Conan
O’Brien is 60 years old, so he still has plenty of time ahead of him to
accomplish more in show business. He has an impressive resume, although he has
weathered some significant challenges. I wanted to write about him since he is
an impressive figure in the history of late-night TV, who is #3 on my list of
favorites, behind Johnny Carson and David Letterman.
Conaco
Productions is a production company was founded by Conan O’Brien in 2001. It
produced “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien”
and “Conan” (TBS). Having ownership of his programs has contributed
significantly to Conan’s wealth, which is estimated at $200 million. Other
shows produced by Conaco produced included “Andy Barker PI,” “Operating Instructions,” and “Outlaw.”
His dad was
a doctor and his mother was a lawyer, so he came from a family that emphasized
education. Both of his parents died in December of 2024, a few days apart. They
were both in their 90s.
Here are a
few key events in the timeline of Conan.
1981 Conan
graduates from high school in Brookline, Massachusetts as valedictorian.
1981-85,
attends Harvard where he was president of “The Harvard Lampoon,” the college
humor magazine. He majored in history and literature.
1985-1987 Conan
wrote for “Not Necessarily the News.” Another writer on the show was Greg
Daniels, who Conan knew from Harvard. Daniels went on to write for “Parks and
Recreation”, and he was the creator/writer for “The Office” and “King of the
Hill.” Around this time, Conan took
improvisational classes at “The Groundlings” in Los Angeles.
1987 “Rich
Hall Show,” writer
1987-88 “The
Wilton North Report,” writer
1987-1991 He
wrote for “SNL.”
1991 He
worked with Robert Smigel to write a pilot for “Lookwell,” starring Adam West. NBC
chairman Brandon Tartikoff liked the show, but it was not picked up as a
series. Smigel would end up writing for “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “Saturday
Night Live.”
1992-1993 he
wrote for “The Simpsons”. Two episodes in season 4 (New Kid on the Block, Marge
vs. the Monorail), 2 in season 5 (Homer Goes to College, Treehouse of Horror
IV).
1993 marked
his debut on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” replacing David Letterman in the
12:35 am time slot. He stayed at the show until 2009.
2009-2010 “Tonight
Show” host. Conan was only host for a short period of time and then Jay Leno
was reinstated as “Tonight Show” host. NBC wanted to hand on to Conan and Jay
so they made a deal where Conan would eventually replace Leno as “Tonight Show”
host. NBC tried putting Jay into a Monday-Friday 10 pm show, but the ratings
were poor. An offer was made to Conan to start his show at 12:05 am eastern,
following a 30-minute Jay Leno show but Conan declined. This was a poorly
handled fiasco for NBC. The whole situation is detailed in the book “The War
for Late Night.” This was written by Bill Carter, who also wrote “The Late
Shift” which chronicled the period in 1991-93 where it was Leno vs. Letterman
to take over for Johnny Carson. Leno got The Tonight Show and Letterman left
for CBS.
April 2010 Kicked
off a 30-city tour of live performances since he could not do TV shows for a
certain period after leaving The Tonight Show.
2010-2021
Conan on TBS.
2019 Conan
show on TBS was trimmed back to 30 minutes and the live band was dropped. Conan
switched to a more casual wardrobe, often wearing a jean jacket over a
button-down shirt.
2018 “Conan
O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast begins. This is released every Monday. This
podcast has become very successful, and Conan attracts big name guests.
2019-2023 “Conan
without Borders.” This made sense since often the best Conan comedy bits were
when he was outside of the studio.
2022 Conan’s
podcast and entire Team Coco digital media business were sold to SiriusXM radio
for $150 million.
2024 “Conan
O’Brien Must Go” on MAX. This is another travel show, but it’s a brilliant
concept since Conan is meeting up with people overseas that he has interviewed
on his podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan.” That podcast comes out on Thursdays
and features interviews with non-celebrities. It’s kind of like Conan took a
cue from Johnny Carson who would sometimes feature non-celebrities on his show,
or as he called them, “civilians.”
I have
always felt that Conan had a very impressive career even before getting his Late-Night
job in 1993. He graduated from Harvard, wrote for “SNL” and “The Simpsons.” Many
writers for “The Simpsons” and “SNL” came out of Harvard, which can be a reason
for the success and longevity of those programs.
Conan owes a
large debt of gratitude to Lorne Michaels, who recognized his talents and saw
his potential as a late-night host. Conan had zero experience as a stand-up
comic or interviewer when he took the job filling the shoes of David Letterman
in 1993. The odds were against him, but he prevailed. He worked in late night
TV for 28 years, coming close to the longevity of 2 of his idols, Johnny Carson
(30 years) and David Letterman (33 years). Other influences include Bob Hope,
Woody Allen, Bob Newhart, Peter Sellers, Sid Caesar and others.
Conan may no
longer have a late-night show on TV anymore, but Samsung has a 24/7 channel
that has highlights from his TBS show.
Conan has
been married to his wife Liza since 2000 and they have 2 children.
*Some
information from imdb and Wikipedia.
