Conan O'Brien



""I had a show. Then I had a different show. Now I have a Twitter account.""

- Conan O'Brien's (old) bio statement on his Twitter account.

Conan O'Brien is the former host of Late Night With Conan O'Brien following David Letterman's departure. He then hosted The Tonight Show after the departure of Jay Leno. The ratings for Leno's new show weren't stellar, but NBC was okay with it until local affiliates cried foul when their local news programmes suffered consequent ratings drops, leading NBC to cancel Leno's new show, and then try to fit Jay, Conan, and Jimmy Fallon into their late night line up when Leno still wanted a job at the end of the day. Conan said it would ruin the institution of The Tonight Show for the show to go into the next day (an inevitable result of cramming three comedians into less than three hours), and was ultimately let go from his contract (with $45 million mind you...) and Leno took back his old time slot. Whether he was of a douche/overall-nice-guy-who-wanted-to-keep-his-job Leno was and/or how much of a principled victim/baby O'Brien was, its pretty universally accepted that NBC screwed up big. Go to Adored by the Network to see a few more details of this debacle.

On April 12, 2010, Conan announced a five-year deal with TBS to do an 11 PM talk show, to begin as soon as the no-compete clause in his NBC severance package expired that fall. After much speculation on what this show is to be called, Mr. O'Brien eventually came up with the single most original, most creative, most "I-want-to-watch-this-fine-basic-cable-programming" title ever known to mankind:

 Conaw Conan.

This puts Conan and Dave in competition to be Jay's nemesis. Can they get back at NBC before the Peacock does something worse to deliberately drive viewers to cable? Stay tuned...

Not to be confused with Conan the Barbarian, although the similarities are uncanny.


 * The Harvard Lampoon, editor (post-Bored of the Rings)
 * Saturday Night Live
 * The Simpsons (writer) -- the "Monorail" episode, etc.
 * Conan solely created at least one still running character - The Old Sea Captain.
 * Late Night With Conan O'Brien (1993-2009)
 * The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien (2009-2010)
 * Twitter account (2010-)
 * The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour (2010)
 * As well as a documentary about the tour: Conan O'Brien Can't Stop.
 * Conan, his new show on TBS (started November 8, 2010)
 * T-shirts, mugs, and posters accentuating the size of his head
 * Finnish religious iconography (unconfirmed)

Some sources are convinced that Conan would do well on the internet.

"Conan: Talk about biting the hand that feeds me!"
 * Adorkable
 * Arch Nemesis: The now-ex NBC CEO Jeff Zucker. Conan and Zucker were editors of rival newspapers in college. And also... STAAAAA-MOS! 
 * At one point in college, Zucker got Conan and the staff of the Harvard Lampoon in trouble for buying up and discarding all copies of the Harvard Crimson in a newspaper war worthy of a college movie, minus babes
 * Badass Beard: Grew one during the WGA Strike, and again during his time in the wilderness; he sported it proudly on his TBS show, until Will Ferrell shaved it away on May 2nd, 2011. He eventually grew another beard that he ended up having throughout his week in New York City.
 * The Band Minus the Face: During the Late Night era, the Max Weinberg Seven was often fronted by guitarist Jimmy Vivino and drummer James Wormworth while its namesake was touring with the E Street Band. When Weinberg chose not to rejoin the group for the TBS show, it was rechristened "Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band".
 * Benevolent Boss: Paid his staff out-of-pocket during the writers' strike. Also held up his exit negotiations with NBC due to his insistence that his staff be well taken care of, and has paid out-of-pocket for staff members who aren't fully covered by the NBC contract. And then he did a nationwide comedy tour, using the proceeds to pay his staff.
 * In character, however, he plays a Bad Boss whose employees' children are interviewed in the TBS show's "Staffers' Kids Say the Darnedest Things" sketches.
 * Berserk Button: Apparently vegetarians and the whole vegan lifestyle, though it comes off as a tongue-in-cheek thing.
 * Biting the Hand Humor: NBC, obviously (see Take That, below). On the premiere of Conan, Conan did a nerd impression and immediately thought better of it, as he stated the people he makes fun of are who supported him back when there was the Tonight Show controversy.

""I'mma gonna go to hell when I die" Clap clap, clap clap"
 * The next night he did a skit which involved TBS' standards office to see what the standards of Basic Cable were compared to network television. Assless chaps (to see how much of his ass could be shown) and a fishtank underwear (with a submarine covering the buttcrack) were tested; . The NBC ordeal gave him this Trope to use as joke material, basically.
 * Many of Conan's skits about nerds count as Biting the Hand Humor, as admitted by Conan himself. Neener neener!
 * Black and Nerdy: Graphic designer Pierre Bernard.
 * Boston Rage: The source of the occaisional joke about Bostonians (he is from Boston).
 * Bromance: Andy Richter. See Heartwarming Moments, below.
 * Butt Monkey: LaBamba is often this.
 * Character Tics: The string dance. And oh so many more: The growl, the cat claws jump, etc...
 * Chuck Norris Facts: The "Walker, Texas Ranger Lever" skits were an inspiration for Chuck Norris Facts thanks to Memetic Mutation.
 * Thus placing Conan among the elite of Memedom, alongside such worthies as Angry Hitler, Dramatic Chipmunk, and the Masturbating Bear.
 * Cloudcuckooland: To promote the TBS show, an HD webcam was set up next to a stairwell at the new offices. Apparently an "average day" includes dancing Tacos and Taco Bell buildings, a girl with green pants, puppet shows, raptor attacks, spontaneous Shakespeare lectures as Conan himself eats an apple, jolly ranchers used in eating contests, and a very irate Andy yelling at everyone to get back to work.
 * Cool Car/The Alleged Car: A 1992 Ford Taurus SHO that he's owned from new.
 * Couch Gag: The new TBS show has a different, murder-mystery style title introduced for every episode, and the opening animation of a family rushing home to watch TV is different on Thursday shows.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Conan's dry, intellectual brand of humor occasionally goes into anti-comedy or meta-comedy, such as his recitation of news followed by a Staring Contest.
 * Deliberate Values Dissonance: Played with. On occasion, he would tell a bad joke, which would lead to his audience groaning in appall...and then applauding. Conan would always point out those "schizophrenic responses" from his crowd.
 * Driving a Desk: Literally, as a recurring sketch.
 * Embarrassing First Name: Conan has frequently said he got picked on for it as a kid. "Where's your sword, barbarian?"
 * Fan Disservice: Conan's blinding white skin is a plot point on various occasions, and/or possible superpower for defeating enemies on-sight. One time, however, he reversed the tables by fooling Andy Richter to go on the set of the Today Show nude.
 * Fan Nickname: "Coco", bestowed by Tom Hanks on the second night of Conan's Tonight Show. Became a Brick Joke when Conan responded that it (jokingly) ruined his life because his own kids started calling him "Coco" instead of "daddy".
 * Fleece the Budget: In his final days as a talk show host before his NBC fallout, Conan happily decides to fill one of his shows with "new comedy bits that aren't so much funny, as they are crazy expensive." One of the most famous of these involves a Bugatti Veyron supercar dressed up like a mouse, that plays The Rolling Stones's "Satisfaction" (a song with almost impossibly pricey royalties). Total cost of this bit? $1.5 million.
 * Friendly Enemy: Conan was a direct rival to David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and (formerly) Craig Ferguson ... but all five were completely disgusted with how NBC treated him upon his getting The Tonight Show, proceeding to bitterly skewer the network and/or Jay Leno.
 * And when Conan balked at taking the 11:00 PM slot at TBS (knowing that doing so would push George Lopez back an hour and not wanting to subject Lopez to the same ill treatment he had faced), Lopez himself called Conan and urged him to take the deal.
 * Lopez himself reportedly said "It means I get to come into work an hour later, What Mexican doesn't want that?"
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Averted; he befriends his censor and runs down a laundry list of things he had "planned" for his show, but wasn't quite sure about.
 * Although, there was one video he showed where the censor allowed some things, and immediately regretted it. Not sure about how real that was, but still...
 * I'm Going to Hell For This: He'd say this after a lame or bad joke, and even say it in a sing-song manner.

"What's a fast way to clue the audience into a character's super-intelligence, either inborn or suddenly-gained? Why, give them a swollen cranium, apparently housing a grossly enlarged brain. The head may or may not pulsate, and the rest of the body be comparatively weak and underdeveloped."
 * Keep Circulating the Tapes: Online archives of his runs on Late Night and Tonight have both vanished from the NBC and Hulu websites.
 * My Brain Is Big


 * Neologism: Fan of Crunkcore? Thank Conan for coming up with the word "crunk".
 * No Export for You: Not confirmed yet, but Europe will probably not get Conan's new TBS show as the only channels in that area that are run by Turner are Cartoon Network stations, TCM, and CNN.
 * Conan has just started showing in Ireland at midnight, a week after it shows in America.
 * Conan is now trying to get the show on in Finland.
 * Successfully. It started showing August 15th on a small tv channel as a part of the channel's rebirth.
 * Conan also started airing in Portugal on November 29.
 * One of Us
 * Odd Couple: Conan and Martha Stewart, Conan and Mr. T picking apples together, Conan and Ozzy Osbourne cheering up NBC office workers, Conan drinking whiskey and firing automatic weapons with Hunter S. Thompson, Conan and James Lipton...
 * Orwellian Editor: NBC pretty much erased any trace of Conan ever working for them.
 * Proud to Be a Geek
 * Redheaded Stepchild
 * Screw the Money, I Have Rules: Conan could have kept on working on NBC if he was willing to push his show and Jimmy Fallon's back a half-hour to accommodate Jay Leno being on at 11:35 PM. Saying that that would be the end of The Tonight Show, he stood his ground and basically dared NBC to fire him.
 * This act could qualify him as a Redheaded Hero.
 * Screwed by the Network: Twofold.
 * NBC simply does not like him. Thankfully, the rest of the world does, as evidenced by the huge amount of support for O'Brien across the internet (and the airwaves). Even though he stated in his 60 Minutes interview that he doesn't feel that he got screwed.
 * Well, it's more complicated than that. They certainly liked him enough five years before this whole debacle when they made a deal with Jay to have him leave and Conan take his place, despite Jay being #1 and not wanting to leave, simply because they thought Leno's ratings wouldn't last and that Conan would be successful. Didn't work out the way they planned...
 * It's even more complicated than that. They promised him The Tonight Show around the time that Craig Kilborn left The Late Late Show so many people believe it was a way to keep him from defecting to CBS.
 * The ill-advised decision to park Jay's talk show (and promote it exclusively and not Conan, even in the nightly lead-ups) five nights a week at 10:00 PM managed to screw Conan and every NBC station due to the decision to cancel five nights of primetime scripted drama, causing ratings for the late local news to tank across the country, which caused Conan's ratings to tank. It arguably didn't help Jay, either.
 * Self-Deprecation: Conan frequently makes fun of himself and the show in general. In one instance on Late Night, Conan even remarked in jest "This is the worst show on television."
 * On his first episode on the new show, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my second annual first show."
 * Shoot the Money: When TBS sent out a blimp to promote the show, Conan declared on the air that they were obligated to get their money's worth for it, and did a series of sketches wherein the blimp was sent around LA to stalk Gary Busey.
 * Show the Forehead
 * Sidekick: Andy Richter.
 * Smarter Than You Look: If you're introduced to Conan via Masturbating Bear or other lowbrow comedy bits, it may come as a surprise to learn he graduated from Harvard (and was valedictorian of his high school class).
 * On a slightly less lowbrow note, you may have been introduced to him via The Onion or The Simpsons.
 * Something Completely Different: An episode of his Late Night show was done entirely in Claymation.
 * For one Halloween Episode, a rerun was done entirely in Skelevision.
 * The annual "State of the Show" episodes on Late Night.
 * A 1994 show was done from aboard a Circle Line tour boat cruising the Hudson River.
 * "Time Travel Week" in 1996, which sent Conan and Andy back to Ancient Greece, The American Civil War, and The Eighties (where they encountered David Letterman when they tried to enter the Late Night studio).
 * A 1997 episode was taped in front of a Studio Audience consisting entirely of young children.
 * The show of October 10, 1996 was taped from a makeshift outdoor set after a five-alarm fire at 30 Rock left NBC's studios unavailable. The following night's show was taped at the Today studio.
 * When the northeastern United States (including New York City) was hit with a massive power outage on August 14, 2003, that night's scheduled Late Night was replaced with about five minutes of Conan reporting from the darkened, empty studio before introducing a rerun show.
 * A 2006 episode had U2 as the sole guest.
 * Take That / Biting the Hand Humor: Conan started sticking it to NBC as soon as the deal to return Jay Leno to the 11:30 PM spot was announced.
 * One of his best was a comedy skit in which a Bugatti Veyron (with mouse ears on the roof, no less!) simply sat onstage while the original master recording of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" played in the background — a skit which cost $1.5 million, and was done simply because NBC was footing the bill for the show.
 * He topped it by having 2009 Kentucky Derby-winning horse Mine That Bird wearing a mink Snuggie watching restricted NFL Super Bowl footage. Total cost? $4.8 million. Also on that show was Robin Williams yelling at the fake Burbank backdrop "You idiots!" and flipping it off, then singing an Irish folk song which Conan got up and danced along to.
 * Finally, to cap it all off, his final Tonight Show episode featured a fossilized ground sloth shooting caviar out a firehose onto a Picasso. The cost? Over $40 million (or was it 60?...). And then Tom Hanks walked out to The Beatles' "Lovely Rita", which drove the price up an extra $500,000.
 * After O'Brien was criticized for wasting money that could be helping Haiti or something, he admitted on-air that the expensive items were either fake or donated for free. The rights to the music, however, were very real. (The first time it aired cost NBC nothing, but re-airing would have been very expensive, which is why NBC refuses to re-air them or make them available on the internet.)
 * A very recent Take That comes in the form of the new Jimmy Smits vehicle Outlaw, about a Supreme Court justice who resigns to become a private lawyer, produced by Conan's production company, Conaco, and airing on...NBC. Which was, subsequently, canned after only four episodes aired. It's almost as if Conan made them a mediocre show on purpose...
 * Those Two Guys: In addition to Conan's Odd Couple pairings above, the teaming of Conan and Bob Saget strikes some as Conan's definite non-Andy OTP.
 * Unperson: To NBC, at least. Conan's website, any reference to O'Brien on their network and even YouTube and Hulu clips of O'Brien's shows have been under watch or removed by NBC with two exceptions (an episode of Saturday Night Live he hosted and a Season 1 episode of 30 Rock in which he and his show play an integral part in the plot). They even removed HornyManatee.com... bastards.
 * Verbal Tic: Rrrrrow.
 * Weird Moon: The huge moon in the background of his TBS show can be controlled via remote, and possibly be used to crush Andy Richter. It even has "that lunar wobble"! On one occasion, it had Charlie Sheen's face on it.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: In his inaugural TBS episode, Conan has a remote-controlled moon as part of his studio. It is awesome.
 * The Fishtank underwear, which has a submarine to cover the buttcrack.
 * Conan's superhero alter-ego, the Flaming C, with his weird steaming oven mitt of power. He was even animated and edited into episodes of Young Justice.
 * The Blimp.
 * Widget Series: Any of his late night shows.