Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Premiere	September 13, 1993
Finale	February 20, 2009
Creator	Lorne Michaels, Conan O'Brien
Host	Conan O'Brien
Network/Provider	NBC
Style	60-minute comedy talk
Company	Broadway Video, Conaco, Universal Media Studios
Seasons	16
Episodes	2725
Origin	USA

Late Night with Conan O'Brien is a late night talk show hosted by comedy writer Conan O'Brien. The series is the second to take up the Late Night brand on NBC, with the first being Late Night with David Letterman. It was replaced by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. O'Brien moved to The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien starting June 1, 2009.

History

In 1992, when Johnny Carson decided to retire from comedy, David Letterman, the host of Late Night with David Letterman vied for the vacated hosting position for The Tonight Show (reportedly with the blessing of Carson himself) but lost out to Jay Leno. After Letterman left NBC for CBS, NBC was faced with the task of reinventing Late Night entirely.

The network brought in Lorne Michaels, executive producer of Saturday Night Live, to develop a new incarnation of Late Night. Michaels suggested O'Brien as a potential host, who was then an unknown writer for The Simpsons but previously worked on SNL with Michaels. When the first choices, Dana Carvey and Garry Shandling, turned down offers to host the show, the series was given to O'Brien despite protests from NBC, who expected a seasoned comedian to take up the gig.

The first three years for the series were intensely turbulent behind-the-scenes. O'Brien's contracts were short-term, lasting 13 weeks each, and the series was in constant jeopardy of cancellation. The series found difficulty booking guests in its first year until Letterman made an appearance. Letterman had called the studio and specifically offered himself as a guest to help the struggling show. O'Brien's inexperience with being on camera also showed through until he found his groove. On the 10th anniversary special this was mocked by Mr. T, who gave Conan a gold chain with a large seven on it because he had "only been funny for seven" years.

In 2000, long-time sidekick Andy Richter left the show in order to pursue an acting career, which caused O'Brien to dramatically refocus his comedy so that his commentary was directed at the audience and the non-sequitor humor became more and more prominent. O'Brien attempted to replace Richter, as such, with Max Weinberg 7 band leader Max Weinberg, but only in small doses which mainly make fun of their lack of chemistry. Other band members, particularly La Bamba, are also used as comedic foils from time to time.

The series came to an end in February 2009 when O'Brien left the show to replace Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. The Late Night brand continued with Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, with former Saturday Night Live cast member Jimmy Fallon as the new host.

Cast

Personality	Role	Duration
Main Cast
Max Weinberg	Bandleader
Andy Ritcher	Announcer	1993-2000

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
NBC
Season One	September 13, 1993	September 9, 1994				230
Season Two	September 12, 1994	September 8, 1995				228
Season Three	September 11, 1995	September 13, 1996				195
Season Four	September 17, 1996	August 22, 1997				162
Season Five	September 9, 1997	August 28, 1998				170
Season Six	September 15, 1998	???				160
Season Seven	September 7, 1999	August 18, 2000				166
Season Eight	September 5, 2000	August 17, 2001				157
Season Nine	September 4, 2001	August 16, 2002				160
Season Ten	September 3, 2002	August 15, 2003				160
Season Eleven	September 3, 2003	August 13, 2004				153
Season Twelve	August 31, 2004	August 19, 2005				166
Season Thirteen	September 6, 2005	August 30, 2006				162
Season Fourteen	September 5, 2006	August 31, 2007				195
Season Fifteen	September 4, 2007	August 29, 2008				163
Season Sixteen	September 2, 2008	February 20, 2009				98

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series
• Recurring Bits: A listing of recurring sketches, segments and characters from the series.

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Individual Episodes  (Region 1)
10th Anniversary Special			August 10, 2004			1
Segment Collection  (Region 1)
The Best of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog			August 10, 2004			1

External Sites

• Late Night with Conan O'Brien Episodes, TV Listings, News, Photos and More at TVGuide.com