Conan O’Brien brings awkwardness to ‘The Tonight Show’

Conan O'Brien conjures up an awkward moment. (Image by Getty Images via Daylife)

For those of you who remember Conan O’Brien’s initial weeks as host of “Late Night” 16 years ago, I can happily report that his first night as host of “The Tonight Show” was not nearly as awkward. Well, at times it was, but it was on purpose this time.

If you were expecting fireworks — or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and the Masturbating Bear — you were disappointed. Other than a theme song, O’Brien didn’t, on his first “Tonight Show,” carry out any of the bits and moments from his “Late Night” show that have made him a hero to college audiences. They may be coming, but overall, tonight’s show was a mostly muted affair — funny (maybe the taped pieces ran a bit longer than they should), but more about getting the feet wet than jumping right in.

But about that awkwardness: I wonder what curious Jay Leno fans will make of O’Brien’s penchant for awkward comedy — the sense of humor that drives him to hold a joke or a bit just a tad longer than seems appropriate, happily letting the laughter fade out and a moment of silence creep in while the audience isn’t sure if it should keep laughing or not.

O’Brien didn’t go to that absurd comedy of awkwardness often tonight, but it did creep in early in the show — and for just that half second I wondered how long it will take for the 11:30 audience to cotton to O’Brien’s brand of comedy, a brand that’s 180 degrees the opposite of his predecessor. During his opening monologue, after showing a doctored video of Vice President Biden telling Supreme Court Justice-designate Sonia Sotomayor what kind of Mexican food he likes, O’Brien engaged in an off-the-cuff exchange with announcer Andy Richter about Choco-Tacos that quickly moved from brief aside to awkward silence. It lasted just a moment… and it wasn’t anything different than what Conan was doing at 12:30. But it was enough to make me wonder… My parents are Leno’s audience, will they think a too-long discussion of Choco-Tacos is funny?

Other than that, O’Brien did fine… dare I say, he’s a better interviewer than Jay Leno ever was, if only for the reason that he knows when to stop talking and just enjoy his own show. Leno’s interviewing style was always a double-edged sword; we were told that privately it was the part of the show he liked the least, and yet on the air he seemed always to be in competition with his guest, trying to out-quip, out-pun and just overall out-funny the star sitting next to him — as if the professional joke-teller just couldn’t stop himself. O’Brien, on the other hand, was happy to let guest Will Ferrell take the spotlight — of course, it’s easy when your guest is Will Ferrell.

The only other standout moment for me was O’Brien doing his corporate duty by taking a moment to thank Jay Leno as a friend and for taking such good care of “The Tonight Show” franchise. It seemed surprisingly sincere, given the stiff interview and passionless hug between the men last Friday on Leno’s goodbye show. But O’Brien also didn’t waste the opportunity to tweak Leno — and the NBC suits who are stealing his thunder — by making a pointed joke about Leno coming “back on the air in, I think, two days… three days, tops.”

NBC hasn’t let O’Brien forget who they think is the real prime-time star, and I look forward to watching O’Brien have fun with that for many years to come — or at least until Jay Leno’s new show is cancelled.