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O'Brien's Song

In 2010, Conan O'Brien seemed to have it all. Jay Leno was leaving "The Tonight Show" and Mr. O'Brien was primed to take the reins. It seemed to be the culmination of everything the young comedian had worked for all those years at 12:30am. Then, after a promising if tenuous seven months, the unthinkable happened: Conan lost "The Tonight Show".

Maybe "lost" isn't the right word. Depending on whose team you were on (Jay or "Coco"), O'Brien had "Tonight" untimely ripped from his hands. You see, Leno wouldn't go away. NBC gave him an ill-conceived 10pm slot. Then, after that failed, in another fit of short-sightedness, the execs tried to push Leno to 11pm and Conan to midnight. And that was the end. O'Brien refused to become "the first host of 'The Tonight Show' to go on the air tomorrow". So NBC bought him out, gave "Tonight" back to Leno and prohibited Conan from appearing on television, the internet or radio for six months.

So what do you do in that position - if you're a workaholic comedian, that is? Well, you mount a 32-city comedy tour, of course, called "The Legally Prohibited from being Funny on TV Tour".

The documentary "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" follows the "half-assed" creation of that tour and the subsequent performances. The fantastically-named director, Rodman Flender, trains his camera firmly on Conan, and your enjoyment of the film will likely be proportional to your enjoyment of the redheaded quipster's particular brand of off-kilter comedy.

If you're not a Team Coco supporter, you're still likely to respect the man: he is a tireless entertainer - and he is shown being gleefully aware of his ability to become a power-mad tyrant (though always with a quick quip to defuse the situation). The film earns its title; the man has no off switch. And though he may protest on occasion that he wants some time alone, he'll then turn around and do a gig at his college reunion, or jam with Jack White.

Surprisingly, and sadly, this documentary about a comedy tour doesn't contain much comedy. Particularly early in the film, Conan is behind a guitar performing parodies or full-on covers of classic songs. He's not a bad guitarist (his singing is nothing to sing about) but the few glimpses of comedy routines leave you wanting more. Perhaps the DVD will contain more footage of that actual show. As for the singing, that's something Conan O'Brien can stop.