The second night of Conan O'Brien's "Tonight" feels like more of the first:
1) Yes, he works hard. Still, an elaborate taped bit -- a "Pretty Woman" sort of shopping spree on Rodeo Road (in South Central Los Angeles) instead of Rodeo Drive -- was maybe half as funny as a guy would be telling really good jokes.
2) The guests sort of save him so far. It's great to have Will Ferrell pleading for Tony voters to avoid a competitor in his category. ("Liza Minnelli is a Communist.") And it's fun to have Tom Hanks show us what it would be like to have a song from "Turner and Hootch: The Musical."
3) The great guests will continue for a while. (The next two days bring Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.) Soon, however, we'll be left with the basics: For all his hard work, Conan has to be funnier than this.
4) Still, it's a fairly enjoyable show, enough to keep me watching the second show. In previous blogs, you'll see reviews of Monday's episode of Conan and "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here." You will not, however, find any indicationg that I saw the second "Celebrity" hour.
5) Wait a second: Conan just told Tom Hanks, in a reasonably serious tone, that he enjoyed "Angels and Demons." That's reason enough to reclaim Conan's Harvard diploma.