''Late Night'' is an American
late-night talk and variety show airing on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
since 1982. ''Late Night'' has had four hosts:
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...
(1982–1993),
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is best known for having hosted Late-night talk show, late-night talk shows, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'B ...
(1993–2009),
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...
(2009–2014), and
Seth Meyers (2014–present).
Each iteration of the show was built around its host, and maintained distinct identities aside from the title, time slot, and network. The longest-serving host to date was O'Brien, who hosted ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...
'' for almost 16 years, from September 1993 to February 2009.
Hosting history
US television ratings (late-night talk shows)
History
David Letterman

The show replaced ''
The Tomorrow Show'', hosted by
Tom Snyder
Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on NBC in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' The Late Late Show'' ...
(and later co-hosted by
Rona Barrett
Rona Barrett (born Rona Burstein, October 8, 1936) is an American gossip columnist and businesswoman. She runs the Rona Barrett Foundation, a non-profit organization in Santa Ynez, California, dedicated to the aid and support of senior citizen ...
), on Mondays through Thursdays. It did not expand to Fridays until 1987, when ''
Friday Night Videos'' was moved back an hour to accommodate a five-day-a-week ''Late Night''.
''Late Night'' originated from NBC's headquarters building at
30 Rockefeller Plaza
30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. Completed in 1933 ...
in New York City, inheriting Studio 6A from ''Tomorrow'' (it was also the studio for Letterman's
morning program in 1980). The program ran four nights a week, Monday to Thursday, from the show's premiere in February 1982 until May 1987. Friday shows were added in June 1987 (NBC previously aired ''
Friday Night Videos'' in the 12:30 am slot with occasional ''Late Night'' specials and reruns). Starting in September 1991, ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...
'' was pushed back from 11:30 pm to 11:35 p
m, with Letterman starting at 12:35 am, at the request of NBC affiliates who wanted more advertising time for their profitable late newscasts.
In mid-1993,
E! Entertainment Television purchased broadcast rights to ''Late Night''. The network aired complete shows from various years five days per week from 1993 until 1996. Then
Trio (owned by NBC) picked up reruns and showed them from 2002 until the channel went off the air in 2005. In 2022, David Letterman launched his official YouTube channel, which contains clips from this show and his previous morning and later ''Late Show'' programs.
A number of programs were sold by
GoodTimes Entertainment in 1992–93. These episodes were stripped of the series theme, open and close. No DVD release is currently scheduled (GoodTimes went bankrupt in 2005).
A total of 1,819 shows were broadcast during its eleven and a half year run (an episode on January 16, 1991, went unaired due to pre-emption for coverage the beginning of the
Gulf War
, combatant2 =
, commander1 =
, commander2 =
, strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems
, page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
; the program had already been shot before word came out of Baghdad that United States airstrikes were beginning).
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...
was a guest on the one-shot "360-degree" episode, during which the show's image gradually rotated 360 degrees during the course of an hour.
Transition from Letterman to O'Brien
Upon
Johnny Carson
John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...
's unexpected retirement from ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...
'' in 1992, executives at NBC announced that Carson's "permanent guest host"
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...
would take over ''Tonight'', and not David Letterman. This was done against the wishes of Carson, who had always seen Letterman as his rightful successor, according to
Worldwide Pants senior vice president Peter Lassally, a onetime producer for both men. NBC later claimed that Letterman's high ratings for ''Late Night'' was the reason it kept Letterman where he was. Letterman was bitterly disappointed and angry at not having been given ''The Tonight Show'' job, and, on Carson's advice, walked away from
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
after eleven years on ''Late Night''.
CBS signed Letterman to compete directly opposite Leno's ''Tonight Show'' at 11:35 PM. He moved his show over to CBS virtually unchanged, taking most of the staff, skits, and comedy formats with him. However, NBC owned the rights to the ''Late Night'' name and much of the
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...
created for the show, forcing Letterman to rechristen his show as ''
Late Show with David Letterman
''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
'' and re-title many of its signature comedy elements. ("Viewer Mail" became "CBS Mailbag"; sidekick
Calvert DeForest was no longer called "Larry 'Bud' Melman", but instead used his real name, etc.) However, some recurring elements, notably "Stupid Pet Tricks", actually dated from Letterman's earlier morning show. Those elements were Letterman's property, not NBC's, and carried over to the new show completely unchanged.
NBC was faced with an unexpected need to replace not just Letterman, but ''Late Night'' itself. The network still owned the name, but needed to essentially build a new show from scratch. The show was first offered to
Dana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster, screenwriter and producer.
Carvey is best known for his seven seasons on ''Saturday Night Live'', from 1986 to 1993, which earned him five consecutive Pri ...
and
Garry Shandling, both of whom turned it down.
''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' producer
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...
' company,
Broadway Video, replaced
Carson Productions
Carson Entertainment Group (formerly Carson Productions and Carson Productions Group) is a television production company established by Johnny Carson in 1980. The company primarily produced ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' from 1980 to ...
and Letterman's
Worldwide Pants as the show's co-production company, in partnership with
NBC Studios. Michaels took a leadership role in redeveloping the show, and comedians
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host. The long-running host of ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central from 1999 to 20 ...
,
Drew Carey
Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey gained stardom in his own Situa ...
, and
Paul Provenza all auditioned for the hosting role.
Michaels suggested to O'Brien, an unknown writer for ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' and former writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', that he should audition for the job. Despite having "about 40 seconds"
[''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', May 29, 2009.] of television-performance experience as an occasional extra on ''Saturday Night Live'' sketches, O'Brien auditioned for the show on April 13, 1993. His guests were
Jason Alexander
Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor and comedian. Over the course of his career he has received an Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Golden Globe ...
and
Mimi Rogers
Miriam Rogers (née Spickler; born January 27, 1956) is an American actress.
Her notable film roles are '' Gung Ho'' (1986), '' Someone to Watch Over Me'' (1987), '' Desperate Hours'' (1990), and '' Full Body Massage'' (1995). She garnered the g ...
, and the audition took place on the set of ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...
''.
O'Brien was offered the show on April 26, 1993, and made his first meaningful television appearance later that day when Leno introduced him on ''Tonight''.
Conan O'Brien
O'Brien's ''Late Night'' was rushed into production and debuted on September 13, 1993, with
Andy Richter as O'Brien's sidekick. The premiere episode featured
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor. Goodman has received List of awards and nominations received by John Goodman, various acc ...
(who received a "First Guest" medal for his appearance),
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she has received multiple List of awards and nominations received by Drew Barrymore, awards a ...
, and
Tony Randall. The episode featured a
cold open
A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In North ...
of O'Brien's walk to the studio with constant reminders that he was expected to live up to Letterman, parodying a popular sentiment expressed in the media at the time. After seeming to be unaffected by the comments, O'Brien arrives at his dressing room and cheerfully prepares to
hang himself. However, a warning that the show is about to start causes him to abandon his plans. The crowd for the first show mainly consisted of family members of the crew of the show so as to ensure a positive reception. The show remained in Studio 6A through O'Brien's tenure.
O'Brien's on-camera inexperience showed and the show's first fourteen weeks were generally considered mediocre.
O'Brien, an unknown, was constantly at risk of being fired: NBC had him renewing short-term contracts, thirteen weeks at a time.
He was reportedly on the brink of being fired at least once in this period, but NBC had no one to replace him. The show, and O'Brien, slowly improved through experience, and the show's ratings gradually increased to a level which allowed O'Brien to secure a longer contract, and not have to worry about cancellation.
On February 28, 1994, Letterman appeared on ''Late Night'' as O'Brien's only guest, marking Letterman's first appearance on an NBC talk show since his departure for CBS. During the interview, Letterman gave O'Brien positive reinforcement, telling him "there's nothing like this show anywhere on television" and that he was doing a terrific job as host.
On May 20, 2015, during the opening monologue to his
TBS talk show ''
Conan'' aired just prior to the start of the final episode of ''
Late Show with David Letterman
''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
'' marking Letterman's retirement as host, O'Brien directly credited Letterman's 1994 appearance with preventing ''Late Night'' from being cancelled by NBC.
In 2000, Richter left ''Late Night'' to pursue his acting career. The show's comedy bits and banter had usually depended on O'Brien's interaction with Richter. O'Brien's wacky
non sequitur comedy became more pronounced as he played all of his comedy and commentary directly to the audience instead of towards Richter. Bandleader
Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) 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'' an ...
also became O'Brien's primary sounding board and
Double act
A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' ...
in Richter's absence.
Ratings and reviews continued to improve for ''Late Night'', and in 2002, when time came to renew his contract, O'Brien had notable offers from other networks to defect.
O'Brien decided to re-sign with NBC, however, joking that he initially wanted to make a 13-week deal (a nod to his first contract). He ultimately signed through 2005, indicating that it was symbolic of surpassing Letterman's run with 12 years of hosting.
In 2003, O'Brien's own production company,
Conaco
Conaco, LLC is an American television production company founded in 2001 and owned by entertainer Conan O'Brien. The name is a portmanteau of the words ''"Conan"'' and ''"Co"'', an abbreviation of company. The name is also a parody of the petro ...
, was added as a producer of ''Late Night''. The show celebrated its 10th anniversary, another milestone that O'Brien said he wanted to achieve with his 2002 contract. During the anniversary show,
Mr. T
Laurence T (born Laurence Tureaud; May 21, 1952), known professionally as Mr. T, is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A ...
handed O'Brien a chain with a large gold "7" on it.
The show's
house band
A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment.
It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...
was
The Max Weinberg 7, led by
E Street Band
The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...
drummer Max Weinberg. The other six members were
Mark Pender
Mark "The Loveman" Pender (born August 21, 1957, in Kansas City, Missouri) 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' ...
on trumpet, Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg on trombone,
Mike Merritt on bass,
Jerry Vivino
Jerry Vivino (born January 8, 1954) is an American musician.
Biography
He was a member of the Basic Cable Band, the house band for the TBS late night program '' Conan''. He was also a member of The Tonight Show Band, the house band on '' Th ...
on saxophone and brother
Jimmy Vivino on guitar, and
Scott Healy
Scott Healy is an American pianist, keyboardist and composer best known as the keyboardist for Conan O'Brien. He was the keyboard player for the Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band on ''Conan (talk show), Conan'' on TBS (U.S. TV channel), TBS. H ...
on keyboard.
James Wormworth served as backup drummer when Weinberg went on tour with
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
. With the departure of Andy Richter, Max Weinberg assumed a bigger role as an interlocutor for O'Brien's jokes. One common running gag was Max's awkwardness on camera and his apparent lack of chemistry with Conan. Weinberg was often used in sketches as well, which usually revolved around his purported sexual deviance (mostly a penchant for bedding barely legal groupies), although long running sketches also spoofed Max's lack of knowledge of current affairs.
Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg was also used as the butt of many of Conan's jokes. These humorous sketches usually revolved around LaBamba's sizeable mustache, his poor acting skills, and his alleged inability to read
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...
. Mark Pender would often sing songs on the topic of a current event, which ended with him screeching uncontrollably and climbing the risers into the audience. All members of the 7 had successful side careers as studio musicians.
As is common in the talk show format, The Max Weinberg 7 performed the show's opening and closing themes, played bumpers into and out of commercial breaks (they actually played through the entire break for the studio audience), and a short piece during O'Brien's crossover to his desk after his monologue (except for several months beginning in April 2008, where a commercial break was inserted at that point). The show's opening theme was written by
Howard Shore
Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, conductor and orchestrator noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Hobbit'' fi ...
and
John Lurie
John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including ''Stranger than Paradise'' and '' Down by Law''; has composed ...
(a finalist for the job as bandleader). The show's closing theme was called "Cornell Knowledge", and was lifted from Jerry and Jimmy Vivino's first album together. However, on ''Late Night'', it was played at a much quicker tempo than the album version.
The band played a wide variety of songs as bumpers – usually
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
from a variety of eras. Weinberg sometimes took extended leaves of absence to tour with
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
as the drummer for his
E Street Band
The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...
. During his absence, temporary replacement drummers were hired (most commonly James Wormworth), and the band was led by Jimmy Vivino ("Jimmy Vivino and the Max Weinberg 7").
Joel Godard, a long-time announcer for NBC shows, was the show's announcer and an occasional comedy contributor. These comedy bits usually revolved around Godard's supposed homosexual fetishes, deviant sexual habits, substance abuse, and suicidal tendencies. The humor came in part from Godard's delivery. No matter how depressing or deviant the topic being discussed he always did so in an exaggeratedly cheerful voice, and with a huge smile plastered on his face. Several sketches ended with Godard apparently committing suicide in his announcer's booth.
Members of the show's writing staff frequently appeared in sketches on the show. Among the most prolific were:
Brian McCann (Preparation H Raymond, FedEx Pope, The Loser, Airsick Moth, Jerry Butters, Funhole Guy, Bulletproof Legs Guy, Adrian "Raisin" Foster, S&M Lincoln, etc.),
Brian Stack (Hannigan the Traveling Salesman, Artie Kendall the Ghost Crooner, The Interrupter, Kilty McBagpipes, Fan-tastic Guy, Clive Clemmons, Frankenstein, Ira, Slipnut Brian, etc.),
Jon Glaser (Segue Sam, Pubes, Awareness Del, Wrist Hulk, Ahole Ronald, Gorton's Fisherman, Jeremy, Slipnut Jon, etc.), Kevin Dorff (Coked-up Werewolf, Jesus Christ, Mansy the half-man/half-pansy, Joe's Bartender, Todd the Tiny Guy, etc.), and
Andy Blitz
Andrew Blitz (born June 28, 1971) is an American comedian, writer, producer and actor best known for his sketch comedy and writing work on the late-night talk show ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. He has received nine Emmy Award nominations.
...
(Awful Ballgame Chanter, Vin Diesel's brother Leonard Diesel, Slipnut Andy, Chuck Aloo aka the star of the ''24'' spin-off series ''60''). Blitz went so far as to travel to India for one bit in which he carried his computer through the streets of India to get technical support firsthand from the telephone representative at NBC's technical help center. One of the show's graphic designers, Pierre Bernard was featured several sketches, such as: "Pierre Bernard's Recliner of Rage", and "Nerding It Up For Pierre".
''Late Night'' employed a number of sketch actors, many of whom were frequently reused in different roles in different episodes. Several years before joining the cast of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'',
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler ( ; born September 16, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. Known for her roles in sketch comedy, sitcoms and comedy films, she has earned acclaim and several accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award (out of 26 nom ...
often appeared as a regular in many sketches, she was best remembered for playing the role of Andy Richter's little sister, Stacy.
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer (; born May 27, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his portrayal of characters on '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and as Kenneth Parcell in ''30 Rock''. For his role in ''30 Rock'', McBraye ...
frequently appeared as well.
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog began as part of a sketch on ''Late Night.'' Celebrities such as
Joyce Brothers,
Nipsey Russell,
Abe Vigoda and
James Lipton also made frequent cameo appearances in comedy sketches on the show at different periods.
Unusual for a late-night talk show, ''Late Night'' made frequent use of various costumed characters such as The Masturbating Bear, Robot on a Toilet, and Pimpbot5000. The humor in these sketches often derived from the crude construction of the characters' costumes as well as the absurdist nature of their conceptions. For example, Pimpbot5000 was a 1950s-style robot who dressed and acted in the manner of an exaggerated
blaxploitation
In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...
pimp
Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...
, while The Masturbating Bear was a man in a bear costume wearing an oversized diaper who would inevitably begin to fondle himself to the tune of
Aram Khachaturian
Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers.
Khachaturian was born and rai ...
's "
Sabre Dance" when brought on stage. Many of these characters did little more in their appearances than walk across the stage or be wheeled out from behind the curtain, but some had extensive sketches on the show.
As part of O'Brien's 2004 contract renegotiation with NBC, he was tapped to replace Jay Leno as host of ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...
'' five years later, in the summer of 2009. O'Brien's last ''Late Night'' was taped and aired on February 20, 2009. He indeed succeeded Leno and renamed the show ''
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' on June 1, 2009, and resigned as host just over seven months later, a result of the
2010 Tonight Show conflict.
O'Brien's last season on ''Late Night'' attracted an average of 1.98 million viewers, compared to 1.92 million viewers for ''
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...
''.
On the final episode of his 16-year run, O'Brien stated that he "owed his career to Lorne Michaels".
Jimmy Fallon
Executive producer
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...
said he wanted Fallon to be the new host dating back to the day that Fallon left
''Saturday Night Live'' in 2004,
which occurred only a few months before O'Brien's departure was announced. According to Michaels:
During the years between Fallon's ''SNL'' departure and the announcement that he would take over ''Late Night'', Fallon concentrated on developing a feature film career, which Fallon himself said "really didn't work out that great."
Fallon was announced as O'Brien's replacement in May 2008; at the time of the announcement, he was scheduled to debut in June 2009.
To help him prepare for his new ''Late Night'' host role, Michaels had Fallon perform comedy in
clubs
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands a ...
and create a series of
webisode
A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cab ...
s.
A behind-the-scenes
vlog
A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...
documenting preparations for the new show launched on December 8, 2008, with new episodes being posted weeknights at 12:30 am ET.
Fallon's
house band
A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment.
It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...
was hip-hop band
The Roots
The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...
,
and his announcer was
Steve Higgins, a producer for ''Saturday Night Live''.
[December 11, 2008](_blank)
from the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon video blog The show is produced by
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...
'
Broadway Video in association with NBC's
Universal Media Studios
Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It serves as the networ ...
.
Upon Fallon assuming the hosting role, ''Late Night'' moved across the hall into Studio 6B, which had housed ''The Tonight Show'' under
Jack Paar
Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, writer, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine's ob ...
and then Johnny Carson.
WNBC
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey� ...
then used the space to originate its news broadcasts until shortly before ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' debuted.
[December 8, 2008](_blank)
from the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon video blog ''Late Night'' would move back to Studio 6A for the last few months of Fallon's tenure so that 6B could be renovated for ''The Tonight Shows return to New York with Fallon as host.
Fallon premiered on March 2, 2009, with
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...
,
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...
and
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...
appearing as his guests. Former ''Late Night'' host Conan O'Brien also made a cameo appearance.
The ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' logo is based on the typeface Bureau Grotesque. NBC failed to correctly license the font program, causing them to be sued by the copyright holder of that program
Font Bureau, Inc.for software copyright infringement, although fonts alone cannot be copyrighted.
Fallon hosted his final episode of ''Late Night'' on February 7, 2014, when he welcomed
Andy Samberg as his final guest. After a brief retrospective with Higgins about their time on ''Late Night'', the show ended with Fallon playing drums and singing backup to "
The Weight
"The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album '' Music from Big Pink''. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian ...
" behind an ensemble of
The Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...
. Upon the conclusion of the song, Fallon exited Studio 6A and walked silently down the hall to Studio 6B, through a door featuring his ''Tonight Show'' logo, where his cast and crew awaited him with an ovation.
Seth Meyers

On May 12, 2013, NBC officially announced that
Seth Meyers would become the new host of ''Late Night'' following Fallon's exit to preside over ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...
''.
Meyers' first episode of ''Late Night'' premiered February 24, 2014. His version of the show originates from Studio 8G in Rockefeller Center, previously home to ''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...
'' during its original run plus talk shows for
Phil Donahue and
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American talk show host, comedian, and actress. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series ''Star Search'' in 1984. After a series of television ...
, and NBC's coverage of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
. It marks the first time that ''Late Night'' and ''The Tonight Show'' have been produced out of the same studio facility. In fact, Meyers' studio is directly above Fallon's, meaning that the shows cannot tape at the same time due to inefficient
soundproofing
Soundproofing is any means of impeding sound propagation. There are several methods employed including increasing the distance between the source and receiver, decoupling, using noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the sound waves, ...
and elevator capacities for audience members. ''Late Night'' begins taping at 6:30 PM, roughly thirty minutes after production of ''The Tonight Show'' wraps.
Meyers' version of the show is orchestrated in the traditional late night talk show format. Each show usually begins with an opening monologue, then informal chatter at the desk, a comedy bit, celebrity guest interviews, and closing with a stand-up comedian or musical guest.
The house band for Meyers' iteration of ''Late Night'' is "The 8G Band", led by eccentric actor/musician
Fred Armisen, one of Meyers' former ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' castmates. The two usually engage in a nightly exchange in which Armisen details (to great length) an absurd concept he has pioneered while Meyers plays the
straight man
The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically ...
and questions its validity. When Armisen is away from the show for various reasons (including to produce his television series ''
Portlandia''), he will sometimes appear in a taped comedy bit, and as with Weinberg's tenure, guest drummers or other performers will perform for the week with the 8G Band.
As a tribute to the many NBC affiliates that air the show on a nightly basis, Meyers' desk features one
coffee mug nightly sent by each NBC affiliate which sits to his left, which varies between featuring a station's logo or
morning news imaging. Also on the desk is a
Matryoshka doll
Matryoshka dolls (), also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. The name ''Matryoshka'' is a diminutive form of ''Matryosha'' (), i ...
in the style of
Bill Hader
William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and director. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 20 ...
's
Stefon character with a veil embellishment, originally hand-crafted by Matryoshka artist Irene Hwang and commissioned for a ''Saturday Night Live'' crew holiday gift. Meyers and Stefon were "married" on ''SNL''.
Gag, skit, and segment highlights
Letterman
*''Top 10 List'': Featured Letterman doing top ten lists of various items.
*''Viewer Mail'': Featured Letterman reading viewer's mail.
*''Stupid Pet Tricks''
*''Stupid Human Tricks''
O'Brien
*''In the Year 2000'': Featured O'Brien with Andy or a guest delivering jokes as futuristic happenings.
*''Clutch Cargo'': Featured O'Brien talking to newsworthy people "via satellite" that were actually just photographs with moving lips voiced by
Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The pup ...
.
*''Desk Driving'': O'Brien and Richter (an audience member, after Richter's departure from the show) would "drive" Conan's desk through various scenes, courtesy of a
green screen.
*''"Walker, Texas Ranger" Lever'': Featured O'Brien pulling a lever that showed ridiculous clips from the television show ''
Walker, Texas Ranger
''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action fiction, action Crime drama, crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both the film and the series starring Chuck Norr ...
''.
*''Noches de Pasion con Señor O'Brien (Nights of Passion with Mr. O'Brien)'': Featured O'Brien as a Spanish speaking masked vigilante.
*''Late Night Budget Cuts'': O'Brien telling ways their show is living in budget cuts from NBC.
*''Conan Remotes'': O'Brien with his staff or selected guests traveling to places around the world.
Fallon
*''Head Swap'': Where the heads from two celebrities are switched on another person's body.
*''Thank You Notes'': Features Fallon writing thank you notes to random items or people.
*''Dance Your Hat and Gloves Off'': Features audience members dancing to take gloves off their hands and a hat on their head.
*''Ultimate Mustache Fighter'': Features two
UFC-like fighters dressed as mustaches.
*''Wheel of Carpet Samples'': Features audience members spinning a wheel of carpet samples and receiving completely random point scores.
Meyers
*''A Closer Look'': Features Meyers leading a humorous long-form investigation into a current political story.
*''Venn Diagrams'': Features Meyers putting two items with something in common together in a
Venn diagram
A Venn diagram is a widely used diagram style that shows the logical relation between set (mathematics), sets, popularized by John Venn (1834–1923) in the 1880s. The diagrams are used to teach elementary set theory, and to illustrate simple ...
.
*''Fake or Florida'': Features Meyers asking audience members whether a crazy news story was fake or whether it actually happened in
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.
*''This Week in Numbers'': Features Meyers giving a number from a real news story followed by a number from a comedic news item.
*''Next Week's News'': Features Meyers, along with emergency sidekick Dale (
Tim Robinson), relating a current news story and then a comedic news story for the next week.
*''Instagram Filters'': Features Meyers showing pictures from Instagram, then having a filter (such as Beijing or Drunk Girl filter) change the picture.
*''Extreme Dog Shaming'': Features Meyers showing pictures of dogs holding up signs to show what they did to be shamed (for example, Meyers' dog Frisbee, was shamed because "I go to bed right after
Fallon)" or "I wanted
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received List of awards and nominations ...
to host the Emmys again."
*''Jokes Seth Can't Tell'': Features Seth reading the jokes and two of his writers, usually
Amber Ruffin
Amber Mildred Ruffin (born January 9, 1979) is an American comedian, writer and actress. She hosted her own late-night talk show titled '' The Amber Ruffin Show'' on Peacock. She has been a writer for ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' since 2014. ...
and
Jenny Hagel, delivering the punchlines.
*''Anniversary Guy'': Writer
Conner O'Malley plays the Anniversary Guy, an audience member who interrupts Seth's monologue to discuss an extremely specific anniversary of an event, and often dresses up that is appropriate to that occasion (for instance, O'Malley fully dressed up as
Shrek
''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...
to celebrate the anniversary of the release of ''
Shrek Forever After'').
*''Bad Men'': Parody of ''
Mad Men
''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
'' with Meyers portraying the Don Draper character.
*''Couple Things'': Features Meyers listing a "couple things" about a controversial news story.
*''Fred Talks'': An improvised segment involving 8G Band bandleader
Fred Armisen describing some ridiculous new project that he's working on, to Meyers' disbelief.
*''FredEx'': When Armisen is away from the show, Meyers will send him a
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...
box full of props, and Armisen will produce a video that debuts on the show a few days later, using those props to create a character.
*''Seth's Story'': Meyers tells a story, detailing something that happened to him recently.
*''What Does Karen Know?'': Meyers and millennial staff writer
Karen Chee quiz each other on cultural touchstones from their respective generations.
*''Ya Burnt!'': Meyers has a list of various topics, either completely burning them or declaring them "unburnable" (except for the last topic which is always interrupted by a buzzer)
*''Corrections:'' Meyers reads and interacts with comments from viewers, affectionately known as "Jackals", who offer corrections via YouTube comments. This segment started during the COVID-19 pandemic without an in-person audience, and continues to be produced without a studio audience.
"The ''Late Night'' Pickle"
One of the behind-the-scenes traditions of ''Late Night'' is the possession of a giant, plastic
pickle by the current host. The pickle was originally sent to the ''Late Night'' offices by Letterman's staff for O'Brien and his crew, along with a note explaining that they had found the pickle in their offices when they began the show, it stayed there through their entire run, and it was only fitting that it remain there.
When O'Brien went to host ''The Tonight Show'', he left behind the pickle for Fallon along with a handwritten note, reading in part: "Whenever you're done -- which won't be for a long time -- make sure you pass it on to the next sap. Knock 'em dead." Fallon first made public the pickle tradition in one of his regular video blog segments that led up to his ''Late Night'' premiere.
During his final week hosting ''Late Night'' in early 2014, Fallon passed the pickle to Meyers during their interview, marking its first on-air appearance.
During Seth Meyers' run on March 18, 2015, the pickle makes a cameo during a skit called "Hannah Horvath Joins the Late Night Writing Staff", a character
Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham (; born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series '' Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two G ...
portrays on the HBO TV series ''
Girls''.
Comparative TV ratings
*May 18, 1992; ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...
'' week finale: 5.519 million viewers.
*June 25, 1993; the final ''
Late Night with David Letterman
''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...
'' -hosted episode, 7.521 million viewers
*May 1998; the night of the ''
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...
'' finale; 4.907 million viewers
*April 30, 2002; 10th Anniversary of ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...
'' drew in 11.888 million viewers
*May 2004; the night of the ''
Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...
'' finale; 4.012 million viewers
*February 20, 2009; the final ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...
'' -hosted episode, 3.4 million viewers
*Sunday, February 5, 2012, following
Super Bowl XLVI
Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
; 6.087 million viewers
*February 7, 2014; the final ''
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon, '' hosted episode, 6.601 million viewers
Broadcasting milestones
Schedule
First run episodes
References
{{Late Night (franchise)
NBC late-night programming
1982 American television series debuts
1980s American late-night television series
1990s American late-night television series
2000s American late-night television series
2010s American late-night television series
2020s American late-night television series
1980s American sketch comedy television series
1990s American sketch comedy television series
2000s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
2020s American sketch comedy television series
1980s American variety television series
1990s American variety television series
2000s American variety television series
2010s American variety television series
2020s American variety television series
Television franchises
Television shows filmed in New York City
American English-language television shows