Timing is key in comedy and for at least one formerly unemployed talk-show host. While Conan O'Brien's departure from "Tonight" was part of a sorry mess, it was exquisitely in sync with the growing influence of social media.
Team Coco's adroit use of Twitter and Facebook in the months after O'Brien gave up his network TV platform gave him a direct pipeline to fans and new admirers, keeping him and his comic sensibility in a welcoming, computer-generated spotlight.
With Monday's debut of his TBS show "Conan" (10 p.m.), O'Brien will learn how much being an online sensation can help foster late-night success in cable TV and in a new time slot.
"Let's be clear about this: Conan O'Brien's show will succeed if it's good, and it will fail if it sucks," said Josh Bernoff, co-author of "Empowered," about using social networks in business. "Social media cannot change that. What it can change is the speed with which the message gets spread."