Since I’m still too bleary-eyed this morning from staying up late to watch Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” debut, I’ll appropriate Tom Shales’ deft prose in way of assessment:

By the time he finally appeared, many viewers may already have had their fills of O’Brien, who has gone from being the proprietor of an endearingly zany curiosity shop — “Late Night,” airing at 12:35 — to being the impresario at the center of a gleaming circus maximus, resplendent on a gorgeous new set in a huge refurbished studio on the Universal lot in Los Angeles.

I definitely felt there was too much Conan-centric content, particularly with those prolonged taped segements. Probably because of that, there was too little interaction with his supporting cast, namely Andy Richter and Max Weinberg, both of whom provided solid comedic contributions on the 12:30 slot. Overall, there seemed to be too much emulation of the previous Leno regime’s style.

But then again, this is to be expected. One show isn’t enough to pass judgment, and especially not the premiere, when it makes sense to overemphasize the new guy in charge. I don’t expect O’Brien and company to hit their stride until after this week’s overblown rollout concludes. After that, the show will settle into a regular pace that hopefully reintroduces elements from “Late Night”.

Oh, and as for the picture above these words: A leftover from last year’s WGA strike effort. Just happens to be the only photo of O’Brien I have stored, but aside from that, I like it. And I still think he looks like a guest-starring warlock from “Bewitched”, and should play off that in a skit (provided he ever goes back to that playoff-beard look).