Conan Conan Conan

We've had about a dozen episodes of the Conan O'Brien's new TBS talk show - titled "Conan," so he would be harder to replace this time. I figured it was about time I chimed in with my feelings on this new and much anticipated endeavor.

I thought his final weeks on NBC was some of the best television he's ever done, and when I reviewed those last shows, I expressed concern as to whether he could do the same on a regular basis, and on a different network when he did return to TV. It needs to be said, and Coco fans can frown and throw cabbage at me if they wish, but the average Conan talk show was nothing spectacular. I liked the guy, and I didn't tune into his "Tonight Show" all that often.

I tuned in last week for the first show, and was even more concerned. My initial thoughts were about how long he might last even on TBS. The first episode seemed very self-indulgent. Allowing several minutes of applause when he first came out, I can forgive after his absence, but stealing the spotlight from Jack White who was the musical guest was almost unexcusable. And it didn't help that his first big guest, Seth Rogan, sincerely apologized more than a few times that Conan couldn't get a bigger or better first guest.

On the good side, these first few shows demonstrated a desire to throwback to talk shows of old, where it was more about getting to know the guests and having a dialogue with them rather than just promoting their latest project. That, I like.

I still have doubts, but I have hope, and I hope Conan catches on and continues to maintain an audience that can support him.