Conan O'Brien ready to break in cozy new studio

[November 05, 2010]  BURBANK, Calif. (AP) -- Conan O'Brien is ready to reach out and touch the audience in his cozy new Burbank, Calif., studio -- if the lawyers don't stop him.

O'Brien says he wanted an intimate atmosphere for his late-night TBS show, which launches 11 p.m. EST Monday. At NBC's "Tonight Show," he was given a large studio that held more than 300 people. For "Conan," O'Brien is holding court in a smaller, 250-seat house and will stand about a dozen feet away from the audience during his opening monologue.

Otherwise, Studio 15 on the Warner Bros. lot is decorated talk-show traditional, with a desk for O'Brien and sofa for his guests. The set's backdrop is a nighttime seascape of the California coast under the glow of a full moon.

O'Brien joked that he's looking forward to walking over and touching members of the audience, adding that attorneys have advised him not everybody likes that.

[Associated Press; By LYNN ELBER]

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