Stupid bump...
Anyone see him say "its a weird mic but we'll get it fixed" on Monday's show? (I'm watching on the internet) To which the guest replies, "good, upgrade it." He also spoke right into it and tapped it and nothing happened. Obviously the show is not live so they wouldn't have to use the source in the show thats on TV but it sort of makes it seem like its not actually a live mic and truly a prop. I did notice he didn't actually knock it over (or even touch it) like he used to handle his desk mic though.
edit: it happens in the first 30 seconds of this interview
http://www.tbs.com/video/conan.jsp?oid=236891&eref=sharethisUrl
Actually, I bet it is live but they've got the gain pot on the console switched all the way down, and would only jack it up if his other mic died. Backup but "safe" if bumped, etc., in terms of making extraneous noise during the recording.
And it's set to omni. My favorite!!!