Conan O'Brien tossed up two big middle fingers to the doubting American public last night with a hugely comfortable and hilarious first day at his coveted new hosting job on the Tonight Show. Despite guest Will Ferrell's half-joke that, "no one thought you could do this Conan...seriously, not one person," O'Brien was on point with nearly all of his jokes and sketches, carrying over his true-to-the-era style of self-deprecatory, "awkward" humor and political incorrectness from women becoming pregnant by just looking at him drive a Ford Taurus to Joe Biden whispering about his love of Quesadillas, Chocotacos, and the Swine Flu to Sotomayor.

Miss the monumental debut? Never fear, here's a play-by-play of what happened:

• Max Weinberg is still on the show, thank the good Lord.

• Conan enters to an absurdly long applause, makes his appropriately predictable yet still hilarious joke that the applause sign must be working.

• Andy Richter is there-- was I the only person pissed when The Andy Richter Show got cancelled?

• Conan finally says "Welcome to the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" and it sounds so right.

• The opening monologue runs smoothly: Makes the, again appropriately predictable, NBC-self-hating joke, does his little dance moves, calls himself Conando when discussing the changes he's made since coming to LA, comments on his inability to grow a mustache and adroitness at being a creep, and tosses in multiple jokes about his hair and effeminacy.

• The one failed sketch of getting the 'D' off of the Hollywood sign is counterbalanced by his laugh out loud experience giving a tram tour at Universal Studios, his backrow appearance at the Lakers game, and a slightly over-extended yet still hilarious 80's montage of Conan taking the town by storm in a Ford Taurus.

• Will Ferrell is an absolute hit-- he enters on a sedan, gives his absurdly unhelpful tips on how to handle moving to LA, officially declares his Tony-competitor, Liza Minnelli, to be a communist, and maintains his 'Conan, you're going to fail' character throughout the whole bit. 'Land of the Lost' looks mediocre.

• Pearl Jam missed the memo on being good.

• Tomorrow's Guest: Tom Hanks, Hell to the Yes, see you all then.

-Jeff Luppino-Esposito

Subscribe via feed or email, or friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for free updates! Leave a Comment -