List of Late Night with Conan O'Brien sketches
The sketch was invented prior to the actual year 2000, but the show's writers decided to keep the named year the same even after the passing of the titular year, in a sort of ironic twist. However, when the sketch was revived on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien", Richter heaped ridicule upon O'Brien for failing to update the name of the skit nine years after the year 2000 had passed. The sketch is renamed "In the Year 3000", with the black robe (referred to as a 'ratty smock' by Richter) being replaced with a more futuristic-looking outfit consisting of a large metallic collar with a series of blinking lights, which Conan said were very expensive to make and Andy said smelled bad. Appearing on "Tonight" June 3, 2009, it was the first "Late Night" sketch to be carried over to Conan's "Tonight Show". The open to the sketch included narration by William Shatner and, on one occasion, George Takei.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
A pair of conflicts ensued over Leno's 22-year tenure, both revolving around the then-current hosts of "Late Night", the program directly following "Tonight" since its premiere in 1982. Original "Late Night" host David Letterman was considered Carson's top choice as successor and left the network acrimoniously in 1993 after Leno was given the job. Years later, NBC attempted to transit Letterman's "Late Night" successor, Conan O'Brien to in turn succeed Leno as host of "Tonight" in 2009. However, as a result of various contractual obligations and fears of losing performers to other networks, Leno was given a nightly prime-time show shortly after Conan's run began. Leno posted less than stellar ratings, leading to a domino effect on the late local news. O'Brien's "Tonight" also suffered falling ratings leading to a public controversy that resulted in O'Brien leaving the network the following year, and Leno returning to host "The Tonight Show".
Jimmy Fallon, a former cast member from 1998-2004 on "Saturday Night Live" , was appointed as the third host of "Late Night" by executive producer Lorne Michaels in 2009 when O'Brien moved to "Tonight" (only for a little over a year), Fallon incorporated the Internet much more than other talk shows. Between Fallon's own musical sensibilities and the recruitment of his house band, hip-hop collective The Roots, his incarnation of "Late Night" "evolved into the most deeply musical of TV's musical-comedy variety programs", with sketches in which he parodies Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen going viral online. Coincidentally, it was during the 2010 "Tonight" controversy that Fallon's show found its footing. The show, according to Fallon's former "SNL" castmate Tina Fey, established itself as "an uncommonly warm, welcoming show." In 2010, "New York" complimented Fallon's "good humor" and noted his improvement: "In the relative safety of his 12:35 a.m. time slot, Fallon has been cultivating a distinct, and refreshing, strain of humor: the comedy of unabashed celebration." "In our heads, we've been doing "The Tonight Show" […] We're just on at a later hour," Fallon said.