'Conan,' Night 2: That's More Like It

Not surprisingly, the second outing of 'Conan' was much better than the first.

As I wrote here, in Conan O'Brien's unimpressive TBS debut, he was straining to conform to the well-established rules of a typical late-night talk show. It was all about making the trains run on time, but Conan works much better when he doesn't have to watch the clock.

Of course Conan's chat with Tom Hanks killed. But Tuesday's pre-taped segment with a TBS censor was just as enjoyable.

That worked because there was no time pressure. Presumable Conan and his writers and producers spent hours with the guy, and later edited the whole session into a tight, funny comedy segment. Freed from the tyranny of the clock, Conan can riff and goof around while creating those pre-taped segments. He's great at that kind of improvised humor, and he's even amusing when he's laughing at his own jokes.

In those kinds of segments, we see what makes Conan different from any other late-night host: He displays a loose, inventive sense of humor and a loopy willingness to be surreal. Only he can deploy those skills. Anybody can do an interview with a celebrity promoting a movie.

It's not that Conan won't have to do those kinds of things to stay competitive -- he will -- but Tuesday's show allowed him to cut loose and do more of what he does best.

Of course it helped that his main guest was Tom Hanks, a.k.a. Old Reliable, the talk-show guest par excellence (there's video of Hanks' whale-watching segment here). Hanks' game alertness and his sharp improvisational skills make any talk-show host look good, especially Conan, who clearly enjoys watching Hanks work.

As I noted in this list of Dos and Don'ts for Conan, he needs to get more guests like that -- guest who are willing to do silly skits and bits and otherwise deviate from the standard movie-shilling interview. Something as basic as Tom Hanks getting dunked with water in Tuesday's episode was very amusing. Please, can we have more of that kind of thing, and less of the tidy celebrity anecdotes that feel tired and so very rehearsed?

All in all, Tuesday's light, well-paced show a big improvement and, with any luck, a sign of things to come.

One more note, Coco: For the love of God, enough with the "jokes" about how you've taken a pay cut in your new gig. A multi-millionaire making these kinds of cracks would be excessively stupid at any time, but they seem especially moronic in light of the current economic crisis.

Conan, you're not the underdog anymore. Well, maybe you are, but if you keep making jokes about how your new gig is a step down in the world, we may think you're actually serious about that. Bitterness doesn't look good on you, Coco; goofball enthusiasm does.

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