Conan O'Brien: Now on TBS

Conan O'Brien returns to late night TV after an 8 month hiatus as stipulated by his severance agreement with NBC. The fallout with NBC started when the network decided to push the "Tonight Show" back half an hour and give the time slot to Jay Leno. Jay Leno's new show hadn't been doing well in the ratings and it was thought that this was due competition with crime dramas in the new time slot. NBC believed that by pushing the show back ratings would improve. Conan refused to budge on this matter though and made a public statement saying that "I sincerely believe that delaying 'The Tonight Show' into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting," he said. "'The Tonight Show' at 12:05 simply isn't 'The Tonight Show." The disagreement ended with Conan O'Brien leaving the "Tonight Show" after only 7 months with a 33 million dollar severance deal for himself and another 12 million for his staff and the condition that Conan O'brien would not return to TV for 8 months.

Conan O'Brien's new show on TBS aired Monday November 12th at 11/10c. The new show is simply called "Conan" and the comedian joked that his reasoning for this was "So that I'd be harder to replace." The first episode had guest appearances by Seth Rogen, Lea Michele from the cast of "Glee" and featured Jack White as the musical guest.

Conan poked fun at NBC during the beginning monologue of his new show and even poked fun at himself for his new "basic cable" status throughout the show. In the introduction sketch, Conan is handed a folded piece of paper by a TBS executive who is presenting Conan with their offer for the show. The folded piece of paper reads, "Less," and then when unfolded the word "Much," is revealed above it. Conan even renamed the house band to the "Basic Cable Band."

In one of the many promos for his new show, that were run in the weeks before its debut, Conan asks the viewers, "Are you ready for a whole new kind of late night TV?......... Good. Neither am I." Conan has held true to that promise, the new show is much like the other ones. What do I have to say about this? "That's right Conan, don't change a thing, we love you just the way you are."

John Bobst