'The Green Lantern' Didn't Live Up To Expectations...

Conan O'Brien's Commencement Speech at Dartmouth

Hilarious. Inspiring.

'Conan O'Brien Can't Stop'

Screened at SXSW and subsequently in various private venues, the long awaited documentary Conan O'Brien Can't Stop will be released to a wider audience on June 24th. The film is a behind-the-scenes look into O'Brien's U.S. tour, showing candid, emotional moments from the newly beared comedian as he was in crisis mode. The trailer is now available:



Source: Huffington Post

Conan's Beard

Conan's real shave took place during the commercial break. Here it is:

Pardo!

If you've ever been to a taping of Conan, you were likely psyched into applauding by warm up comedian Jimmy Pardo. Well, he's not only a mighty audience warmer-upper, he's also a beloved comedian on the laugh circuit. When not whipping O'Brien's audience into a frenzy, he's usually on other stages making his own crowd laugh, or hosting hilarious game shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. However, his podcast Never Not Funny is one of the most hilarious and heavily downloaded shows on the net, with Patton Oswalt, Mad Men's Jon Hamm and Conan himself as past guests. (Have a listen and sign up for shows over at www.pardcast.com. It's paid subscription for full episodes, but short, twenty minute episodes are available for free on iTunes.)

Last night, Conan took Jimmy from out behind the camera. Meet - Andy Ritcher's new sidekick:



Speaking of last night's show, it was a pretty good one. Lil Wayne came by to talk about how Gary Busey was the sane one during the Meatloaf blowout on Celebrity Apprentice; however, PJ Harvey, one of the most prolific and amazing singer/song writers today performed, singing a track off her Let England Shake album. I'm such a fan, I have to post this:

Conan on WTF Podcast

Marc Maron's WTF current podcast features the long awaited interview with Conan O'Brien. It was uploaded last night to make the start of the work week a nice visit to your happy place Check it out: http://wtfpod.libsyn.com/rss

Jon Cryer is a Troll. No. Really. He Is.

Show Zero Starts Tonight!

Check out Rolling Stone magazine this month! Conan's in there!

Also, if you can't wait to see the premiere of Conan on TBS on November 8th, O'Brien and his staff will provide. Starting tonight at 11pm ET/8pm PT, Team Coco will start streaming Show Zero online to kick off the comedy. You can find it on TeamCoco.com, YouTube and Facebook.com/TEAMCOCO

Finally, Andy Richter was interviewed for the NYPost to discuss how Conan on TBS will be different than Late Night or The Tonight Show. He's also pretty content that ratings have shown Leno to be garnering less ratings than Conan did this time last year.

Conan's First Guests Announced

Conan's first guests have been announced. Seth Rogan, Tom Hanks, Jack McBrayer and Jon Hamm to name only a few. It's all getting pretty exciting up around here.

Source: Hollywood Reporter. See full lists of guests here.

Conan O'Brien Countdown: Vivino New Band Leader

As the countdown to Conan's new show ticks away day by day, the news keeps coming. The biggest non-surprise of the year was made official last week when it was confirmed that Andy Ritcher would join O'Brien as co-host. Today brings another bit of news in the music area. Jimmy Vivino, music associate for Conan's previous show, has been made band leader of 'The Basic Cable Band', formerly the 'Max Weinberg Seven', replacing Weinberg who looked like he took a hike from the Conan bandwagon back in January.

Conan premieres on TBS on November 8th at 11pm.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Conan's Coming.

I can't resist posting more Conan. Here's a promo.

Conan Countdown

November can't come soon enough. Billboard in Times Square posted by Brian Stelter of NYTimes.com.

Conan Teams Up with Jack White's 'Third Man'

Interesting and strange news afoot. Conan O'Brien and Jack White have teamed up to release two albums "And They Call Me Mad?" and "Conan O'Brien Live at Third Man". The former will be spoken word that includes an interview with the deposed Tonight Show host conducted by White, and the latter will be a collection of rockabilly songs recorded with Conan's band. Jack White will also appear on these tracks. Both albums will be released on White's Third Man label.

I'm taken by the cover photo above. What is this exposure trying to say? Conan looks depleted. He needs a bag of plasma and a sandwich. This past year must be taking a physical toll, as he evolves from network good boy into cable's newly welcomed rock star hero.

"And They Call Me Mad" will be released on August 24th. Both albums will be available on iTunes.

Sources: LA Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter

Conan on TBS

Well, Well, Well....

For all their tampering with the fate of The Tonight Show, NBC sure is looking pretty lame for moving Conan in favor of Jay. Leno's numbers haven't been any better than our red headed son's were this time last year. In fact, Leno keeps playing ratings tag with David Letterman who wins the time slot every blue moon, which is more than he did when Leno ruled the night. Meanwhile ABC's Nightline carries a solid lead in the time slot.

It's too early to tell, but right now Conan's smelling pretty sweet now that he's left the network game. He'll still have a ratings tussle with Stewart and Colbert, but he appears to be in good company with a good sense of competition amongst friends - especially since they never weaseled their way into taking away his job.

Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily

Conan O'Brien: The '60 Minutes' Interview

Here are some thoughts about Conan O'Brien's '60 Minutes' Interview last night. I originally posted this on Gawker today with some modifications here. Nothing very surprising coming from a comedy fan and blogger who sides with O'Brien 100%, but...just my two cents.

Despite all the drama he's been through, I see Conan as the winner in all this. I also saw Letterman as the winner in the late night debacle back in 1993. NBC's vision of 11:30pm Late Night is middle of the road comedy that appeals to the masses and brings in the cash. It's the Easy Listening music of comedy. Carson handled it with class, style and pure brilliance. Leno pretty much made it like a big circus. If you like that. Great.

Letterman moved on with a better deal at CBS, and Conan is doing the same with TBS. Leno is left with a creaky show filled with hacky material that will never take comedy to a new level, nor challenge the audience's imagination. It's safe. It brings in numbers. It helps business. There is no soul to the humor, but the people who like his comedy and like the host don't care about soul. They just want to see that nice Jay Leno before they drink their cocoa and shut out the lights.

There is a part of me that wonders why Conan did this interview. He's brave to do it, and to me, he comes off as the classy man he is. But it stirs up all the naysayers who don't get it. The people who lament his millions and lay blame on him for his own misfortune. Yet, the fact Leno never lifted a finger to placate the matter, nor ever called Conan speaks loads about the guy. The fact Conan wishes his opponents well (despite jokingly taking it back), also speaks volumes of his own character. I also believe things happen for a reason. Conan's bumpy road will likely lead him to a creatively righteous place; whereas Jay's redux of The Tonight Show allows him to maintain his stagnant humor within boundaries placed by advertisers, executives and people who don't want to think when they laugh.

Conan was amazing last night. Yet, it's obvious the pain is etched on his face. He's not a broken man. He's a changed man. Thanks to his integrity, he'll emerge better than Leno ever will.

Conan Rules Time Magazine

Conan O'Brien was noted as one of Time Magazine's "Most Influential Artists" for 2010. Well deserved - with an amazing photo. (Source: Time)

Conan O'Brien: Comedy Rock Star

Conan kicked off his “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour” last night in Eugene Oregon. LATimes.com, NYTimes.com.

Conan O'Brien Lands at TBS

From Conan O'Brien on Twitter...."The good news: I will be doing a show on TBS starting in November! The bad news: I'll be playing Rudy on the all new Cosby Show"

The suspense is over. Conan O'Brien has signed on with TBS to produce a new late night show starting in November. The show will air at 11pm, pushing The George Lopez Show to 12midnight. This is stunning news considering that Fox was in heavy contention for snagging Conan, yet nary a word about TBS.

This may be another sign of things to come. Cable has emerged with quality programming rivaling network output tenfold. The Daily Show, Colbert Report, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Damages, it's been proven that certain shows off the mainstream grid are grabbing hold of the public attention, carving out a very desirable niche in entertainment. It's going to be fun seeing a beloved personality like Conan take the leap from network to cable. He'll have more freedom to do what he wants, take comedy to a new level, and leave the creaky old network system in the dust. But one little thing: Conan will be up against Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Worthy opponents. Bring it.

Conan's comedy tour starts today in Eugene, Oregon.

Source: NYTimes.com

Conan Tour Dates Announced!

Conan O'Brien is going on tour! Tickets went on sale today. Go to TeamCoco.com for details. Radio City Music Hall NYC, June 1st...here I come!