Late Night with Conan O'Brien

1439:, a long-time announcer for NBC shows, was the program's announcer and a frequent comedy contributor. On the show's final episode, Conan noted that Godard was originally hired to simply announce the show's intro and claimed "nobody thought you'd ever see him"; however, he was gradually worked into the show's comedy pieces. These bits usually revolved around Godard's supposed homosexual fetishes, deviant sexual habits, substance abuse, and suicidal tendencies. The humor came in part from Godard's delivery. No matter how depressing or deviant the topic being discussed was, he always did so in an exaggeratedly cheerful voice and with a huge smile plastered on his face. Several sketches ended with Godard apparently committing suicide in his announcer's booth. When Andy Richter left the show in 2000, Godard began to appear in sketches more frequently. 897: 1767:

sincerity. In the show's second and fourth segments, O'Brien interviewed two celebrity guests, between which, in the third segment, O'Brien listed the next night's/week's guests. There was often a comedy bit as well during this segment. The show's fifth segment was usually reserved for a musical or stand-up comedy performance, or occasionally another guest interview. The show's final segment was usually a quick "goodnight" and the closing credits, which sometimes featured part of a bit from earlier in the show. Quite rare for a talkshow, frequently comedy segments would also spill into the interviews, typically when a guest was a 'friend' of the show.

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Manhattan backdrop; it was modeled after Lorne Michaels' office. For years afterwards, O'Brien mocked this original set, particularly its "mustard color". The two subsequent set designs featured darker blues and violets to emulate the feel of nighttime, with the final set featuring a balcony railing in front of a backdrop with the view from the top of Rockefeller Center. This set debuted on September 4, 2001, and necessitated changes almost instantly as its backdrop view of New York City contained the

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got to insult it, and the viewers in Finland began sending mail before the bit had even gotten to the letter F. Conan responded by assuming the Finnish "just couldn't wait" to be insulted and officially insulted Finland in the segment. An overwhelming number of postcards were supposedly received, which apparently "forced" Conan to give Finland a formal apology. Conan then went as far as to have the flag of Finland shown in the background during a speech and slandered the Finns' "hated" neighbor

1973:. Conan mentioned the resemblance on his show, even showing pictures of Halonen next to himself. When he discovered that Halonen was up for reelection he began making satirical commercials in support of Halonen and vowed to travel to Finland to meet her if she won re-election. When she did indeed win re-election in January 2006, Conan traveled to Finland and met with her. One episode, broadcast on March 10, 2006, was compiled mainly of footage from O'Brien's trip to 1779:" was one standard). After the show was finished taping, O'Brien sang the "End of the Show Song", which never aired on Late Night, although in February 2009, a short video of it was posted on Late Night Underground. The End of the Show Song finally did reach air on January 21, 2010, his penultimate show as Tonight Show host. It also was aired on the March 29, 2012 episode of Conan. The tradition of singing The End of the Show Song has continued, un-aired as usual, on 5419: 3212: 3193: 3108: 3173: 3048: 3128: 957: 2340:-era baseball game, played at a Long Island, New York museum, Old Bethpage Village Restoration. During the course of the final week, O'Brien began violently dismantling and handing out pieces of the production set to the audience. In the final show, a large piece of the stage's frame was pulled down and chopped into pieces. O'Brien then promised to give each audience member in attendance a piece of the set. 1977:. In the episode, Conan greeted fans at the airport, participated in a Sami cultural ceremony, appeared on a Finnish talk show, and attempted to visit a fan who had written to him. The episode was not strictly taped as a live episode there, however, but was prefaced by an introduction by O'Brien taped in New York. The Finland episode came as the culmination of a long-running joke on the show. 2972: 972: 1847:. Most segments were priced at $ 1.99, as were most episodes of other shows, with "special" best-ofs and other longer segments priced at $ 9.99. In December, 2007 NBC stopped selling all its television shows on iTunes, but the network returned it to iTunes in September 2008 after NBC and Apple worked out a new agreement. The show was offered free at 2116: 883:, which boosted audience awareness. Even Letterman, who admired O'Brien's comic sensibility, appeared as a guest to register his support. O'Brien's performance style improved through experience, and he began to receive more favorable reviews and ratings the following year. With the ratings gradually improving over the course of two years, 1892:. A special curtain was used to obstruct the towers until October, when the curtain became a permanent part of the set design even after the backdrop was altered. During his final week of episodes, Conan took an axe to parts of the set, giving it out to audience members as souvenirs, not wanting to allow it to simply be thrown away. 2031:, O'Brien and the staff taped a short 10-minute introduction explaining that the episode they had planned would not be taking place due to the blackout. Studio 6A was powered by a generator and lit by battery-powered floodlights. A standby show was aired in-progress after the intro. One of the scheduled guests that night, 1880:

each episode from the area where musical guests perform. The Max Weinberg 7 were in the corner made by the stage-right wall and the wall in front of the audience. The desk area had a desk for O'Brien, a chair and couch(es) to the viewer's left for guests (and originally Andy Richter), and a coffee table.

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on January 2, 2008, featured a small musical segment at the beginning of the show detailing O'Brien's newly grown beard in a show of support for the striking writers. At the beginning of the January 28 episode, it was revealed that Conan had shaved his beard, which was followed with a similar musical

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with a sign saying "Sweden Sucks!" printed over the flag of Sweden. It would seem that this chain of events led to elevated ratings in Finland and subsequently also sparked a special relationship with the viewers in Finland. Later when Conan was talking to audience members before the show, a group of

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Several times during the episodes produced during the writer's strike, O'Brien would kill time by spinning his wedding ring on his desk, which he previously only did during rehearsals. His personal best was 41 seconds, achieved during an un-aired rehearsal. After several unsuccessful on-air attempts

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Aside from location shows, the show also did special one-shots in its early years. In 1995, one episode of the show was taped aboard a New York City ferry in New York Harbor. Dubbed "The Show on a Boat" by the showtunes-style song-and-dance number performed by a trio of "sailors" at the start of the

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months. The first vacation for the show was a week-long stint of shows in Los Angeles the week of November 9–12, 1999. This was the only location week for the show while Andy Richter was with the show, and the only time the show's theme was altered for the week, with a more surf-style version of the

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greeted the audience (this task was formerly undertaken by head writer Mike Sweeney). McCann delivered a few jokes, told the audience what to expect, and finally introduced the band and then O'Brien. O'Brien then thanked the audience for coming, meeting as many audience members as he could. He would

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made frequent use of various costumed characters such as The Masturbating Bear, Robot on a Toilet, and Pimpbot 5000. The humor in these sketches often derived from the crude construction of the characters' costumes as well as the absurdist nature of their conceptions. For example, Pimpbot 5000 was a

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In a sketch called "Conan O'Brien Hates My Homeland", Conan mocked every nation in the world to see which ones he gets letters from. An announcer on the Finnish entertainment channel SubTV, which airs the show a couple of days after it is aired in the US, asked people to defend Finland before Conan

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had three long-term permanent sets, but retained the basic structure used when Letterman occupied Studio 6A: the performance space at the viewer's left, and the desk area, to the viewer's right, where interviews were done. O'Brien did his monologue in the performance area, emerging at the start of

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into and out of commercial breaks (they actually played through the entire break for the studio audience), and a short piece during O'Brien's crossover to his desk after his monologue. The show's closing theme was called "Cornell Knowledge", and was lifted from Jerry and Jimmy Vivino's first album

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from O'Brien, followed by various "desk bits". These generally included several brief sketches, recurring segments, or some other form of comedy. Typically O'Brien would play the 'straight man' role to the general absurdity of the comedy, treating the material or wacky nature of the sketches with

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is currently taped). The studio holds just over 200 audience members. It was taped at about 5:30 pm as an uninterrupted hour-long program, with the band playing music through the portions that would be filled by commercials. Generally, shows were taped at 5:30 pm Monday through Friday,

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Particularly in the early years, comedic sketches overtook all segments on the show, occasionally even interrupting guest interviews and O'Brien's monologue. Frequently sketches would randomly begin without introduction, such as during banter between Richter and O'Brien. A lot of the humor had a

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was reported to have made particularly strong overtures, pitching him an 11:00 p.m. show. O'Brien decided to re-sign with NBC, however, joking that he initially wanted to make a 13-week deal (a nod to his first contract). He ultimately signed through 2005, indicating that it was symbolic of

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A lot of high-concept gimmick episodes were done in the early years of the show, such as a 1995 show done entirely on a boat of the circle line or "Time Travel Week", four episodes from early 1996, where Conan and Andy (and the rest of the crew) "time-traveled" to a different point in time each

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rendered the 6A studios out of commission for the remainder of that week. The fire occurred on early Thursday morning, which left O'Brien's staff precious little time to assemble a show elsewhere. Pressed for time as 12:35 approached, O'Brien taped the show outside, after dark, despite the cold

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Celebrity guests of the night would also occasionally appear in sketches either during their interviews or during the earlier comedy segments, e.g. in "In the year 2000" (which always included the participation of a celebrity guest after Andy Richter left the show) or a sketch where Conan would

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Primarily, set changes involved the background behind the desk and chair and couch. The original set, used from the show's debut in 1993 until August 6, 1996, was primarily yellow, and the desk background resembled the living room of a New York City apartment, with windows that looked out at a

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in May 2000, Max Weinberg assumed a bigger role as an interlocutor for O'Brien's jokes. One common running gag was Max's awkwardness on camera and his apparent lack of chemistry with Conan. Weinberg was often used in sketches as well, which usually revolved around his purported sexual deviance

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that relied heavily on recurring segments and 'found' humor. The show was particularly unique in the lack of 'found' humor to derive content from i.e. most content being scripted as opposed to Letterman's Small Town News or Jay Leno's headlines that used this "found humor". O'Brien would often

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Not so Conan O'Brien. The set of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," at the 30 Rockefeller Center studio his predecessor used, is tidy. The set, which looks like a hip men's club, was inspired by the office of Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of "Late Night" and "Saturday Night

729:, NBC only offered short-term contracts, 13 weeks at a time and once for six weeks, as widely reported by the press at the time. O'Brien was reportedly almost fired at least once in this period, but NBC had no one to replace him. According to Smigel, "We were basically canceled at 3268:

broadcast in the 11:45 am CET/10:45 pm GMT 45-minute time slot. This schedule usually runs from Tuesdays to Fridays. CNBC Europe decided to stop broadcasting Late Night as of January 1, 2009, a mere two months before Conan's last show as host. Instead of following

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According to O'Brien, NBC network executive Warren Littlefield told him, with regard to Andy Richter, he'd "never succeed until I 'got rid of that big fat dildo.' That was the tone of the conversations between us and the network." It was widely expected that the host of

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nearly seven months after its first airing, including the opening credits and commercial bumpers. The episode's originally broadcast soundtrack was retained while the visuals were reproduced to mirror the original footage in a small-scale reproduction of the studio 6A.

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Typically O'Brien would play the 'straight man' role to the general absurdity of the comedy, treating the material or wacky nature of the sketches with sincerity. The show had an unusual quantity of comedy and original content rather than other talk shows such as

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pretend to write in his diary while an attractive female guest was there. Quite rare for a talk show, sometimes interviews began normally but turned into sketches with both the guest and Conan participating, usually when the guest was a "friend of the show."

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reached a new level of critical and commercial success in 1996. Tom Shales officially recanted his previous critical review with the headline "I was wrong", and O'Brien received his first Emmy nomination for writing, which he received every year until 2011.

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in the cold open, who occupied Conan's studio in 1983, cruelly brushing off Conan and Andy's attempt at explaining their presence in Letterman's dressing room by saying, "Why don't you two fellas go find a nice, warm place to screw yourselves? Security!").

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wrote "As for O'Brien, the young man is a living collage of annoying nervous habits. He giggles and titters, jiggles about and fiddles with his cuffs. He has dark, beady little eyes like a rabbit. He's one of the whitest white men ever." (O'Brien wrote for

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made the claim that because of "the Colbert bump," he was responsible for Huckabee's current success in the 2008 presidential race. O'Brien claimed that he was responsible for Colbert's success because he had made mention of him on his show. In response,

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In 1997, a special episode was taped in which the studio audience was composed solely of grade-school age children, primarily 5–10 years of age. Conan interacted with the children, encouraging them to laugh and cheer to keep away the boredom monster.

747:. One credit says "Watch My Show" as his "middle" name. In all Simpsons Treehouse of Horror shows, the names on the credits include Halloween-associated middle name nicknames in quotation marks. 1993 was the last year O'Brien wrote for the Simpsons. 5712: 2228:, claimed that he was responsible for the success of O'Brien, and in turn the success of Huckabee and Colbert. This resulted in a three-part comedic battle among the three hosts, with all three appearing on each other's shows. The feud ended on 4333: 679:

in front of O'Brien, appearing to be representative of the fate that awaited the new host if he failed to meet expectations. After seeming to be unaffected by the comments, O'Brien arrives at his dressing room and cheerfully prepares to

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In 1996, a third anniversary episode was taped, though it aired in the regular 12:35/11:35 late night time slot. The show was composed of clips of the best of the first three years, and featured cameos from many former guests, including

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on good terms, to pursue his acting career, a move that emotionally affected O'Brien, as evidenced by Richter's last show. The show's comedy bits and banter had usually depended on O'Brien's interaction with Richter. O'Brien's wacky

1408:). Lurie would later say that he was contracted by Shore to write the theme, and after he turned in the piece, Shore made minimal changes and claimed an unwarranted co-writing credit. Lurie also claimed to have been a finalist for 2134:, marking the first time in the show's then 13-year run that it had devoted an entire show to a single guest. Jim Pitt, the talent executive in charge of booking acts for the show, remarked that in his 12 years of working for 4432: 5705: 806:

and a rebroadcast of its 10:00 p.m. newscast between Leno and O'Brien. Houston became the subject of a skit (via classic remote piece) in which O'Brien made impromptu stops at Houston's central bus terminal and the

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a satirical review of the first episode the day it aired titled "O'Brien Flops!", in which he told readers "Frankly, I was not impressed".) The originality and quality of the comedy, however, led by original head writer

1506:). Blitz went so far as to travel to India for one bit in which he carried his computer through the streets of India to get technical support firsthand from the telephone representative at NBC's technical help center. 1384:. Mark Pender would often sing songs on the topic of a current event which ended with him screeching uncontrollably and climbing the risers into the audience. All members of the 7 have had successful side careers as 5698: 2180:

of O'Brien's television career, considering the spontaneity of each episode. The strike also gave rise to associate producer Jordan Schlansky's repeated appearances on the show as an embellished version of himself.

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fantasy-like quality to it, where inanimate objects would talk or silly characters would disrupt the show. Sometimes a short story would emerge in these sketches with a resolution culminating in a song.

1672:" when brought on stage. Many of these characters did little more in their appearances than walk across the stage or be wheeled out from behind the curtain, but some had extensive sketches on the show. 4121: 2091:

adorned with the clothing and accessories of the humans. This re-shoot was shot using the actual studio, and the puppeteers moved the skeletons with wires and cables while being visually obscured by

5721: 1380:"LaBamba" was also used as the butt of many of Conan's jokes. These humorous sketches usually revolved around LaBamba's sizeable mustache, his poor acting skills, and his alleged inability to read 4418: 2293:

s last episode was recorded February 20, 2009, and aired shortly after midnight that next morning. The episode featured clips from past shows and a reflection on the show's sixteen-year-long run.

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often appeared as a regular in many sketches, though she was best remembered for playing the recurring role of Andy Richter's Conan-obsessed teenage sister, Stacy. Other notable comedians such as

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to break his record, during the show originally broadcast on February 9, 2008, O'Brien broke his record for endurance ring spinning, setting a time of 51 seconds by coating his wedding ring with

4024: 1424:, it was played at a much quicker tempo than the album version. The band also played a wide variety of songs as bumpers coming to and from commercial breaks and introducing guests—usually 4440: 2321:, which quickly devolved into Ferrell tearing off his business suit to reveal an ill-fitting green leprechaun outfit that had been worn in a number of previous appearances on the show. 675:

makes a cameo, welcoming O'Brien to NBC but, doing as those on O'Brien's walk had done, warning him that he had "better be as good as Letterman, or else...", before menacingly crushing

2002:, who brought along wild animals, including birds that Conan explained had to be kept tied up, as they could not be freed outside. Earlier in the show, O'Brien and Richter walked into 524:

in 1992, executives at NBC announced that Carson's frequent guest-host Jay Leno would be Carson's replacement, not David Letterman. NBC later said that Letterman's high ratings for

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were the "dream artists" he'd tried, but never succeeded in getting. The band performed three songs, two more than the customary one song, then had a lengthy interview with Conan.

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I set down a lot of rules, some of which were crazy, but ultimately it forced us to come up with a lot of original stuff. We had the added bonus of being Letterman's replacement.

1486:(Hannigan the Traveling Salesman, Artie Kendall the Ghost Crooner, The Interrupter, Kilty McBagpipes, Fan-tastic Guy, Clive Clemmons, Frankenstein, Ira, Slipnut Brian, etc.), 3746: 4965: 4960: 4955: 4950: 4945: 4940: 4935: 1482:(Preparation H Raymond, FedEx Pope, The Loser, Airsick Moth, Jerry Butters, Awesome Dave, Funhole Guy, Bulletproof Legs Guy, Adrian "Raisin" Foster, S&M Lincoln, etc.), 4930: 4925: 4920: 4915: 4910: 4905: 4900: 4895: 4890: 2365:. The program concluded with a visibly emotional O'Brien giving a farewell speech from behind his desk, thanking his fans, writers, producers, backstage crew, his family, 403:

aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances.

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During the live tapings, and prior to the show, there was an audience warm-up, during which the audience watched a montage of highlights from the show, and staff writer

3840: 2263:) then introduced each subsequent guest by repeatedly listing Wendt's achievements (insinuating that all of his guests for that night's show played the role of Norm on 1981:

show, O'Brien, Richter, the band and guests were all crammed onto the deck of the ferry. The show was taped at its normal afternoon time, while it was still light out.

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technology. Once again, the opening and bumpers were altered, this time including a model of a hearse winding through a foggy landscape and cemetery, and the voice of

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Leno's last show will be Friday, May 29, and O'Brien will start the following Monday, June 1, NBC executives told a Television Critics Association meeting Monday.

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in the 12:30 am–1:00 am slot. The weeknight editions are a 30-minute condensed version of the show. The show follows the weeknight condensed version of

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as the character Carl 'Oldy' Olsen also made frequent cameo appearances in comedy sketches on the show at different periods. One of the show's graphic designers,

6078: 6023: 6018: 2359:. The performance proved to be the band's last before their breakup in February 2011. The song would be used many years later as the theme for O'Brien's podcast 2332:

in June, joined O'Brien onstage for two segments, watching clips and reminiscing about the show. Among the clips shown, O'Brien noted that his all-time favorite

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on weeknights from 11:45 pm–12:30 am CET, with weekend editions on Saturdays and Sundays at 9:45 pm–10:30 pm CET. However, in March 2007,

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employed a number of sketch actors, many of whom were frequently reused in different roles in different episodes. Several years before joining the cast of

995:. The show celebrated its 10th anniversary, another milestone that O'Brien said he wanted to achieve with his 2002 contract. During the anniversary show, 548:. Letterman moved his show to CBS virtually unchanged, taking most of the staff, skits, and comedy formats with him. However, NBC owned the rights to the 6048: 6013: 6008: 5059: 5054: 5049: 5044: 5039: 5034: 5029: 5024: 5019: 5014: 5009: 4854: 3295: 2275:

studio, also in the GE Building. The special was later sold on VHS tape. In 2003, a similar tenth anniversary special was taped in New York City's famed

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decided to show only the weekend editions, and drop the weeknight editions, to make way for more business news programmes in their weeknight schedules.

6093: 1918:"). The show was broadcast from NBC's L.A. studios (NBC Studios Burbank) and an L.A.-themed set was built, very similar in layout to the New York set. 627:. NBC offered the show to O'Brien on April 26, and O'Brien made his first meaningful television appearance later that day when Leno introduced him on 6098: 6043: 6038: 5077: 4885: 3304: 3286: 3000: 1302: 228: 4241: 1294:

was found to be the least politically oriented late night program. It averaged 310 political jokes per election season, in contrast to the Leno-led

5983: 4786: 3496: 3403: 1664:, while The Masturbating Bear was a man in a bear costume wearing an oversized diaper who would invariably begin to fondle himself to the tune of 5978: 4759: 6103: 6073: 2257:. Typical of O'Brien's style of comedy, he introduced his first guest (Wendt) by listing his notable achievements in television (particularly 6033: 6028: 4972: 2151: 4184: 4060: 6083: 5004: 723:, was widely praised. Although O'Brien benefited by comparison from the quick critical and commercial failure of the fellow new late-night 3873: 5678: 609:, that he should audition for the job. Despite having "about 40 seconds" of television-performance experience as an occasional extra on 5201: 5973: 1467:. Smigel left his position as head writer of the show in 1995 to pen several movies but continued to appear on the show to do bits as 1290:

used political humor, it did so far less frequently than competing shows did. During the 1996 and 2000 presidential election seasons,

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in Chicago, Illinois, taking cues from their previous trip to Toronto. Between April 30 – May 4, 2007, the show originated from the

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statue and 30 Rock serving as a backdrop. Furthering the unfortunate nature of the evening's circumstances was the final guest,

5256: 3942:"The TV Ratings Guide: Before Late Night Became A Toilet of Trumpster Fire Jokes -- The 1991–2015 Late Night Talk Show Ratings" 3325: 3319: 2196: 2087:, among other guests. Using a process the show called "Skelevision", all the visuals were re-shot with a Halloween motif, with 2006:(located in the lobby of Rockefeller Center), camera crew in tow, and bought a massaging leather recliner for the first guest, 1754: 1239:

The show was known for its wacky and absurd sophomoric comedic sensibility that is edgier than most other talk shows. Like his

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Listen: John Lurie Talks ‘Fishing With John,’ Working With Jim Jarmusch, Conan O’Brien & More In Hour-Plus Podcast Talk

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aired a fifth anniversary special in prime time, mostly consisting of clips from the first five years. It was taped in the

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O'Brien's inexperience was apparent, and the show was generally considered mediocre by critics in terms of hosting. The

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sent a farewell video message, singing a song about how Los Angeles is "going to eat alive" (an ironic foretelling of

1885: 1247:, who served as head writer in 1993, the show's comedic approach was to focus on being different from David Letterman: 3377: 896: 4703: 3945: 3777:(Television production). Late Night with Conan O'Brien. February 28, 1994. Event occurs at 4:40 – via YouTube. 3018: 1365:

would typically fill in on drums, and the band was led by Vivino under the name Jimmy Vivino and the Max Weinberg 7.

1334: 408: 5926: 4158: 1941:. As the show was taped at a theater, unlike the trip to L.A., the set built was not like the show's standard set. 1926: 528:

were the reason they kept him where he was. Letterman was bitterly disappointed and angry at not having been given

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Credited as NBC Productions (1992–1996), NBC Studios (1996–2004) and NBC Universal Television Studio (2004–2007).

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As is common in the talk show format, the Max Weinberg 7 performed the show's opening and closing themes, played

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s band leader position, but said producers told him, "Conan thinks you’re funnier than him and that scares him."

454: 1640:, was featured in several sketches, such as "Pierre Bernard's Recliner of Rage" and "Nerding It Up For Pierre". 1494:(Coked-up Werewolf, Jesus Christ, Mansy the half-man/half-pansy, Joe's Bartender, Todd the Tiny Guy, etc.), and 5394: 5194: 3688: 3257: 2486: 2399: 2276: 1478:

Members of the show's writing staff frequently appeared in sketches on the show. Among the most prolific were:

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although for much of the show's run, reruns would be aired on Mondays and the show would not tape that day.

1490:(Segue Sam, Pubes, Awareness Del, Wrist Hulk, Ahole Ronald, Gorton's Fisherman, Jeremy, Slipnut Jon, etc.), 427:; following his departure, O'Brien was the show's sole featured performer. The show's house musical act was 5631: 5489: 5449: 5347: 5117: 4828: 2417: 2348: 1601: 1589: 1498:(Awful Ballgame Chanter, Vin Diesel's brother Leonard Diesel, Slipnut Andy, Chuck Aloo aka the star of the 1468: 1447:

In the first few seasons of the show, the writing staff consisted of several now-prolific comics including

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predecessor, David Letterman, the show's humor also had a streak of biting sarcasm and irony. According to

495: 875:, in February 1994, remaining there for two years before deciding to pursue an acting career.) Stars like 5784: 4836: 2214: 979:

In 2002, when time came to renew his contract, O'Brien had notable offers from other networks to defect;

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comedy became more pronounced as he played all of his comedy and commentary directly to the audience and

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would take over the role, but Kinnear turned down the opportunity. (Kinnear would instead become host of

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in the fall of 1996, but scheduled it to air as late as 2:40 a.m. while the station, in addition to

265: 4287: 3504: 3411: 5574: 5354: 5148: 3656: 2298: 2028: 1852: 631:. On the final episode of his 16-year run, O'Brien stated that he "owed his career to Lorne Michaels". 6058: 671:

of O'Brien's walk to the studio with constant reminders that he was expected to live up to Letterman.

5886: 5422: 5187: 4216:"CONAN O'BRIEN SIGNS OFF OF 'LATE NIGHT' FEBRUARY 20, 2009 AND JIMMY FALLON TAKES OVER MARCH 2, 2009" 2987: 2246: 1637: 3557: 5286: 3471: 2717: 980: 796: 5645: 5546: 5539: 5504: 5442: 4180: 4117: 4056: 3264:

In September 2008, CNBC Europe changed the weeknight schedules to include full uncut editions of

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playfully chide his audience for an underwhelming or overly enthusiastic response to his jokes.

5720: 5652: 5560: 5366: 5098: 4796: 3845: 1483: 740: 443: 59: 476:. In 2004, as part of a deal to secure a new contract, NBC announced that O'Brien would leave 5638: 5617: 5567: 5385: 5276: 5158: 5141: 5135: 3635: 3247:, which for many years was shown live from America in a 12:30 am–1:00 am CET slot. 2356: 1860: 1593: 1139: 1018:

attracted an average of 1.98 million viewers, compared to 1.92 million viewers for

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himself. However, a warning that the show is about to start causes him to abandon his plans.

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in Toronto, Canada. The guests for these episodes were all Canadians (with the exception of

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Other shows that were taped in the regular 6A studio were augmented by special gimmicks:

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Usually starts at 12:00 am Weeknights, otherwise starts during the following hour

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Usually starts at 12:00 am Weeknights, otherwise starts during the following hour

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archives available online, marking the 25th anniversary of O'Brien's late night debut.

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Several writing staff interns have gone on to become noted actors or writers including

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served as sidekick from 1993 to 2000. He eventually returned as announcer/sidekick for

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show's normal theme (though the Toronto shows ended the normal theme with a piece of "

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Conan O'Brien: His last 'Late Night' a triumph, no insult, highly comic, not a dog

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since Fallon succeeded O'Brien in 2009, was being renovated when Fallon took over

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On the week of August 4, 2008, however, CNBC Europe has discontinued showing the

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One recurring technique is to superimpose lips onto an existing image, as in the

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to watch an episode of his own show with Houstonians in 1997. KPRC began airing

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in September 1994 due to low ratings and was replaced with first-run episodes of

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A more unexpected shoot occurred on October 10, 1996, when a five-alarm fire in

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technique, resulting in the speaker saying things often quite out of character.

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After the end of the series, Studio 6A at Rockefeller Center was remodeled for

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episode was created from an episode which originally aired in May and featured

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Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic, Multi-Camera) for VMC Programming

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Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic, Multi-Camera) for VMC Programming

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Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic, Multi-Camera) for VMC Programming

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fans visiting from Finland commented that he resembled their female president

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in New York City. Next to the door were framed pictures of Letterman, Carson,

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on keyboards. Weinberg sometimes took extended leaves of absence to tour with

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The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Treehouse of Horror IV"

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