After some troubling ratings news in 2011, TBS and Conan have reached an agreement to keep his show on the cable network through 2014. From Bill Carter at the New York Times:

The two sides had been moving toward agreement on the extension for some months, despite questions being raised by competing late-night shows about whether Mr. O’Brien’s ratings might become an issue.

After an initial surge of interest after his acrimonious departure from NBC in January 2010, “Conan” experienced a decline in ratings on TBS. Though competitive at first with the leading cable late-night shows — “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central — “Conan” slipped behind those shows after several months.

I wonder what turned it around. Probably not that stupid decision to use reruns of “Big Bang Theory” as its lead-in. Stupid “Big Bang Theory,” always ruining “Community’s” ratings and having stupid jokes and a stupid face.

Most significantly for Mr. O’Brien, the traditional ratings for his show – which are still responsible for most of the revenue — have demonstrated a noticeable resurgence in recent months. The big reason: TBS has found the most-compatible lead-in programming for the show since Mr. O’Brien’s arrival — reruns of the hit comedy “The Big Bang Theory.”

After some months where “Conan” attracted audiences of only 700,000 to 800,000 viewers (by the traditional ratings), it has bounced back in December to average 900,000 to 1 million viewers.

Oh. Well, uh, maybe the show’s not all bad, I guesOH MY GOD WHAT’S THAT OVER THERE? [scurries away].

Say what you will about the current state of late-night talk shows (and I have), but I’m happier living in a world where Conan has a show. I admit I don’t watch it as frequently as I once did, but until someone else starts putting puppies in wigs and asking RZA about nudity and chess, I vote we keep this guy around.

More awesome Conan-related content after the jump.

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When I did the TV listings last night, I said of “Justified,” “We’re officially at the point of the season where things are starting to get SERIOUS. We’re playing for keeps now, kiddies.” Last night’s episode confirmed that. While Raylan’s main case this week dealt with a goon of a pimp, there were a bunch of other threads getting woven together — all of them progressing us towards what looks like an intense as sh-t climax. I’m pumped. Let’s all go punch some flesh-peddlers.

The highlights:

• Oxy thievin’ oxy thieves.
• GUNSHOTS. GUNSHOTS. GUNSHOTS.
• Quarles. Still terrifying. Like, a lot.
• Ava doing some investigating.
• Art dropping wisdom like Socrates and sh-t. (“You know you’re in trouble when the drums stop.”)
• “Well, I’ve got a big tank, Raylan. It does save on gas.”
• “Sh-t, I didn’t bring a knife.”
• Winona and Charlie running for the hills, for very different reasons. (I’m sure Team Ava will have a very calm, reasoned reaction to th- [gets shouted down like a Mets fan at a Phillies game].)
• That damn missing money again. (NOTE: EW has a Q&A with creator Graham Yost that sheds some light on this.)
• Limehouse slowly revealing himself as a criminal mastermind. If he and Boyd ever team up, I really think they could take over the world like supervillains. All they need are evil laughs, masks, and an underground lair. I smell spin-off.

As always, we’ve got some great GIFs by Chet Manley on the next page, and writer Jon Worley answering questions in the comments. I may just post “WTF QUARLES, BRO. SERIOUSLY” over and over until he snaps and tells us what’s up with that dude in the bedroom. THE PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW, JON.

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Justified (FX) – We’re officially at the point of the season where things are starting to get SERIOUS. We’re playing for keeps now, kiddies. Recap and discussion post tomorrow, so take notes.

Cougar Town (ABC) – I was one of those guys who was all “‘COUGAR TOWN’? Sounds dumb. I have officially made my mind up about this” when the show first came out, but now I realize that it’s really good. So, what I’m saying is, don’t listen to old me. Listen to new me. He’s smart. (RELATED: Showrunner Bill Lawrence was on Marc Maron’s podcast, and it was great.)

Glee/New Girl/Raising Hope (FOX) – Winter finale of “Glee.” Some kids have spunk and moxie and overcome adversity by singing pop hits. One or more of them kiss each other or get pregnant. There you go.

The River (ABC) – I haven’t done the Tuesday night listings for the past two weeks, and I already forgot this show existed. That doesn’t reflect too well on me, but it REALLY doesn’t reflect well on “The River.”

Southland (TNT) – I know this show is good and I should be watching it, but there just aren’t enough hours in the week says the same guy who watched a three-hour marathon of “Man v. Food” the other day.

Parenthood (NBC) – Holy crap there’s a lot of good TV on Tuesdays nights. Let’s move some of this to Mondays.

LATE NIGHT LISTINGS: Eric Stonestreet and KATE UPTON REPEAT KATE UPTON on Kimmel; Alec Baldwin on Letterman; Bill Maher on Ferguson; Bill O’Reilly and Rob Riggle on Leno; Tyler Perry and David Wain on Fallon; and Amanda Seyfried on Conan

In a recent interview with The Mirror, “Mad Men” star Christina Hendricks discussed her unpleasant experiences as a high school student in Virginia:

“My school days were pretty unhappy. I had the worst high school experience ever. I went to a very mean school and was bullied like crazy.

“I was a bit of a goth with purple hair and I was also part of the drama group, so my friends and I were all weird theatre people and everyone just hated us.

“There was a long corridor with lockers on either side and kids would sit on top of them and spit on you. It was like something out of Lord of the Flies.”

Of course Christina Hendricks hated high school. Do you know who else hated high school? Everyone. Even people who liked high school hated high school. It’s hundreds of insecure people with enough hormones coursing through their veins that they’re practically glowing crammed into a building and tearing each other apart for four consecutive years. It’s more of a perverse science experiment than anything else, and Christina Hendricks is a great example. As the article goes on to explain, one short year after she graduated from a school where people mocked and spit on her, she ended up as a model living in New York. If someone like that can’t get through high school unscathed, no one can.

My point here is that teenagers should be kept in cages. Something something Christina Hendricks.

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HBO’s upcoming comedy “Girls” has been getting a lot of buzz in advance of its April 15th premiere. Part of the hype is because the project was created by critical darling Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture) and Comedy Midas Judd Apatow, but the other part is that it looks like a dramatic shift from HBO’s previous “Hey, isn’t life just the best? Let’s get drinks and bone” brand of comedies, like “Sex and the City” and “Entourage.” In fact, many — including the people at HBO — are branding it as the anti-”Sex and the City.” I would argue that “the anti-’Sex and the City’” would actually be a show about a group of celibate Amish men who refuse to talk about shoes under any circumstances, but now we’re just arguing semantics.

Anyway, HBO released the first full-length trailer for the show recently, and, sure enough, it has the Apatow-style all over it: awkward, a little uncomfortable, and substantially more realistic than the lifestyle-porn shows mentioned above. Granted, an off-beat show focusing on a group of 20-something women ain’t exactly lighting up the ol’ Uproxx Target Demo Meter, but I fully support both (a) quality television made by creative and talented people, and (b) people going out of their way to passive aggressively trash shows I dislike, so at the very least I plan on giving this show a shot.

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