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
NBC chose to continue the "Late Night" franchise, and at the suggestion of "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels, hired Conan O'Brien, a relatively unknown writer for "SNL" and "The Simpsons", to take over the time slot beginning in late 1993. "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" was constantly at risk for cancellation in its early years; at one low point in 1994, NBC threatened to put him on a week-to-week contract. Executives were anxious to replace him with Greg Kinnear, who followed O'Brien with "Later" at 1:30 am., but Kinnear left to pursue a career in acting later on. Interns filled empty seats in the audience while affiliates began to inquire about replacement hosts. Things improved for the show slowly (mostly revolving around O'Brien's performance) and by 1996, O'Brien's audience, largely young and male (a coveted demographic), grew steadily and the show began to beat competitors in the ratings, which it would continue to do for 15 years.