When Conan O’Brien finally took the reigns of “The Tonight Show” this spring, many longtime fans couldn’t help but notice that he seemed uncomfortable toning down the gleefully unhinged humor that made his “Late Night” such a success. Gone were the joys of the Masturbating Bear and Vomiting Kermit the Frog and even his ritual “string dance.”

But I think Conan — and his writers — have finally grown into the new role. Several times this week, he’s had the sharpness and silliness of the old “Late Night” while managing to hold on to the more buttoned-up style “The Tonight Show” requires. Take, for example, the clip above: it’s the sort of juvenile, cheap laugh O’Brien excels at, but he lets the video do the work for him.

Naturally, this improvement won’t solve the present NBC ratings disaster caused by the Great Leno Plague, but it’s good  to see one of the best hosts of late-night television grow into the show he inherited. More examples, including an excellent Sarah Palin clip, below:

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“Between Two Ferns,” the Internet’s #1 talk show featuring ferns and Zach Galifianakis, is back with another awkwardly funny installment. This episode features guests Conan O’Brien (or “Conan O. Brien”) and Andy Richter, and it’s great to see Richter hand Conan out to dry for comedic effect (see video below). As you might expect, Zach and Conan fail to establish a great rapport, and early on we get this exchange:

Zach: Steve Allen, Jack Parr, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien…
Conan: Mm-hmm.
Zach: I was just listing my favorite “Tonight Show” hosts in order.

It gets better from there, but you don’t need me getting in the way of jokes that belong to funnier people. If you need me, I’ll be where I usually am: masturbating at the public library.

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After suffering a concussion Friday, Conan O’Brien took a couple minutes of “The Tonight Show” last night to discuss how his head injury occurred and what happened in the aftermath (see video below; pictured above: him slipping and hitting the back of his head on the floor at the end of a triathlon he staged with Teri Hatcher). It’s the usual Conan: self-deprecating and endearing, but there’s definitely also an off-putting element here, as the subject is someone’s head trauma and consequent hospitalization.

Anyway, no jokes from me, just a big ol’ emoticon heart <3 for Conan. Glad you’re okay, ya big weirdo. Although if this improves ratings in any way, keep up with the weird injuries. Next week on “The Tonight Show”: Conan recounts his harrowing account of waking up in a bath tub full of ice with phone and a note that says, “If you want to live call 911.” Ratings GOLD!

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UPDATE: high-res image via philadelphia will do

Andy Richter mopped the floor with Dana Delany and Wolf Blitzer on “Celebrity Jeopardy!” last night, finishing with a total of $68,000 that will go to his charity, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Wolf Blitzer, meanwhile, played the role of Sean Connery on Saturday Night Live’s spoof, minus the Trebek insults: he wound up thousands of dollars in the red. Apparently he’s too busy in the Situation Room to know what fettuccine looks like.

You can watch the entire episode below (see the 1:50 mark in part 2 to grasp Blitzer’s ignorance of pasta). And yes, I know: the questions are ridiculously easy. Still, Richter’s dominance is unbelievable: I kept a running tally of his performance, and he answered about two-thirds of all the clues correctly — twice as many Blitzer and Delany combined. He was incorrect only twice the entire game. (I can only hope that this topic surfaces on this evening’s “Tonight Show.”)

Updated intelligence ranking scale: comedians > actors > news anchors. I’m not sure whether to put reality TV stars before or after news anchors.

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I apologize: I’m sure many of you don’t particularly care that Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter are reuniting on “The Tonight Show” on June 1st.  But for me, it’s kinda huge.   I’ve been waiting YEARS for Conan to be on at a more reasonable hour, and if NBC was just gonna douche out and give Leno an earlier time slot, then this move should have happened back in 2006.

Anyway, in this week’s teaser video for the regime change (embedded player below), Andy dons a red wig and pretends to be Conan.   It’s a funny reminder that Richter can be an excellent balance to Conan’s manic schtick.  Hey, uh, if you guys are hiring… not that I’m saying I don’t want to be a blogger forever or anything… but, like, if you NEEDED another writer for the show, it looks awfully good on paper if you have a military veteran on staff.  I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’, y’know?  **makes fellatio motion**

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