Ethan Long
Journal Staff

The student body of Suffolk University has seen the Journal give a good amount of coverage towards a slew of different things, from SUNORML to Uganda, but one person alone has inspired the most articles in his name. This strange man sports bright orange hair, a tall body figure, and a history of time spent in the Boston area. This man is none other than ex-ex-talk show host Conan O’Brien. Yes, you all knew this was coming.

To make a long story short, O’Brien was promised The Tonight Show by NBC, something the incumbent Jay Leno had agreed to. When Leno failed at his own primetime show, NBC decided to pressure O’Brien to move The Tonight Show to the morning, something he wouldn’t ever think of doing. So, Conan left NBC and Jay Leno once again took control of the franchise. However, since then, O’Brien has achieved Rock Star status, while Leno’s ratings are as horrible as ever.

During the summer, O’Brien started a Twitter account, was loved by the media, was loved by his fans, performed a sold-out tour across the country, and ended up on his feet with a fabulous new basic cable talk show on TBS.

During the weeks leading up to Monday night’s “season premiere,” TBS spent a considerable amount of time and money on his marketing campaign. I mean, when your tagline is “Very Funny” you should be proving the fact by making it known that you’ve saved one of the greatest icons of the generation.

So, how is the show? Well, it’s not like O’Brien needed another fantabulous first episode; in fact, he called the episode his “Second Annual First Show.” If you were expecting a guest-filled, special episode, you were looking for the wrong production team. The opening episode had everything one would want from a Conan episode: Andy Richter, the Masturbating Bear, the Ford Taurus, and even the end of the show song. Conan did it his way, by jumping right back in where he left off. Of course, he needed to explain the gap between “seasons.”

The show started off the way most basic cable shows do, with a recap of the last season. An overdramatized version of the events that made Conan leave network TV and land on basic cable were presented in an overproduced skit. In the skit, Conan got shot up like Sonny Corleone by the suits at NBC, tried to apply for a job at Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Price, and was finally convinced not to jump by his not- dead- but-so-old-that-he-might-as-well-be guardian angel, Larry King.

The show itself was really more of the same. What were you expecting? The only big change is the absence of Max Weinberg, who opted out of his bandleader position after the NBC debacle. In his place is Jimmy Vivino, who now leads the “Basic Cable Band.”

The guests on the show included Seth Rogen, Lea Michele (the plain-looking one on Glee), and musician Jack White, who was joined by Conan and the Basic Cable Band in what was one of the most impressive late-night performances seen. The two produced a record over the summer at White’s own “Third Man Studios.”

In all, there isn’t much to say about Conan’s return other than the fact that he’s back where he was just a couple of months ago. According to ratings data, Conan beat out Jay Leno, his new rival. Although he also beat out Letterman and Stewart, they surely aren’t unhappy, but very happy that their pal is back on the air. Viva La Coco.