Play Him Off

It wasn't much noticed, but last week, Conan O'Brien's show left the air.

Don't get me wrong--he'll be back, but in a different format.  Three months from now, he'll debut his new half-hour show.  What'll that be?  As he explained in his last regular hour: "I'm talking about travel shows around the world; silly remote pieces; interviewing brilliant, distinct people. Really just focusing on the stuff that we love the most."

He's putting a good face on it, but it means his traditional talk show, which he hosted in different venues over the past quarter century, is dead.  I guess it was too expensive, and the ratings weren't high enough.  It makes you wonder why they're keeping him on the air at all--perhaps he's still got a contract with TBS, so as long as they're paying him...

Anyway, I'll miss the old Conan (and am not too intrigued by his new show--his hour-long travel shows were not my favorites).  I admit I didn't always watch him on TBS, and thought his best years were on NBC after the Tonight Show.  But his style and sense of humor still added something to late night that you couldn't get elsewhere.

I'll miss his band, too.