The Conan O'Brien Show
Encyclopedia
Conan is an American
late-night talk show
airing each Monday through Thursday on TBS
in the United States. The hour-long show premiered on November 8, 2010, and is hosted by writer, comedian and performer Conan O'Brien
. The program's host previously starred on NBC
's Late Night with Conan O'Brien
for 16 years, then presented The Tonight Show
for seven months until Jay Leno
's return to his version of The Tonight Show
due to the 2010 Tonight Show conflict
.
Describing itself as a traditional late-night talk show, Conan draws its comedy from recent news stories, political figures and prominent celebrities, as well as aspects of the show itself
. The show typically opens with a monologue
from Conan O'Brien relating to recent headlines and frequently features exchanges with his sidekick, Andy Richter
, and members of the audience. The next segment is devoted to a celebrity interview, with guests ranging from actors and musicians to media personalities and political figures. The show then closes with either a musical or comedy performance.
In January 2010, after The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien had been on the air for seven months, it was announced that NBC intended to move Jay Leno
from primetime back to his original timeslot, with O'Brien's show starting shortly after midnight. Following a brief conflict
, NBC announced that they had paid $45 million to buy out
O'Brien's contract, ending his relationship with the network. Months after his official leave, O'Brien went on a comedy tour called The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
, which was largely inspired by the outpouring of support for O'Brien on the Internet during the conflict. It was announced on the first day of the tour that O'Brien would be joining TBS in November.
On TBS, Conan airs Mondays through Thursdays beginning at 11:00 p.m. eastern time, and is immediately followed by reruns of The Office. The show had been followed by comedian George Lopez
's talk show, Lopez Tonight
until its final episode on August 11, 2011. Comedian and actor Andy Richter continues his role as sidekick to O'Brien, and as the show's announcer. Conan's long-time house band continues with the host under the new moniker Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, with Max Weinberg
being replaced as bandleader by guitarist Jimmy Vivino
and as drummer by regular substitute James Wormworth
, both of whom regularly substituted for Weinberg during his brief departures.
, or other scripted series.
The title sequence was designed by Rob Ashe, a designer who had previously worked on Conan's Legally Prohibited tour, along with Dan Dome and Eric McGilloway, who worked as lead editor and motion graphics designer, respectively, for The Tonight Show. There were several different variations of the opening credits, with the final product being inspired by graphic designer Saul Bass
, which O'Brien appreciated. The opening design process was described by Ashe as utilizing "organic-looking textures made of construction paper, soak them in soda, and light them in Photoshop
."
would take over as host of The Tonight Show in 2009, replacing Jay Leno
, after a seventeen year run. On the following night's Tonight Show, Leno explained that he wanted to avoid the hardship that he had experienced in his competition with David Letterman
over who would take over the show after Johnny Carson
retired; Leno also said O'Brien was "certainly the most deserving person for the job." In 2008, however, several reports emerged that Leno, still the ratings champion in the timeslot, was rethinking his departure plans. Speculation was put to an end when it was announced he would instead host a new prime-time variety show
on NBC entitled The Jay Leno Show
, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. from September 14, 2009, until the show's cancellation on February 9, 2010. On January 7, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that beginning March 1, 2010, Jay Leno would move from his 10 p.m. weeknight time slot to 11:35 p.m., due to pressure from affiliates, for a thirty minute show. NBC also cited Conan's poor ratings against David Letterman as being responsible for the timeslot change, though it was widely speculated that Conan's numbers were down as a result of Jay's poor lead-in. O'Brien's contract stipulated that NBC could move the show back to 12:05 a.m. without penalty, though the stipulation was mainly to be used for the limited run late-night NBC Sports
recap shows for Wimbledon
and the U.S. Open
, rather than a permanent relocation, leaving him with no apparent recourse other than resignation.
After two weeks of negotiations, on January 21, 2010, it was announced that Conan O'Brien had signed a $45 million deal to leave the network. As part of the agreement with NBC, O'Brien was prohibited from performing on the Internet, television or radio until September 1, 2010. O'Brien was also prohibited from making negative comments about the situation, NBC or Leno during this period. It was also expected that certain intellectual property including characters, comedy pieces or bits that O'Brien created during his time at NBC would become the property of NBC, therefore prohibiting his use of them in the future at TBS. However, NBC Universal TV Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin stated that while those conversations have yet to take place, he stated that they "wish Conan the best."
. Many locations sold out within hours of the announcement, and additional shows were added on to meet demand. The tour began on April 12, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon
, and ended on June 14, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia
. It incorporated many elements from his tenure hosting Late Night and The Tonight Show, and included video bits, comic performers, and cameo appearances by celebrities. O'Brien joked about the legal constraints placed on him by NBC, for example having to rename the Masturbating Bear, the "Self-Pleasuring Panda", in order to avoid a lawsuit. O'Brien also performed music throughout the show, including the disco hit "I Will Survive
" and a personal parody of "On the Road Again
". Comedian Reggie Watts
appeared on the tour as the opening act for O'Brien.
's show, Lopez Tonight
, one hour later to midnight, effectively doing to Lopez what NBC had wanted to do with O'Brien. However, Lopez reportedly called O'Brien and expressed his excitement about the move. Lopez went on to state, "I can't think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as my lead-in It's the beginning of a new era in late-night comedy." In an official press release by Turner Broadcasting, it stated that O'Brien had only begun negotiations a week prior to the official announcement of the show. Steve Koonin, President of Turner Entertainment Networks, went on to comment of the announcement, "Conan has been the comedic voice for a generation. TBS already has a huge audience of young comedy lovers, and Conan’s show will give these fans even more reasons to watch our network."
In his own statement about the deal, O'Brien stated, "In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly." O'Brien's production company, Conaco
, reportedly owns all rights to the show. In addition to the announcement of the television series, TBS also announced a one-hour TBS Special, featuring several writers for Conan, as well as comedian Reggie Watts, who participated in O'Brien's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour. The show was broadcast on June 27, 2010, leading up to the beginning of Conan in early-November. Additionally, in preparation for the show, a 24-hour "Live-Coco Cam" was set up on October 20, 2010, and featured various characters and staff members of Conan, including Richie Rosenberg, otherwise known as "LaBamba," as well as a short online broadcast from O'Brien's office entitled "Show Zero" on November 1, 2010. The show featured O'Brien as host, and was accompanied by Andy Richter, as well as Jimmy 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 has since been incorporated into sketches on Conan, including a running gag where the blimp would follow actor Gary Busey
around southern California, much to his chagrin.
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 monologue, and Conan's performance with Jack White during the episode's conclusion. Frazier Moore of the Associated Press
went on to call the episode "a stylishly back-to-basics hour that radiated hard-won lessons from his brief stay hosting The Tonight Show," in addition to admiring O'Brien's "appealingly stoked yet comfortable" appearance on the show. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
also appreciated the Masturbating Bear cameo, and went on to call the show "pleasant, if a bit underwhelming." Less positive assessments of the show included Tom Gliatto of People, who accused the show of being a "modest, lowkey and slightly awkward affair."
, the series premiere of Conan drew 4,100,000 viewers, leading all late-night talk shows, more than tripling the audience of its direct competition, The Daily Show
and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central
. In the 18-49 demographic Conan drew a 2.5 rating and 3,285,000 viewers. It was also watched by 2,451,000 adults in the 18-34 demographic. Ratings throughout the rest of the week fell, and ended with over 2.02 million viewers on Thursday, November 11, 2010. The fourth episode still led every talk show in the 18-34 and 18-49 demographics, however, delivering 980,000 adults and 1,361,000 adults respectively. The median viewer age for the first week of shows was projected to be at 32, significantly younger than that of The Tonight Show and Late Show. The show also premiered in Canada, on The Comedy Network
at midnight, drawing 171,000 viewers, and the repeat broadcast at 1 AM on CTV
drew 302,000 viewers.
During O'Brien's second week, ratings remained somewhat consistent, and peaked on November 16, 2010, with 1.84 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings. The week would go on to average 1.7 million viewers, and earn an average rating of 1.0 in the 18-49 demographic. During the week of December 13–17, 2010, Conan has fallen behind in the weekly overnight Nielsen Ratings
, averaging only 1.3 million viewers, compared to NBC's The Tonight Show (4.2 million), CBS's Late Show (3.6 million), ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1.6 million), and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (1.6 million).
In January 2011, Michael Wright, head of programming of TBS, said the show was "landing right about where we expected it to. At this number, Conan will run as long as he wants it to."
For the month of June 2011, Conan fell for the first time to fourth among U.S. late-night cable talk shows, behind The Daily Show
, The Colbert Report, and Chelsea Handler
's Chelsea Lately
; Conan attracted an average of 743,000 total viewers, compared with 808,000 viewers for Chelsea Lately. Among viewers 18-to-49, O'Brien averaged 503,000 viewers vs. Handler's 559,000.
Following the cancelation of Lopez Tonight due to low ratings, Steve Koonin of Turner Entertainment
stated he "could not be happier with Conan as a show or Conan O'Brien and Team Coco as people and an organization," going on to say that "what Conan has already won is the absolute [embrace] of young people."
On May 16, 2010, it was announced that O'Brien would launch his new show at Stage 15 on the Warner Bros.
lot in Burbank, California
, where Lopez Tonight also tapes, and not far from NBC Studios where his Tonight Show predecessor and successor Jay Leno
tapes. Similar to most talk shows, the series is shot in the 16:9
aspect ratio
, with a 4:3 center-cut, and broadcast in 1080i
high definition
.
O'Brien has made explicit that the staff has made an effort thus far to not to reuse any of the previous Late Night or Tonight Show sketches although noted this was sometimes difficult and they were unsure if some sketches were going to work. However he stated in the past, such as in an interview with Larry King during his last week on CNN, that he possibly would bring back certain bits in time.
Prior to the show's airing, interviews with O'Brien and Richter indicated that the show would more closely represent Late Night than Tonight in regards to content and material, meaning that edgier or questionable content excised as a result of the move to the earlier time slot will no longer be an issue at TBS. On the July 12, 2010 episode of Marc Maron
's WTF podcast
, Andy Richter said that they no longer have to "worry about living up to a respected franchise", and that on The Tonight Show certain sketches "that just felt too 12:30" would be cut and how "it'll be nice to not have to worry about that anymore". During an appearance at the 2010 San Francisco Sketch Comedy Festival, O'Brien told the audience he was "no longer interested in 'broadening' the audience or trying to reach everybody of all ages," further implying the content will not be toned-down. As the show is on cable, fewer restrictions will apply to the show in regards to explicit content, such as swearing and racier material.
On September 1, 2010, O'Brien officially announced via a YouTube
video that the new show's title was simply Conan. Conan as the title required the consent of Conan Properties International, the owners of the Conan the Barbarian
franchise, including a "Conan" trademark
covering certain types of TV series.
Prior to the show's broadcast, it was stated that the set for the show, designed by the same designer of Conan's previous sets, John Shaffner, would be inspired by The Legally Prohibited Tour, adopting more of a "theatre" appearance than the previous shows. Shaffner commented on the choice of the show's chair, stating, "You find one that you like and then you build it yourself to make it a little shallower and a little more upright and the cushion a little firmer But not too firm or every time the guest sits down they’ll say, 'Oooh this is a hard chair.'" The rest of the set has been described as being "filled with warm wood tones and electric blue screens," and has been compared to the set of his most recent stint on The Tonight Show. The new set features several differences, however, including a remote-controlled moon, and the backdrop being transformed into a giant blue ocean. Additionally, Andy Richter, who remained behind a lectern
during The Tonight Shows seven month run, now joins O'Brien during celebrity interviews on the main set.
. The band also consists of Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg on trombone
, Scott Healy
on keyboard
, Mike Merritt on bass guitar
, Mark Pender
on trumpet
and Jerry Vivino
on woodwinds. When the group moved to Los Angeles to play for The Tonight Show, they added an eighth member, James Wormworth
, on percussion. Max Weinberg
, who had served as O'Brien's bandleader and drummer since 1993, does not appear on the new program. Weinberg was not a part of the Legally Prohibited Tour, and remained vague throughout most of 2010 about the possibility of his participation in the new TBS show. Weinberg's decision was influenced by a combination of a major heart surgery he had in February 2010, and the fact that his family never left their native New Jersey
, even during the Tonight Show period, both issues that he kept private until an October 2010 interview. Percussionist James Wormworth, who often acted as Weinberg's on-air substitute, serves as the band's permanent drummer.
Following Weinberg's exit, O'Brien sought to revamp the show's title theme song. In an interview with New York Magazine
, O'Brien expressed his desire to create a new introduction from the previous Late Night and Tonight compositions, which were used for O'Brien's entire 17-year relationship with NBC, and ultimately unveil a new signature sound for the show. The new theme song was co-written by bandleader Jimmy Vivino, and O'Brien himself. Despite no obvious copyright issues to continue using the previous theme, which was written by Howard Shore
and John Lurie
, O'Brien stated of the transition to a new composition, "it just felt like the right thing to do There's this feeling of, 'Let's try and build something new.' I came out to that theme for seventeen years and it does feel like, you know what? Let's try some new stuff. Let's try and change it up." However, the closing theme from his previous NBC shows was retained in a slightly altered form.
, the program airs on GEM
, a multichannel
of the Nine Network
. Originally it was intended to screen within 12 hours after its original U.S. broadcast at 11:30pm weeknights, however GEM will now screen the program approximately 36 hours later, beginning on Wednesday, November 10, meaning the program will also air on Saturday nights. The Comedy Channel
which aired the previous versions of Conan's shows announced it would not air the program as the Nine Network had exclusive rights to Time Warner programs.
In Canada
, the program airs on cable channel The Comedy Network
Monday to Thursday nights (Tuesday to Friday mornings) at midnight ET/PT, and is repeated on broadcast network CTV
at 1:05 a.m. local time. The program was only initially announced for CTV, leading to some concern about the unusually late time slot, two hours after its airing in the United States for viewers in the Eastern Time Zone
(the program airs on CTV Atlantic
at 1:05 a.m. AT / 12:05 a.m. ET). This is due to local and national
newscasts in the 11:00 p.m. hour, and CTV's existing commitments to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 12:05 a.m. and The Colbert Report at 12:35 a.m. CTV executives later said the program would likely air earlier on The Comedy Network, owned by CTV. However, that channel also had a conflict, since it has long aired both Daily and Colbert during the 11:00 p.m. ET hour, simulcasting the Comedy Central feed. The Comedy Network then attempted to move up both programs to 10:00 p.m. ET beginning in September 2010, presumably to make room for Conan at 11:00; however, there were intermittent "technical difficulties" with getting the shows in time for the earlier airing, particularly for a series of special live Daily episodes in late October, which meant re-runs were aired in their place. After viewer complaints about the missed episodes, Comedy elected to move both shows back to their previous timeslots, meaning that Conan was rescheduled on that channel to midnight, on a one-hour delay from TBS.
Selling rights to a Canadian channel was necessary, since TBS ceased being available in Canada in October 2007. The local Atlanta station through which Canadian cable subscribers had previously received TBS programming then adopted a distinct schedule as WPCH-TV. Some speculated that WPCH might pick up the program anyway, since the revamped station continues to air some of the same syndicated series as TBS, but WPCH later indicated explicitly that it had no plans to broadcast the new O'Brien program.
In Ireland
, the show airs Monday to Thursday at midnight on 3e
, exactly one week after each episode's original air date. Conan is also aired in Norway
on the brand new digital television channel, Max, which launched on November 1 as a sister channel of TVNorge
. It will air Monday to Thursday 10:50 p.m. UTC+1, exactly one week after their original air date. In Turkey
the program will begin airing on 22 November on CNBC-e
. In Singapore
, the program will air on SingTel
, a video on demand service, with episodes becoming available 24 hours after broadcast in the United States. In Portugal
, the program began airing on November 29 on SIC Radical
, and in Israel
, the show will begin airing on January 1, 2011 on the country's version of Comedy Central.
Unlike Conan's previous shows, the new show was for some time not aired in Finland
. According to Sub
, the previous show did not have enough viewers. Finnish Conan fans organized a rally in Helsinki in December 2010 to get the Conan's new show to air. In response to this, O'Brien launched a project entitled "Finland's Week Stream," which allowed every episode of Conan to be watched on TeamCoco.com by users located in Finland for an entire week.
Since August 15, Finnish channel SuomiTV has been airing Conan.
Television in the United States
Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...
late-night talk show
Late-night talk show
In American television, the late-night talk show is a specific kind of comedy-oriented talk and variety show that airs late at night. Characteristics of the genre include topical monologues in which the host makes fun of the day's news, comedy sketches, celebrity interviews, and musical performances...
airing each Monday through Thursday on TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
in the United States. The hour-long show premiered on November 8, 2010, and is hosted by writer, comedian and performer Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
. The program's host previously starred on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
for 16 years, then presented The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009 to January 22, 2010 as part of NBC's long-running Tonight Show franchise...
for seven months until Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
's return to his version of The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
due to the 2010 Tonight Show conflict
2010 Tonight Show conflict
In early 2010, American television network NBC and two of its late-night talk show hosts, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno, engaged in a media and public relations conflict over the host and airtime of The Tonight Show, the network's long-running late night program...
.
Describing itself as a traditional late-night talk show, Conan draws its comedy from recent news stories, political figures and prominent celebrities, as well as aspects of the show itself
Self-referential humor
Self-referential humor or self-reflexive humor is a type of comedic expression that—either directed toward some other subject, or openly directed toward itself—intentionally alludes to the very person who is expressing the humor in a comedic fashion, or to some specific aspect of that...
. The show typically opens with a monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
from Conan O'Brien relating to recent headlines and frequently features exchanges with his sidekick, Andy Richter
Andy Richter
Paul Andrew "Andy" Richter is an American actor, writer, comedian, and late night talk show announcer. He is best known for his role as the sidekick of Conan O'Brien on each of the host's programs: Late Night and The Tonight Show on NBC, and Conan on TBS...
, and members of the audience. The next segment is devoted to a celebrity interview, with guests ranging from actors and musicians to media personalities and political figures. The show then closes with either a musical or comedy performance.
In January 2010, after The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien had been on the air for seven months, it was announced that NBC intended to move Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
from primetime back to his original timeslot, with O'Brien's show starting shortly after midnight. Following a brief conflict
2010 Tonight Show conflict
In early 2010, American television network NBC and two of its late-night talk show hosts, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno, engaged in a media and public relations conflict over the host and airtime of The Tonight Show, the network's long-running late night program...
, NBC announced that they had paid $45 million to buy out
Buyout
A buyout, in finance, is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity of a company, or a majority share of the stock of the company is acquired. The acquiror thereby "buys out" control of the target company....
O'Brien's contract, ending his relationship with the network. Months after his official leave, O'Brien went on a comedy tour called The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour was a comedy tour featuring Conan O'Brien. The title of the tour is a reference to the 2010 Tonight Show host and timeslot conflict which resulted in O'Brien resigning from his position as host of The Tonight Show in January 2010...
, which was largely inspired by the outpouring of support for O'Brien on the Internet during the conflict. It was announced on the first day of the tour that O'Brien would be joining TBS in November.
On TBS, Conan airs Mondays through Thursdays beginning at 11:00 p.m. eastern time, and is immediately followed by reruns of The Office. The show had been followed by comedian George Lopez
George Lopez
George Lopez is an American comedian, actor, and talk show host. He is mostly known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including the Mexican American culture...
's talk show, Lopez Tonight
Lopez Tonight
Lopez Tonight was an American late-night television talk show hosted by comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican American to host a late-night talk show on an English-language network in the United States. The...
until its final episode on August 11, 2011. Comedian and actor Andy Richter continues his role as sidekick to O'Brien, and as the show's announcer. Conan's long-time house band continues with the host under the new moniker Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, with Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey...
being replaced as bandleader by guitarist Jimmy Vivino
Jimmy Vivino
Jimmy Vivino is an American guitarist, keyboard player, singer, producer, and music director. He is best known as the leader of Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, the house band for the TBS late night program Conan...
and as drummer by regular substitute James Wormworth
James Wormworth
James Wormworth is an American drummer and percussionist. Wormworth is a member of Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band on the TBS late night comedy program, Conan. Wormworth often filled in for Max Weinberg during the band's run as The Max Weinberg 7 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien while...
, both of whom regularly substituted for Weinberg during his brief departures.
Episode format
Conan follows the established six-piece format used during O'Brien's tenure as host of The Tonight Show and Late Night, as well as numerous other talk shows across various networks. Each episode of Conan is 60 minutes in length, including commercials, and typically features two celebrity interviews and a following musical performance or stand-up comedy act. Guests come from a wide range of cultural sources, and include actors, musicians, authors, athletes and political figures. Taping of each episode begins at 4:30 p.m. PST, which usually follows a rehearsal, lasting from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m.Opening titles
The episode opens with the show's opening title sequence, introducing O'Brien, Richter, and The Basic Cable Band, as well as that night's guests. Each episode of Conan has a title, unlike most late-night talk shows, which Richter announces at the end of the opening sequence. The humorous titles are in the style of old fashioned murder-mystery radio shows, television sitcomsSituation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, or other scripted series.
The title sequence was designed by Rob Ashe, a designer who had previously worked on Conan's Legally Prohibited tour, along with Dan Dome and Eric McGilloway, who worked as lead editor and motion graphics designer, respectively, for The Tonight Show. There were several different variations of the opening credits, with the final product being inspired by graphic designer Saul Bass
Saul Bass
Saul Bass was a Jewish-American graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences....
, which O'Brien appreciated. The opening design process was described by Ashe as utilizing "organic-looking textures made of construction paper, soak them in soda, and light them in Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
."
Monologue
O'Brien opens each episode with a monologue drawing from current news stories and issues. The monologue is sometimes accompanied by clips and brief comedy skits, in addition to occasional interactions between O'Brien and Richter, and the audience.Sketches and comedy bits
One or more comedy bits follow the monologue. Following the monologue, some comedy bits (such as those based on video clips) are presented from the monologue stage. Following the first commercial break, additional comedy sketches are typically presented from the desk area. Some sketches are recurring while others are original and appear only once. Occasionally an additional sketch will air between the first and second guest.The Tonight Show conflict
On September 27, 2004, NBC officially declared that Conan O'Brien, then host of Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
would take over as host of The Tonight Show in 2009, replacing Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
, after a seventeen year run. On the following night's Tonight Show, Leno explained that he wanted to avoid the hardship that he had experienced in his competition with David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
over who would take over the show after Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
retired; Leno also said O'Brien was "certainly the most deserving person for the job." In 2008, however, several reports emerged that Leno, still the ratings champion in the timeslot, was rethinking his departure plans. Speculation was put to an end when it was announced he would instead host a new prime-time variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
on NBC entitled The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. from September 14, 2009, until the show's cancellation on February 9, 2010. On January 7, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that beginning March 1, 2010, Jay Leno would move from his 10 p.m. weeknight time slot to 11:35 p.m., due to pressure from affiliates, for a thirty minute show. NBC also cited Conan's poor ratings against David Letterman as being responsible for the timeslot change, though it was widely speculated that Conan's numbers were down as a result of Jay's poor lead-in. O'Brien's contract stipulated that NBC could move the show back to 12:05 a.m. without penalty, though the stipulation was mainly to be used for the limited run late-night NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
recap shows for Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
and the U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
, rather than a permanent relocation, leaving him with no apparent recourse other than resignation.
After two weeks of negotiations, on January 21, 2010, it was announced that Conan O'Brien had signed a $45 million deal to leave the network. As part of the agreement with NBC, O'Brien was prohibited from performing on the Internet, television or radio until September 1, 2010. O'Brien was also prohibited from making negative comments about the situation, NBC or Leno during this period. It was also expected that certain intellectual property including characters, comedy pieces or bits that O'Brien created during his time at NBC would become the property of NBC, therefore prohibiting his use of them in the future at TBS. However, NBC Universal TV Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin stated that while those conversations have yet to take place, he stated that they "wish Conan the best."
"The Legally Prohibited" tour
Following his departure from NBC, O'Brien created a Twitter account through which to explore new comedic media. On March 11, 2010, O'Brien announced via his Twitter account that he would embark on a 30-city live tour, entitled The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television TourThe Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour was a comedy tour featuring Conan O'Brien. The title of the tour is a reference to the 2010 Tonight Show host and timeslot conflict which resulted in O'Brien resigning from his position as host of The Tonight Show in January 2010...
. Many locations sold out within hours of the announcement, and additional shows were added on to meet demand. The tour began on April 12, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, and ended on June 14, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. It incorporated many elements from his tenure hosting Late Night and The Tonight Show, and included video bits, comic performers, and cameo appearances by celebrities. O'Brien joked about the legal constraints placed on him by NBC, for example having to rename the Masturbating Bear, the "Self-Pleasuring Panda", in order to avoid a lawsuit. O'Brien also performed music throughout the show, including the disco hit "I Will Survive
I Will Survive
"I Will Survive" is a song first performed by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978. It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris...
" and a personal parody of "On the Road Again
On the Road Again (Willie Nelson song)
"On the Road Again" is a song made famous by country music singer Willie Nelson, and is part of the soundtrack to the 1980 movie Honeysuckle Rose....
". Comedian Reggie Watts
Reggie Watts
Reggie Watts is a Seattle-based comedian and musician. His shows are mostly improvised and consist of stream of consciousness stand-up in various shifting personae, mixed with loop pedal-based a cappella compositions. He also performs regularly on television, radio, and in live theater...
appeared on the tour as the opening act for O'Brien.
TBS announcement
Shortly before his tour began, O'Brien announced that he had signed a deal with cable network TBS to host a talk show on their late-night lineup, beginning in November 2010. Before the deal was announced, O'Brien initially had reservations about the move, as it would place comedian George LopezGeorge Lopez
George Lopez is an American comedian, actor, and talk show host. He is mostly known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including the Mexican American culture...
's show, Lopez Tonight
Lopez Tonight
Lopez Tonight was an American late-night television talk show hosted by comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican American to host a late-night talk show on an English-language network in the United States. The...
, one hour later to midnight, effectively doing to Lopez what NBC had wanted to do with O'Brien. However, Lopez reportedly called O'Brien and expressed his excitement about the move. Lopez went on to state, "I can't think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as my lead-in It's the beginning of a new era in late-night comedy." In an official press release by Turner Broadcasting, it stated that O'Brien had only begun negotiations a week prior to the official announcement of the show. Steve Koonin, President of Turner Entertainment Networks, went on to comment of the announcement, "Conan has been the comedic voice for a generation. TBS already has a huge audience of young comedy lovers, and Conan’s show will give these fans even more reasons to watch our network."
In his own statement about the deal, O'Brien stated, "In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly." O'Brien's production company, Conaco
Conaco
Conaco is the television production firm owned by entertainer Conan O'Brien. It has produced programs primarily for NBCUniversal, including O'Brien's Late Night and Tonight shows. David Kissinger, former NBCU executive and the son of Henry Kissinger, has been president since 2005.Conaco's first...
, reportedly owns all rights to the show. In addition to the announcement of the television series, TBS also announced a one-hour TBS Special, featuring several writers for Conan, as well as comedian Reggie Watts, who participated in O'Brien's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour. The show was broadcast on June 27, 2010, leading up to the beginning of Conan in early-November. Additionally, in preparation for the show, a 24-hour "Live-Coco Cam" was set up on October 20, 2010, and featured various characters and staff members of Conan, including Richie Rosenberg, otherwise known as "LaBamba," as well as a short online broadcast from O'Brien's office entitled "Show Zero" on November 1, 2010. The show featured O'Brien as host, and was accompanied by Andy Richter, as well as Jimmy Vivino, a member of the Basic Cable Band. The broadcast hosted several guests, including actor Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons
James Joseph "Jim" Parsons is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, with his performance often cited as a significant reason for the program's success...
and indie rock band Steel Train
Steel Train
Steel Train is an indie rock band from New Jersey. They have toured with Tegan and Sara, Girl in a Coma, Ben Folds, The Fray, Silversun Pickups, Hanson, The Format, Gomez, O.A.R., Barenaked Ladies, Fun and others...
, and lasted a total of four minutes, and 51 seconds.
Weeks before the premiere, an orange Conan blimp
Conan blimp
The Conan blimp is an orange dirigible owned by Turner Broadcasting System for the purpose of promoting the premiere of Conan O'Brien on his self-titled late-night talk show. It was designed by the Atlanta firm Blue Sky...
was introduced to further promote the show. Designed by Blue Sky, an Atlanta firm, the dirigible provided aerial footage for 2010 Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
postseason games airing on TBS. It has since been incorporated into sketches on Conan, including a running gag where the blimp would follow actor Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
around southern California, much to his chagrin.
Series premiere
The first episode of Conan, entitled "Baa Baa Blackmail", premiered on Monday, November 8, 2010 at 11 p.m. ESTEastern Standard Time
Eastern Standard Time may refer to:*North American Eastern Time Zone, UTC-5*Australian Eastern Standard Time, UTC+10*An album by Hip Hop group Kooley High...
on TBS. The episode's first guest was Arlene Wagner, the curator of Leavenworth
Leavenworth, Washington
Leavenworth is a city in Chelan County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,965 at the 2010 census. The entire town center is modelled on a Bavarian village.-History:...
, 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
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, Russian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Russia
The Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation The use of the term "Prime Minister" is strictly informal and is not allowed for by the Russian Constitution and other laws....
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, performers Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...
and Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
, and actor Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, among others. Wagner's brief appearance was followed by actor and comedian Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
and actress Lea Michele
Lea Michele
Lea Michele Sarfati , known professionally as Lea Michele, is an American actress and singer. Michele began working professionally as a child actress on Broadway in productions such as Ragtime and Les Misérables. She originated the role of Wendla in the musical Spring Awakening and currently plays...
, along with musical guest Jack White
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
, who performed "Twenty Flight Rock
Twenty Flight Rock
"Twenty Flight Rock" is a song originally performed by Eddie Cochran in the 1956 film comedy The Girl Can't Help It, and released as a single in 1957. Cochran's biographer notes Cochran was granted a co-writer credit, but no royalties, a standard ego-salving arrangement between publishers and...
", along with O'Brien himself. Actor Jon Hamm, appearing as his character Don Draper
Don Draper
Donald "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Until the third season finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper...
from the AMC series Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
, and talk show host Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
, of CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
, made cameo appearances in the show's cold open, with actor and comedian Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
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
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
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 monologue, and Conan's performance with Jack White during the episode's conclusion. Frazier Moore of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
went on to call the episode "a stylishly back-to-basics hour that radiated hard-won lessons from his brief stay hosting The Tonight Show," in addition to admiring O'Brien's "appealingly stoked yet comfortable" appearance on the show. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
also appreciated the Masturbating Bear cameo, and went on to call the show "pleasant, if a bit underwhelming." Less positive assessments of the show included Tom Gliatto of People, who accused the show of being a "modest, lowkey and slightly awkward affair."
Ratings
In overnight Nielsen RatingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, the series premiere of Conan drew 4,100,000 viewers, leading all late-night talk shows, more than tripling the audience of its direct competition, The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
. In the 18-49 demographic Conan drew a 2.5 rating and 3,285,000 viewers. It was also watched by 2,451,000 adults in the 18-34 demographic. Ratings throughout the rest of the week fell, and ended with over 2.02 million viewers on Thursday, November 11, 2010. The fourth episode still led every talk show in the 18-34 and 18-49 demographics, however, delivering 980,000 adults and 1,361,000 adults respectively. The median viewer age for the first week of shows was projected to be at 32, significantly younger than that of The Tonight Show and Late Show. The show also premiered in Canada, on The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media specializing in comedy programming.The channel operates two time shifted feeds, East and West ....
at midnight, drawing 171,000 viewers, and the repeat broadcast at 1 AM on CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
drew 302,000 viewers.
During O'Brien's second week, ratings remained somewhat consistent, and peaked on November 16, 2010, with 1.84 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings. The week would go on to average 1.7 million viewers, and earn an average rating of 1.0 in the 18-49 demographic. During the week of December 13–17, 2010, Conan has fallen behind in the weekly overnight Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, averaging only 1.3 million viewers, compared to NBC's The Tonight Show (4.2 million), CBS's Late Show (3.6 million), ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1.6 million), and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (1.6 million).
In January 2011, Michael Wright, head of programming of TBS, said the show was "landing right about where we expected it to. At this number, Conan will run as long as he wants it to."
For the month of June 2011, Conan fell for the first time to fourth among U.S. late-night cable talk shows, behind The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
, The Colbert Report, and Chelsea Handler
Chelsea Handler
Chelsea Joy Handler is an American stand-up comedian, humorist, television host, actress, model and best-selling author. She currently hosts a late-night talk show titled, Chelsea Lately on the E! Cable Television Network. In 2009 she won a Bravo A-List Award...
's Chelsea Lately
Chelsea Lately
Chelsea Lately is an American late night comedy talk show hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler on E!. The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and is produced by Handler's production company, Borderline Amazing Productions...
; Conan attracted an average of 743,000 total viewers, compared with 808,000 viewers for Chelsea Lately. Among viewers 18-to-49, O'Brien averaged 503,000 viewers vs. Handler's 559,000.
Following the cancelation of Lopez Tonight due to low ratings, Steve Koonin of Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...
stated he "could not be happier with Conan as a show or Conan O'Brien and Team Coco as people and an organization," going on to say that "what Conan has already won is the absolute [embrace] of young people."
Production
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
lot in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, where Lopez Tonight also tapes, and not far from NBC Studios where his Tonight Show predecessor and successor Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
tapes. Similar to most talk shows, the series is shot in the 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
aspect ratio
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
, with a 4:3 center-cut, and broadcast in 1080i
1080i
1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...
high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
.
O'Brien has made explicit that the staff has made an effort thus far to not to reuse any of the previous Late Night or Tonight Show sketches although noted this was sometimes difficult and they were unsure if some sketches were going to work. However he stated in the past, such as in an interview with Larry King during his last week on CNN, that he possibly would bring back certain bits in time.
Prior to the show's airing, interviews with O'Brien and Richter indicated that the show would more closely represent Late Night than Tonight in regards to content and material, meaning that edgier or questionable content excised as a result of the move to the earlier time slot will no longer be an issue at TBS. On the July 12, 2010 episode of Marc Maron
Marc Maron
Marc Maron is an American stand-up comedian and podcast host.He has been host of The Marc Maron Show, and co-host of both Morning Sedition, and Breakroom Live, all politically-oriented shows, produced under the auspices of Air America Media. He was also the host of Comedy Central's Short Attention...
's WTF podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
, Andy Richter said that they no longer have to "worry about living up to a respected franchise", and that on The Tonight Show certain sketches "that just felt too 12:30" would be cut and how "it'll be nice to not have to worry about that anymore". During an appearance at the 2010 San Francisco Sketch Comedy Festival, O'Brien told the audience he was "no longer interested in 'broadening' the audience or trying to reach everybody of all ages," further implying the content will not be toned-down. As the show is on cable, fewer restrictions will apply to the show in regards to explicit content, such as swearing and racier material.
On September 1, 2010, O'Brien officially announced via a YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video that the new show's title was simply Conan. Conan as the title required the consent of Conan Properties International, the owners of the Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
franchise, including a "Conan" trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
covering certain types of TV series.
Prior to the show's broadcast, it was stated that the set for the show, designed by the same designer of Conan's previous sets, John Shaffner, would be inspired by The Legally Prohibited Tour, adopting more of a "theatre" appearance than the previous shows. Shaffner commented on the choice of the show's chair, stating, "You find one that you like and then you build it yourself to make it a little shallower and a little more upright and the cushion a little firmer But not too firm or every time the guest sits down they’ll say, 'Oooh this is a hard chair.'" The rest of the set has been described as being "filled with warm wood tones and electric blue screens," and has been compared to the set of his most recent stint on The Tonight Show. The new set features several differences, however, including a remote-controlled moon, and the backdrop being transformed into a giant blue ocean. Additionally, Andy Richter, who remained behind a lectern
Lectern
A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, usually placed on a stand or affixed to some other form of support, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon...
during The Tonight Shows seven month run, now joins O'Brien during celebrity interviews on the main set.
Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band
Conan O'Brien's longtime band, originally known as The Max Weinberg 7, then The Tonight Show Band, and later as the Legally Prohibited Band, serve as the Conan house band, and are fronted by longtime guitarist Jimmy VivinoJimmy Vivino
Jimmy Vivino is an American guitarist, keyboard player, singer, producer, and music director. He is best known as the leader of Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, the house band for the TBS late night program Conan...
. The band also consists of Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg on trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, Scott Healy
Scott Healy
Scott Healy is a Los Angeles-based keyboardist and composer best known as the keyboardist for the Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band on Conan on TBS. His long association with O'Brien dates back to the original Late Night with Conan O'Brien show, and the subsequent The Tonight Show with Conan...
on keyboard
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, Mike Merritt on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Mark Pender
Mark Pender
Mark "The Loveman" Pender is a trumpet player and vocalist who has played with Southside Johnny, Little Steven and Bruce Springsteen. Since 1993 he has performed on Late Night With Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien as a member of The Max Weinberg 7 and The Tonight Show Band...
on trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
and Jerry Vivino
Jerry Vivino
Jerry Vivino is an American musician. He is currently a member of the Basic Cable Band, the house band for the TBS late night program Conan...
on woodwinds. When the group moved to Los Angeles to play for The Tonight Show, they added an eighth member, James Wormworth
James Wormworth
James Wormworth is an American drummer and percussionist. Wormworth is a member of Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band on the TBS late night comedy program, Conan. Wormworth often filled in for Max Weinberg during the band's run as The Max Weinberg 7 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien while...
, on percussion. Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey...
, who had served as O'Brien's bandleader and drummer since 1993, does not appear on the new program. Weinberg was not a part of the Legally Prohibited Tour, and remained vague throughout most of 2010 about the possibility of his participation in the new TBS show. Weinberg's decision was influenced by a combination of a major heart surgery he had in February 2010, and the fact that his family never left their native New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, even during the Tonight Show period, both issues that he kept private until an October 2010 interview. Percussionist James Wormworth, who often acted as Weinberg's on-air substitute, serves as the band's permanent drummer.
Following Weinberg's exit, O'Brien sought to revamp the show's title theme song. In an interview with New York Magazine
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
, O'Brien expressed his desire to create a new introduction from the previous Late Night and Tonight compositions, which were used for O'Brien's entire 17-year relationship with NBC, and ultimately unveil a new signature sound for the show. The new theme song was co-written by bandleader Jimmy Vivino, and O'Brien himself. Despite no obvious copyright issues to continue using the previous theme, which was written by Howard Shore
Howard Shore
Howard Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg,...
and John Lurie
John Lurie
John Lurie is an American actor, musician, painter and producer. He is co-founder of The Lounge Lizards, a jazz ensemble. Lurie has acted in 19 films including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law, composed and performed music for 20 television and film works, and he produced and starred in...
, O'Brien stated of the transition to a new composition, "it just felt like the right thing to do There's this feeling of, 'Let's try and build something new.' I came out to that theme for seventeen years and it does feel like, you know what? Let's try some new stuff. Let's try and change it up." However, the closing theme from his previous NBC shows was retained in a slightly altered form.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in primetime television programming from June 1, 2010 until May 31, 2011, was held on September 18, 2011, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Fox televised the ceremony within the United States. Actress Jane Lynch hosted... |
Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... |
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series | Nominated |
| Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series | |||
| Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series | |||
| Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media | |||
International
In AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the program airs on GEM
GEM (Australian TV channel)
GEM is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 26 September 2010 at 6am...
, a multichannel
Freeview (Australia)
Freeview is the brand given to the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia. It is intended to bring all of the free-to-air broadcasters on to a consistent marketing platform to compete against subscription television, in particular Foxtel, and coincides with the expansion to 3 digital...
of the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
. Originally it was intended to screen within 12 hours after its original U.S. broadcast at 11:30pm weeknights, however GEM will now screen the program approximately 36 hours later, beginning on Wednesday, November 10, meaning the program will also air on Saturday nights. The Comedy Channel
The Comedy Channel
The Comedy Channel is an Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television.-History:...
which aired the previous versions of Conan's shows announced it would not air the program as the Nine Network had exclusive rights to Time Warner programs.
In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the program airs on cable channel The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media specializing in comedy programming.The channel operates two time shifted feeds, East and West ....
Monday to Thursday nights (Tuesday to Friday mornings) at midnight ET/PT, and is repeated on broadcast network CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
at 1:05 a.m. local time. The program was only initially announced for CTV, leading to some concern about the unusually late time slot, two hours after its airing in the United States for viewers in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
(the program airs on CTV Atlantic
CTV Atlantic
CTV Atlantic is a system of four television stations in the Canadian Maritimes, owned and operated by the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media...
at 1:05 a.m. AT / 12:05 a.m. ET). This is due to local and national
CTV News
CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name CTV News is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations , which are closely tied to the national news division...
newscasts in the 11:00 p.m. hour, and CTV's existing commitments to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 12:05 a.m. and The Colbert Report at 12:35 a.m. CTV executives later said the program would likely air earlier on The Comedy Network, owned by CTV. However, that channel also had a conflict, since it has long aired both Daily and Colbert during the 11:00 p.m. ET hour, simulcasting the Comedy Central feed. The Comedy Network then attempted to move up both programs to 10:00 p.m. ET beginning in September 2010, presumably to make room for Conan at 11:00; however, there were intermittent "technical difficulties" with getting the shows in time for the earlier airing, particularly for a series of special live Daily episodes in late October, which meant re-runs were aired in their place. After viewer complaints about the missed episodes, Comedy elected to move both shows back to their previous timeslots, meaning that Conan was rescheduled on that channel to midnight, on a one-hour delay from TBS.
Selling rights to a Canadian channel was necessary, since TBS ceased being available in Canada in October 2007. The local Atlanta station through which Canadian cable subscribers had previously received TBS programming then adopted a distinct schedule as WPCH-TV. Some speculated that WPCH might pick up the program anyway, since the revamped station continues to air some of the same syndicated series as TBS, but WPCH later indicated explicitly that it had no plans to broadcast the new O'Brien program.
In Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the show airs Monday to Thursday at midnight on 3e
3E
3E or 3-E may refer to:*3e, general entertainment channel operated in Ireland*3rd meridian east*Third edition in the Editions of Dungeons & Dragons*NY 3E, alternate name for New York State Route 104*OK-3E, abbreviation for Oklahoma State Highway 3...
, exactly one week after each episode's original air date. Conan is also aired in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
on the brand new digital television channel, Max, which launched on November 1 as a sister channel of TVNorge
TVNorge
TVNorge is a Norwegian television channel.TVNorge went on the air December 5, 1988 and was the first advertising-supported Norwegian channel. The channel was started with 50 000 NOK...
. It will air Monday to Thursday 10:50 p.m. UTC+1, exactly one week after their original air date. In Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
the program will begin airing on 22 November on CNBC-e
CNBC-e
CNBC-e is a hybrid business/financial and entertainment channel operated in Turkey by CNBC Europe and the NTV Group.The channel shares its name with a co-owned magazine about CNBC-e....
. In Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, the program will air on SingTel
Singapore Telecommunications
Singapore Telecommunications Limited , commonly abbreviated as SingTel, is a Singaporean telecommunications company, with a combined mobile subscriber base of 416 million customers from its own operations and regional associates in 25 countries at end of June 2011 increased by 19 percent from a...
, a video on demand service, with episodes becoming available 24 hours after broadcast in the United States. In Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, the program began airing on November 29 on SIC Radical
SIC Radical
SIC Radical is a cable television channel in Portugal owned by Sociedade Independente de Comunicação.SIC Radical is an entertainment channel targeted at teens and young adults. Programs are mostly imported, mainly from the United States and the United Kingdom...
, and in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the show will begin airing on January 1, 2011 on the country's version of Comedy Central.
Unlike Conan's previous shows, the new show was for some time not aired in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. According to Sub
Sub (TV channel)
Sub is a Finnish TV channel owned by Bonnier. The previous owner Alma Media sold Sub and its sister channels to Swedish Bonnier and Proventus in 2005.-Programs and audience:...
, the previous show did not have enough viewers. Finnish Conan fans organized a rally in Helsinki in December 2010 to get the Conan's new show to air. In response to this, O'Brien launched a project entitled "Finland's Week Stream," which allowed every episode of Conan to be watched on TeamCoco.com by users located in Finland for an entire week.
Since August 15, Finnish channel SuomiTV has been airing Conan.
See also
- 2010 Tonight Show conflict2010 Tonight Show conflictIn early 2010, American television network NBC and two of its late-night talk show hosts, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno, engaged in a media and public relations conflict over the host and airtime of The Tonight Show, the network's long-running late night program...
- Conan O'BrienConan O'BrienConan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
- Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
- The Tonight Show with Conan O'BrienThe Tonight Show with Conan O'BrienThe Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009 to January 22, 2010 as part of NBC's long-running Tonight Show franchise...