May 14, 2009
The War on Late Night
Conan Is Feeling a Little Blue
NBC has released the first picture of the new "Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien" set—and it's quite striking.
The dominant color on the set is blue: Blue curtains, blue carpet, a blue bandstand and a blue skyline of Los Angeles at night. The background includes a number of L.A. landmarks, including the Capitol Records tower and what appears to be City Hall. There's also a giant full moon.
As for the mandatory late-night couch, it's not blue. It's more of a burnt orange. It looks quite plush.
Comments 4
grecian
Awesome set. Anyone know how I can get a job as an assistant to the writing or editing staff? I've been trying for weeks and can't get in.
Julia
UGLY! I'm sorry, but am I the only person who absolutely hates this set? Not only will his style of comedy fail at 11:35, but the set will fail too. Not to mention the fact that Leno at 10 PM, while getting an OK audience at 10 PM, will siphon viewers from the 11:35 slot, and that's no matter who NBC puts there. I just wonder how many NBC newscasts fail at 11 because people decide to turn off after Leno.
Thurston Last
I like it. It's the same hue as Conan's old set back in New York with the same kind of style as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It's modern yet retro. I dig it.
As for Conan's style of comedy, if anybody had ever seen Late Night with Conan O'Brien, you could see that it's actually in tune with Johnny Carson's style of comedy. Leno's more laid back and gets off on insulting others while Conan is self-deprecating and willing to immerse himself into the joke and let others laugh at AND with him. Conan cut his teeth on comedy writing, not unlike Johnny, while Leno is more into stand-up.
I think Conan will do fine at 11:35.
thwipp89
the set looks fine to me. i like conan but i think he's making a mistake going to cali and also moving to an earlier time. i'm a huge letterman fan and i think dave's move to an earlier slot hurt his style. leno is god awful. he's the hootie and the blowfish of late night- very inoffensive and bland for the masses. leno blows goats, deluxe.