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Conan Season 1 Episode 1

Baa Baa Blackmail

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 11/8/10

Conan premieres welcoming the "First Guest Poll" winner Arlene Wagner, actor Seth Rogen, actress Lea Michele and musical guest Jack White.

Fan Episode Reviews (3)

"Conan" Premiere is Underwhelming

7.5

By braves_snl, Jan 24, 2011

The premiere of Conan O'Brien's new late night talk show on TBS, simply titled "Conan," was frankly underwhelming. O'Brien has had around eight months to come up with material for his show and honestly most of it fell flat. Hopefully the premiere can simply be chalked up to as a trial run for the new show; after all, we know that O'Brien's comedic talents are some of the best in the business.

The biggest highlight of the "Conan" premiere was without a doubt the show's opening that began with O'Brien mocking NBC trying to get him to move "The Tonight Show" to midnight. This was followed by a "Bonnie & Clyde" type massacre where NBC had Conan killed via Tommy Gun while driving away from their studio. O'Brien then tried to find another job which led him to audition for AMC's "Mad Men," working in fast food, being a clown at children's birthday parties, until he finally contemplates committing suicide by jumping off of a bridge before he's saved by his guardian angel, Larry King.

O'Brien's first monologue on TBS wasn't extremely memorable or funny, but it was nice to see his almost-patented string dance return. The monologue did include one hilarious line that was easily the best of the premiere: "I named the show Conan, so I'd be harder to replace," O'Brien said. One of the biggest questions coming into O'Brien's new show was would O'Brien be allowed to have his old characters that he had on NBC. That question was at least somewhat laid to rest when the Masturbating Bear appeared during the first show. Another highlight from the first show was a taped message by comedian Ricky Gervais welcoming Conan back to TV. Gervais made multiple tapes just in case Conan's new program lasts as long as his stint with "The Tonight Show." The first guests on "Conan" were Seth Rogen and "Glee" star Lea Michele, which were both somewhat of a head scratcher … can't Conan get bigger stars for his TBS premiere?

The first musical guest was Conan's good buddy Jack White from The White Stripes and the two performed a fast paced rockabilly number together along with Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, the show's backing band. O'Brien's longtime band leader and drummer Max Weinberg didn't come over to TBS with the rest of the crew. O'Brien's longtime pal Andy Richter, however, is still with the show as its announcer.moreless
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So nice to see Conan back on TV

8.8

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Nov 11, 2010

Some people have been already complaining about Conan's show, but I must say, it's awesome to see him back on TV. Personally, I found myself laughing hysterically at everything going on, and everything from the lunar wobble to the interviews to Andy Richter's little jokes throughout was perfect.

The cold open to the show was a great way to start off, with a few jabs at NBC and the Godfather, and Conan seemed to be on fire with the monologue. He focused less on jokes and current events and instead focused on being on TBS instead of NBC. There was one good joke where he summed up everything that's happened since he left NBC and it was pretty good.

As for the guests, I wasn't the biggest fan of Lea Michele, mostly because Conan chose to talk about her magazine fiasco, which I think is stupid, but Seth Rogen was amazing. Hearing him talk about weed and how he proposed was awesome. And Andy Richter.. well, I don't know if it was funnier when he said Conan's halloween mask looked like an Asian Val Kilmer or when he said the mask smelled like tears.. either way, everybody was on their game tonight, and it was a fun performance tonight with Conan and Jack White playing a fast, old sounding song.

Overall, it was a fun first show for Conan, and I look forward to seeing the rest of the episodes. Also, I probably over-rated this, but I was excited to see Conan, so I found a lot of little things funnier than normal.moreless
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7.5

By thefanof, Nov 10, 2010

Finally, Conan has a show again. And it is good to have him back on the air. The opening vignette was pretty amusing (although Jon Hamm needs to stop appearing on everything!) and the monologue was okay. Andy Richter is still as annoying as ever, and it is not going to be the same without Max Weinberg there, but the talk show circuit is going to be even more competitive now and hopefully that leads to better quality across the board.

I will probably switch to Colbert at 11:30 every night, when the guests come on, but right now this was a huge deal and it definitely delivered. Good start for Conan. The Ricky Gervais spot made the night for me.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Conan O'Brien	Host
Andy Richter	Conan Announcer
Jimmy Vivino	The Basic Cable Band - Guitar Player / Band Leader
James Wormworth	The Basic Cable Band - Drummer
Scott Healy	The Basic Cable Band - Keyboards
Mike Merritt	The Basic Cable Band - Bass

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Seth Rogen		Guest Star
Lea Michele		Guest Star
Jack White		Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (1)
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- Conan: People ask me why I named the show "Conan". I did it so I'd be harder to replace.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Episode title: Baa Baa Blackmail is a reference to the English nursery rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep.
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