Richter, as well as Jerry Vivino, a member of the Basic Cable Band. The broadcast hosted several guests, including actor Jim Parsons and indie rock band Steel Train, and lasted a total of four minutes, and 51 seconds. Weeks before the premiere, an orange Conan blimp was introduced to further promote the show. Designed by Blue Sky, an Atlanta firm, the dirigible provided aerial footage for 2010 Major League Baseball postseason games airing on TBS. It was subsequently incorporated into sketches on Conan, including a running gag where the blimp would follow actor Gary Busey around southern California, much to his chagrin. Series premiere The first episode of Conan, titled "Baa Baa Blackmail", premiered on Monday, November 8, 2010, at 11 p.m. EST on TBS. The episode's first guest was Arlene Wagner, the curator of Leavenworth, Washington's Nutcracker Museum. Wagner's position as Conans debut guest was chosen by fans through a "rigged" poll at Conan O'Brien's official website, TeamCoco.com. The poll also consisted of Pope Benedict XVI, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, performers Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, and actor Jack Nicholson, among others. Wagner's brief appearance was followed by actor and comedian Seth Rogen and actress Lea Michele, along with musical guest Jack White, who performed "Twenty Flight Rock", along with O'Brien himself. Actor Jon Hamm, appearing as his character Don Draper from the AMC series Mad Men, and talk show host Larry King, of CNN's Larry King Live, made cameo appearances in the show's cold open, with actor and comedian Ricky Gervais sending Conan a pre-taped message expressing his well wishes on the new series, then going on to express condolences for future job losses. Reviews of the premiere episode by television critics were positive, calling it "a looser, quirkier take on a late-night talk show, but still a late-night talk show." James Poniewozik of Time found the episode to be enjoyable, and compared it to O'Brien's tenure during Late Night. Itzkoff went on to state, "The message, overall is that Conan the show is not so much about a reinvention of the talk show form as a restoration of Conan. He was doing something he wanted to do, a late-night talk show, and NBC made him stop doing it." He also praised the opening monolog, and Conan's performance with Jack White during the episode's conclusion. Frazier Moore of Associated Press went on to call the episode "a