The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Now that's more like it.

No one who reads this blog regularly will be surprised to hear me say once again that I have never thought Jay Leno was funny, and that is why I pretty much stopped watching "The Tonight Show" after Johnny Carson left in 1992. (Leno's 'Dancing Itos' in 1995 sealed it for me). 

Now that Conan O'Brien has taken over "The Tonight Show," I might have to cheat on Dave and tune in more often. 

"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" debuted last night, and right away Conan put his own sketch-heavy stamp on the program. The show opened with Conan in his office right before the start of his first show, checking off his to-do list: build set, write jokes, brush teeth, move to LA. LA?

Conan looks out of a window at the NY skyline and dashes down the stairs to get a cab. Except he can't get a cab, so what does he do? He starts running. He runs through the streets of New York, across the bridge and through neighborhoods. He passes Amish people in a buggy in Pennsylvania, he runs across Wrigley Field in Chicago (chased by security), by the St. Louis Arch, and on through Las Vegas till he reaches Hollywood -- stopping only once at a Victorian Doll Museum. When he gets to his California studio, he realizes he has left the keys on the windowsill back in NYC.

It's funnier when you watch it (you can watch it here). Not side-splitting hilarious, but clever and funny in that Conan O'Brien way (and enhanced by Cheap Trick's "Surrender" blaring in the background). 

Conan has always relied heavily on comedy sketches, and in this way, "The Tonight Show" promises to be an awful lot like his old "Late Night." Which is a good thing, in my opinion.

Other sketches included Conan driving around LA in his '92 Ford Taurus (to the soundtrack of Billy Ocean's "Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car"), and Conan comandeering a Universal Studios Tram Tour. 

When the Tram is attacked on the "Psycho" set, Conan advises a knife-wielding Norman Bates that it's too hot to wear corduroy and that he shouldn't commit crimes in broad daylight.

But the real fun begins when he takes the Tram off the Universal lot and it drives through the streets of Hollywood. Conan uses the microphone to yell at a man on a car lot that he shouldn't buy that red car he's checking out, becuase "red is a girl's color!" Then he stops at the .99 Cent Store to buy gifts for everyone on the Tram.

Back in the studio, Conan graciously thanks Jay Leno and does a brief but funny Leno impression, noting that Leno's new show should be on the air in about three days.

And in case all the taped segments about Los Angeles didn't quite sink in, they bring in a "stolen" letter "D" from the famed Hollywood sign, to demonstrate how large their new studio is. Nevermind that they tore the top off the sign taking it out of the side stage door. "Hooray for Hollywoo!" Conan and sidekick Andy Richter proclaim.

Conan's first guest was Will Ferrell, who entered the studio carried on a platform by Egyptian slaves (so as not to upstage Conan on his big night). He then gushed about how excited he was for Conan, saying "No one thought you could do it. No one. Literally no one. Not one person!"

Ferrell then reminded us once again that Conan has ditched New York, by reading Conan a list of fun things real Angelinos like to do around town: Park on the tarmac at LAX on Sundays and have a picnic; drive to Pasadena to eat at this really great burger joint (Burger King); and "borrow" guns from the "extremely kind and courteous" LAPD officers. 

Conan congratulates Ferrell on his Tony nomination, and Ferrell notes that he's up against Liza Minelli, who he says totally deserves it and is going to win. However, Ferrell notes that she is a communist and that voting for her is like "urinating on the flag." Even though he calls her "The Red Menace," Ferrell says, "She's still gonna win and she should win."

There was some obligatory talk about Ferrell's new movie, "The Land of the Lost," based on the classic old Saturday morning TV show, and a nice Sleestak (right) impression from Ferrell.

Finally, Ferrell serenades Conan with "Never Can Say Goodbye." Conan stops him after a couple of lines to remind him, "this is not a goodbye show." Ferrell responds: "Don't get me wrong, I'm pulling for you, man. But this whole thing's a crap shoot at best." After warning Conan of the "shaky network execs waiting to the pull the plug," Ferrell resumes singing.

Conan closes out the show with Pearl Jam, debuting their new song, "Get Some" from their new album "Backspacer," due out this fall. 

Tonight: Tom Hanks and Green Day.