James Giarelli

I never watched Conan's late night show and am, at most, a casual fan of clips I've seen on FB. But this show is hilarious and made me laugh out loud. It is not a "travel show" but instead an enormously inventive, high-production value and often spontaneous series of comedic sketches based loosely in a specific country and its cultural icons. The person who comes in for the most teasing and roasting is Conan himself who is relentlessly self-abasing. Anyone who thinks he is being culturally insensitive must have missed the episode on Argentina where he spears lots of empires, especially the American. Local cultures get their share of ridicule as well, such as in the episode on the "Viking village" with the Esso gas station next door or the "Gauchos of the Pampas" who go to McDonalds for lunch. This is a very, very funny show that rivals the best of Larry Sanders, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Seinfeld, all of which poked fun at everything and everyone, including the images in the mirror.