Former Late Night host Conan O'Brien began following in the foot steps of his idol Johnny Carson. And he got off to a pretty good start.
His lead in was an homage to his start on Late Night in 1993. We see scenes of Conan running cross-country from New York to LA in well-known spots (including PA. Dutch Country) around the United States while Cheap Trick's "Surrender" blares in the background.
His intro music remained pretty much the same, but his band is now Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band (as opposed to the Max Weinberg 7).
He did the customary jump to top off Max's drum roll. I guess Conan will be sticking with that, at least until his knees give out.
Then he made his typical self-depreciating remark when the crowd cheered too long.
"At least we know the applause sign works," he said.
But while the start was familiar, the rest of the show featured a more restrained Conan.
There was no outrageous humor like on Late Night. No Masturbating Bear or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Not yet at least.
Conan probably wants to grow on his new audience first, before putting his zany stamp on the classic American talk show.
As a recent New York Times Magazine story predicted, most of the skits emphasized how Conan is a Hollywood and California outsider.
He gave a tram tour of Universal Studios, which was pretty funny. And then he pulled out an old recurring joke from Late Night when he cruised around LA in a beat-up '92 Ford Taurus. Billy Ocean's "Get Out Of My Dreams, Get Into My Car" played as various women swooned at the sight of the green sedan. Hilarious. Also, it struck an interesting contrast between Conan and his processor, genuine car enthusiast Jay Leno.
His old sidekick, Andy Richter, introduced Conan and will participate in skits as the show goes on.
The guests, Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam, formed an impressive lineup. And Ferrell had his funny moments.
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