tonight since January 24, 2005. That was a tribute to Johnny Carson who’d died the day before.
Compared to the usual ratings for Tonight, MediaWeek reports that O’Brien’s first episode attracted 82% more viewers in the overnights than the second quarter average, a 7.1 rating. That’s 154% higher than last night’s Late Show with David Letterman and a much bigger win over Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Of course, it’s difficult to judge the show on just one outing. As history has shown, hosting the Tonight Show is much more like a long marathon than a quick sprint. It’ll be interesting to see if O’Brien can sustain the ratings dominance of his predecessor.
What do you think? Did you watch and will you tune in again? Is O’Brien right for the job?
In case you missed it, here’s another chance…
Image courtesy NBC.
Give Conan sometime… You will grow to love him! He is different, yes, but lovable! I hope he is on for many many more years!
I have been a fan of the Tonight my entire life. I loved Johnny and Jay. I can’t wait for Jay to return to tv in the fall. I have to say Conan sucks. He sucked on Late Night and he still sucks. I made it 15 minutes on the first night and turned it to Letterman, which is where I’ll be from now on.
Once Jay comes back at 10 in the Fall, I’ll be there each night. As far as the Tonight Show…See ya!
Cancel it…..he is not in the same class as Johnny and Jay
CONAN IS THE BEST!!! his monlogue is fantastic!!! he is the best tv show host ever he def. deserves this job!!
Conan is the worst, without a doubt. I miss Jay’s policial humor and rapid fire monolog, funny skits, and interesting guests. Cant wait for him to return to 10:00 to get my daily laughs. Will never watch the tonight show again.
I wanna watch some Johnny reruns…..
I never like Conan! I felt his monologue was stupid, silly and childish. I hoped that he would have changed his act!!!!!!!!! I guess I was wrong! Did you not find his crying act on the tour bus of the first show ridiculous?
I’ve tried Conan O’Brien (we share the same last name) late night shows several times and just didn’t like him. I NEVER laughed, didn’t like his skits, waited for his brilliance, never came. If I woke up and found the Conan O’Brien show on, I’d race for the remote to turn it off or to something else. NOT FUNNY. Mad at NBC for getting rid of Jay. But no one replaces Johnny Carson. Jay was better than Conan though–always.
Conan SUCKS!!! I like Jay…but I don’t know if he can make it in the 10PM time slot Monday-Friday. I think NBC has made a horrible mistake…but I guess that’s no big surprise.
I never thought Conan was funny, but I gave him a shot…2 shows was all I could handle. He’s not only NOT FUNNY, he’s downright STUPID!!!!
They should’ve kept Jay with the Tonight Show. NBC will be very sorry!!!!!
I watched the first three Conan O Brian Tonight Shows, The guest were funny, Conan was kind of funny at times, I was waiting for him to get better but he didn’t and on the third he bottomed out. When I saw him do his In The Year Three Thousand I knew he did not have new writers but the same writers when he had the Conan O Brian Late Show.
I hope one of the other networks brings Arsinio Hall back to do a talk show again we need him back.
Conan is supposed to be funny, isn’t he? So what happened? He’s too dry for me.
Think I’ll go back to Letterman. I love his monologue.
Leno was a horrible host. Most of his material is mean spirited. IE: “Jaywalking” for one. ‘You thought this picture of Condoleezza Rice was actually Aunt Jemima!’ – Let’s laugh about how stupid you are.. Leno never understood you don’t need to be mean to be funny.
Conan has incredible creativity. Go watch Conan play baseball at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, and you’ll see talent that Leno will never have.
Letterman’s a jerk. Conan is not Leno. Rent a movie.
Please bring back Leno
Conan is the biggest jerk on TV. Perhaps well suited for the IQ of 75-90 followers.
He do NOT have talent and acts like a true moron. He isn’t funny and he does laugh at his own jokes. I can’t stand this guy!
Several time I gave him a chance,perhaps I was wrong about him?….NOPE! He just stinks.
NBC made a huge mistake signing on this loser after all of the sucessful Tonight Show hosts over the last 40+ years.
With so much talent out there WHY would the execs gamble on this dud?