Last night's (Wednesday, 12 January) episode of Conan was a reminder that no matter how bad the opening jokes are, Conan O'Brien will make the first ten minutes worth it. The monologue jokes were weak, so weak in fact that I suspect they were purposeful stinkers, but I still laughed a lot, because Conan can salvage failed jokes almost as well as he capitalizes on good jokes. The snow joke was outstandingly bad, which made it good for a laugh.
Andy Richter's reaction to the story about masturbation was priceless, and then he mocked the opening jokes as well. The final joke, about the 'Nintendo Wii Wii" was so awful that I think my theory is entirely correct. La Bamba's snowstorm was classic, though, "All trombone music has been suspended for the rest of the show". When James Lipton showed up and was denied work the show had redeemed itself. And nobody even made a height-related joke, which is a mark of maturity.
When Denis Leary brought up typewriters and Conan derailed him in the 20's style was awesome, if you go in for that kind of humor. It's late-night comedy at its finest when Conan O'Brien pretends to telegram a Twitter posting while Denis Leary wipes away a tear of laughter. Plus, Leary said his mother was on Facebook, but said so in a Twitteresque way, which means that at least one of my predictions has already come true, even earlier than I thought. So keep an eye on local bears. The show ended well, with Ice Cube (who is not on Late Night shows that often) and a comic (Tim Minchin) on a piano (which sounds trite but he made it work). But the opening was really surprisingly funny.
This brings me to 2010 Retrospective Pt. 4 (or 5): State of the Late-Night Talk Show in 2010
Jimmy Fallon had a great year, and his show is definitely getting better, but I think his best years are still ahead. Leno and Letterman are doing as well as ever, and Letterman even crashed into a Christmas tree on stage a few weeks ago, so you know those shows are doing fine. Ferguson's show is still excellent and irreverent. They've all been stable and working in much the same manner as ever.
So there is a fair bit of competition, but Conan O'Brien had the comeback. And I read TV critics saying Conan was "uncomfortable" and "awkward" and that his show wasn't funny. Those TV critics are the same who ignored Community, so they obviously live in a time before 2009 and don't qualify to make judgments on contemporary TV. Conan wins because his show had only a month in 2010 to prove itself, and it was damn funny in that time. It's a comeback, and that is the kind of story you can't invent and have to watch while it happens. And I want to know how it plays out, so I know if I was right in my completely unimportant internet judgment.
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