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 Eastern/11:37 pm Central and 12:37 am Mountain in the United States. From 1993 until 2000, Andy Richter served as O'Brien's sidekick; following his departure, O'Brien was the show's sole featured performer. The show's house musical act was The Max Weinberg 7, led by E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg.
2010 Tonight Show conflict
"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" pulled in over nine million viewers to its June 1, 2009 premiere, doing extremely well in the coveted young demographics. Critics were generally very favorable; Tom Shales of "The Washington Post", once a Conan detractor, wrote that "There's every indication that O'Brien will be up to the job of his illustrious predecessors." Older audiences, however, gradually checked out of the program night by night; seven episodes later, the "Late Show with David Letterman" had edged above O'Brien for the first time. While Zucker called O'Brien to reiterate that the generational change was expected, other executives were not as pleased. O'Brien and his team were not happy with the lack of promotion in the show's early weeks. Against the wishes of several PR executives, Zucker authorized a press release proclaiming O'Brien "the New King of Late Night", a move that attracted ridicule. Zucker later regretted the decision, and many at O'Brien's "Tonight Show" offices were displeased.