To make his bosses at TBS happy, Conan O’Brien’s new talk show is expected to carry about a million viewers, which is a big, but not insane, number for late-night cable television.  Last night’s debut episode of Conan scored a very impressive 2.8 in the overnight estimated ratings, which is great considering not every household in America gets TBS and The Tonight Show‘s Nielsen rating under Leno 2.0 is about 1.2.  Conan’s debut show was a bit hit, both in the ratings and with the critics.  In fact, some say Conan getting fired by NBC is the best thing that could have happened to him.

From a promotional and branding standpoint, they’re exactly right.  Conan’s had 9 months to promote this show, to prepare himself, to get settled into his new gig.  Perhaps more importantly, he’s getting to do things his own way.  He owns the show, he pays the staff, and if TBS doesn’t work out, Conan can move his show wherever he likes (or sell the show on Craigslist).

I watched the show last night, and from a pure television standpoint, it was great.  Andy and Conan are better than ever, and Conan’s new set is perfect for his style of program.  It’s intimate, but not cramped (unlike The Tonight Show‘s gigantic sound stage).

Image:  LA Times

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