Conan is an American late-night talk show airing each Monday (as of spring 2012, Monday is a re-run) through Thursday on TBS in the United States. The hour-long show premiered on November 8, 2010, and is hosted by writer, comedian and performer Conan O'Brien. The program's host previously starred on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien for 16 years, then presented The Tonight Show for seven months until Jay Leno's return to his version of The Tonight Show due to the 2010 Tonight Show conflict.

Describing itself as a traditional late-night talk show, Conan draws its comedy from recent news stories, political figures and prominent celebrities, as well as aspects of the show itself. The show typically opens with a monologue from Conan O'Brien relating to recent headlines and frequently features exchanges with his sidekick, Andy Richter, and members of the audience. The next segment is devoted to a celebrity interview, with guests ranging from actors and musicians to media personalities and political figures. The show then closes with either a musical or comedy performance.

In January 2010, after The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien had been on the air for seven months, it was announced that NBC intended to move Jay Leno from primetime back to his original timeslot, with O'Brien's show starting shortly after midnight. Following a brief conflict, NBC announced that they had paid $45 million to buy out O'Brien's contract, ending his relationship with the network. Months after his official leave, O'Brien went on a comedy tour called The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, which was largely inspired by the outpouring of support for O'Brien on the Internet during the conflict. It was announced on the first day of the tour that O'Brien would be joining TBS in November.

On TBS, Conan airs Mondays through Thursdays beginning at 11:00 p.m. eastern time, and is immediately followed by reruns of The Office. The show had been followed by comedian George Lopez's talk show, Lopez Tonight, until its final episode on August 11, 2011. Comedian and actor Andy Richter continues his role as sidekick to O'Brien, and as the show's announcer. Conan's long-time house band continues with the host under the new moniker Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, with Max Weinberg being replaced as bandleader by guitarist Jimmy Vivino and as drummer by regular substitute James Wormworth, both of whom regularly substituted for Weinberg during his brief departures.

On February 22, 2012, TBS renewed the show through April 2014.^[2]

Episode format[link]

Conan follows the established six-piece format used during O'Brien's tenure as host of The Tonight Show and Late ed role |publisher=Reuters |accessdate=2011-02-12 |date=2010-11-09 |last=Goodman |first=Dean}}</ref> Guests come from a wide range of cultural sources, and include actors, musicians, authors, athletes and political figures.^{[citation needed]} Taping of each episode begins at 4:30 p.m. PST, which usually follows a rehearsal, lasting from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m.^[3]

Opening titles[link]

The episode opens with the show introducing O'Brien, The Basic Cable Band, as well as that night's guests.^[4] Each episode of Conan has a title, unlike most late-night talk shows, which Richter announces at the end of the opening sequence. The humorous titles are in the style of old fashioned murder-mystery radio shows, television sitcoms, or other scripted series.

The title sequence was designed by Rob Ashe, a designer who had previously worked on Conan's Legally Prohibited tour, along with Dan Dome and Eric McGilloway, who worked as lead editor and motion graphics designer, respectively, for The Tonight Show.^[4] There were several different variations of the opening credits, with the final product being inspired by graphic designer Saul Bass, which O'Brien appreciated. The opening design process was described by Ashe as utilizing "organic-looking textures made of construction paper, soak them in soda, and light them in Photoshop."^[4]

Monologue[link]

O'Brien opens each episode with a monologue drawing from current news stories and issues. The monologue is sometimes accompanied by clips and brief comedy skits,^[5] in addition to occasional interactions between O'Brien and Richter, and the audience.

Sketches and comedy bits[link]

One or more comedy bits follow the monologue. Following the monologue, some comedy bits (such as those based on video clips) are presented from the monologue stage. Following the first commercial break, additional comedy sketches are typically presented from the desk area. Some sketches are ers are original and appear only once. Occasionally an additional sketch will air between the first and second guest.

History[link]

[edit] The Tonight Show conflict

Wikinews has related news: US TV host Conan O'Brien rejects NBC's offer to switch his show's time slot

On September 27, 2004, NBC officially declared that Conan O'Brien, then host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien would take over as host of The Tonight Show in 2009, replacing Jay Leno, after a seventeen year run. On the following night's Tonight Show, Leno explained that he wanted to avoid the hardship that he had experienced in his competition with David Letterman over who would take over the show after Johnny Carson retired; Leno also said O'Brien was "certainly the most deserving person for the job."^[6] In 2008, however, several reports emerged that Leno, still the ratings champion in the timeslot, was rethinking his departure plans.^[7] Speculation was put to an end when it was announced he would instead host a new prime-time variety show on NBC entitled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. from September 14, 2009, until the show's cancellation on February 9, 2010.^[8] On January 7, 2010, multiple media outlets reported that beginning March 1, 2010, Jay Leno would move from his 10 p.m. weeknight time slot to 11:35 p.m., due to pressure from affiliates, for a thirty minute show. NBC also cited Conan's poor ratings against David Letterman as being responsible for the timeslot change, though it was widely speculated^[9] that Conan's numbers were down as a result of Jay's poor lead-in.^[10] O'Brien's contract stipulated that NBC could move the show back to 12:05 a.m. without penalty, though the stipulation was mainly to be used for the limited run late-night NBC Sports recap shows for Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, rather than a permanent relocation, leaving him with no apparent recourse other than resignation.^[11][12]

After two weeks of negotiations, on January 21, 2010, it was announced that Conan O'Brien had signed a $45 million deal to leave the network.^[13][14] As part of the agreement with NBC, O'Brien was prohibited from performing on the Internet, television or radio until September 1, 2010. O'Brien was also prohibited from making negative comments about the situation, NBC or Leno during this period. It was also expected that certain intellectual property including characters, comedy pieces or bits that O'Brien created during his time at NBC would become the property of NBC, therefore prohibiting his use of them in the future at TBS. However, NBC Universal TV Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin stated that while those conversations have yet to take place, he stated that they "wish Conan the best."^[15]

"The Legally Prohibited" tour[link]

Following his departure from NBC, O'Brien created a Twitter account through which to explore new comedic media. On March 11, 2010, O'Brien announced via his Twitter account that he would embark on a 30-city live tour, entitled The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.^[16] Many locations sold out within hours of the announcement, and additional shows were added on to meet demand. The tour began on April 12, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon, and ended on June 14, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia.^[17] It incorporated many elements from his tenure hosting Late Night and The Tonight Show, and included video bits, comic performers, and cameo appearances by celebrities. O'Brien joked about the legal constraints placed on him by NBC, for example having to rename the Masturbating Bear, the "Self-Pleasuring Panda", in order to avoid a lawsuit.^[18] O'Brien also performed music throughout the show, including the disco hit "I Will Survive" and a personal parody of "On the Road Again".^[18] Comedian Reggie Watts appeared on the tour as the opening act for O'Brien.^[19]

TBS announcement[link]

Conan O'Brien at a supporter rally held outside TBS headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia in June 2010.

Shortly before his tour began, O'Brien announced that he had signed a deal with cable network TBS to host a talk show on their late-night lineup, beginning in November 2010. Before the deal was announced, O'Brien initially had reservations about the move, as it would place comedian George Lopez's show, Lopez Tonight, one hour later to midnight, effectively doing to Lopez what NBC had wanted to do with O'Brien. However, Lopez reportedly called O'Brien and expressed his excitement about the move.^[20] Lopez went on to state, "I can't think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as my lead-in [...] It's the beginning of a new era in late-night comedy."^[21] In an official press release by Turner Broadcasting, it stated that O'Brien had only begun negotiations a week prior to the official announcement of the show.^[21] Steve Koonin, President of Turner Entertainment Networks, went on to comment of the announcement, "Conan has been the comedic voice for a generation. TBS already has a huge audience of young comedy lovers, and Conan’s show will give these fans even more reasons to watch our network."^[21]

In his own statement about the deal, O'Brien stated, "In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly."^[21][22] O'Brien's production company, Conaco, reportedly owns all rights to the show.^[23] In addition to the announcement of the television series, TBS also announced a one-hour TBS Special, featuring several writers for Conan, as well as comedian Reggie Watts, who participated in O'Brien's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.^[24] The show was broadcast on June 27, 2010, leading up to the beginning of Conan in early-November.^[24] Additionally, in preparation for the show, a 24-hour "Live-Coco Cam" was set up on October 20, 2010,^[25] and featured various characters and staff members of Conan, including Richie Rosenberg, otherwise known as "LaBamba,"^[26] as well as a short online broadcast from O'Brien's office entitled "Show Zero" on November 1, 2010. The show featured O'Brien as host, and was accompanied by Andy Richter, as well as Jimmy Vivino, a member of the Basic Cable Band. The broadcast hosted several guests, including actor Jim Parsons and indie rock band Steel Train, and lasted a total of four minutes, and 51 seconds.^[27]

Weeks before the premiere, an orange Conan blimp was introduced to further promote the show. Designed by Blue Sky, an Atlanta firm,^[28] the dirigible provided aerial footage for 2010 Major League Baseball postseason games airing on TBS. It has since been incorporated into sketches on Conan, including a running gag where the blimp would follow actor Gary Busey around southern California, much to his chagrin.^[29]

Series premiere[link]

The first episode of Conan, entitled "Baa Baa Blackmail",^[30] premiered on Monday, November 8, 2010 at 11 p.m. EST on TBS.^[31] The episode's first guest was Arlene Wagner, the curator of Leavenworth, Washington's Nutcracker Museum.^[32][33] Wagner's position as Conan's debut guest was chosen by fans through a "rigged" poll at Conan O'Brien's official website, TeamCoco.com. The poll also consisted of Pope Benedict XVI, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, performers Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, and actor Jack Nicholson, among others.^[33] Wagner's brief appearance was followed by actor and comedian Seth Rogen and actress Lea Michele, along with musical guest Jack White, who performed "Twenty Flight Rock", along with O'Brien himself.^[30][34] Actor Jon Hamm, appearing as his character Don Draper from the AMC series Mad Men, and talk show host Larry King, of CNN's Larry King Live, made cameo appearances in the show's cold open, with actor and comedian Ricky Gervais sending Conan a pre-taped message expressing his well wishes on the new series, then going on to express condolences for future job losses.^[30]

Reviews of the premiere episode by television critics were positive, calling it "a looser, quirkier take on a late-night talk show, but still a late-night talk show."^[30] James Poniewozik of Time found the episode to be enjoyable, and compared it to O'Brien's tenure during Late Night. Itzkoff went on to state, "The message, overall [...] is that Conan the show is not so much about a reinvention of the talk show form as a restoration of Conan. He was doing something he wanted to do, a late-night talk show, and NBC made him stop doing it." He also praised the opening monologue, and Conan's performance with Jack White during the episode's conclusion.^[30] Frazier Moore of the Associated Press went on to call the episode "a stylishly back-to-basics hour that radiated hard-won lessons from his brief stay hosting The Tonight Show," in addition to admiring O'Brien's "appealingly stoked yet comfortable" appearance on the show.^[35] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly also appreciated the Masturbating Bear cameo, and went on to call the show "pleasant, if a bit underwhelming."^[36] Less positive assessments of the show included Tom Gliatto of People, who accused the show of being a "modest, lowkey and slightly awkward affair."^[37]

Ratings[link]

Wikinews has related news: Jay Leno bested by Conan O'Brien in late night ratings

In overnight Nielsen Ratings, the series premiere of Conan drew 4,100,000 viewers, leading all late-night talk shows, more than tripling the audience of its direct competition, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. In the 18-49 demographic Conan drew a 2.5 rating and 3,285,000 viewers. It was also watched by 2,451,000 adults in the 18-34 demographic.^[38] Ratings throughout the rest of the week fell, and ended with over 2.02 million viewers on Thursday, November 11, 2010. The fourth episode still led every talk show in the 18-34 and 18-49 demographics, however, delivering 980,000 adults and 1,361,000 adults respectively.^[39] The median viewer age for the first week of shows was projected to be at 32,^[39] significantly younger than that of The Tonight Show and Late Show.^[40] The show also premiered in Canada, on The Comedy Network at midnight, drawing 171,000 viewers, and the repeat broadcast at 1 AM on CTV drew 302,000 viewers.^[41]

During O'Brien's second week, ratings remained somewhat consistent, and peaked on November 16, 2010, with 1.84 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings.^[42] The week would go on to average 1.7 million viewers, and earn an average rating of 1.0 in the 18-49 demographic.^[42] During the week of December 13–17, 2010, Conan has fallen behind in the weekly overnight Nielsen Ratings, averaging only 1.3 million viewers, compared to NBC's The Tonight Show (4.2 million), CBS's Late Show (3.6 million), ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1.6 million), and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (1.6 million).^[43]

In January 2011, Michael Wright, head of programming of TBS, said the show was "landing right about where we expected it to. At this number, Conan will run as long as he wants it to." ^[44]

For the month of June 2011, Conan fell for the first time to fourth among U.S. late-night cable talk shows, behind The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Chelsea Handler's Chelsea Lately; Conan attracted an average of 743,000 total viewers, compared with 808,000 viewers for Chelsea Lately.^[45] Among viewers 18-to-49, O'Brien averaged 503,000 viewers vs. Handler's 559,000.^[45]

Following the cancelation of Lopez Tonight due to low ratings, Steve Koonin of Turner Entertainment stated he "could not be happier with Conan as a show or Conan O'Brien and Team Coco as people and an organization," going on to say that "what Conan has already won is the absolute [embrace] of young people." ^[46]

In an effort to bolster ratings, TBS secured the cable syndication rights to The Big Bang Theory at a reported $2 million per episode to serve as a lead-in to Conan three nights a week. "(O'Brien's) program is the signature show of our line-up and the centerpiece of our network," Koonin said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.^[47]

O'Brien himself addressed the poor ratings of the show on the December 13, 2011 episode (preceded by an hour show of the best moments from his first year at TBS), stating "If you're watching right now, you're either a huge fan or you lost the remote."^[48]

Since October 2011, the show's ratings have increased 27% and, on February 22, 2012, TBS renewed the show through April 2014.^[2]

Production[link]

Conan tapes at Stage 15 on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California.

On May 16, 2010, it was announced that O'Brien would launch his new show at Stage 15 on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California,^[49] the soundstage where films such as Calamity Jane, The Music Man, Blazing Saddles, Ghostbusters and the Ocean's Trilogy were shot.^[50] Similar to most talk shows, the series is shot in the 16:9 aspect ratio, with a 4:3 center-cut, and broadcast in 1080i high definition.^[51]

O'Brien has made explicit that the staff has made an effort thus far to not to reuse any of the previous Late Night or Tonight Show sketches although noted this was sometimes difficult and they were unsure if some sketches were going to work.^[52] However he stated in the past, such as in an interview with Larry King during his last week on CNN, that he possibly would bring back certain bits in time.

Prior to the show's airing, interviews with O'Brien and Richter indicated that the show would more closely represent Late Night than Tonight in regards to content and material, meaning that edgier or questionable content excised as a result of the move to the earlier time slot will no longer be an issue at TBS. On the July 12, 2010 episode of Marc Maron's WTF podcast, Andy Richter said that they no longer have to "worry about living up to a respected franchise", and that on The Tonight Show certain sketches "that just felt too 12:30" would be cut and how "it'll be nice to not have to worry about that anymore". During an appearance at the 2010 San Francisco Sketch Comedy Festival, O'Brien told the audience he was "no longer interested in 'broadening' the audience or trying to reach everybody of all ages," further implying the content will not be toned-down. As the show is on cable, fewer restrictions will apply to the show in regards to explicit content, such as swearing and racier material.

On September 1, 2010, O'Brien officially announced via a YouTube video that the new show's title was simply Conan. Conan as the title required the consent of Conan Properties International, the owners of the Conan the Barbarian franchise, including a "Conan" trademark covering certain types of TV series.^[53]

Prior to the show's broadcast, it was stated that the set for the show, designed by the same designer of Conan's previous sets, John Shaffner, would be inspired by The Legally Prohibited Tour, adopting more of a "theatre" appearance than the previous shows. Shaffner commented on the choice of the show's chair, stating, "You find one that you like and then you build it yourself to make it a little shallower and a little more upright and the cushion a little firmer [...] But not too firm or every time the guest sits down they’ll say, 'Oooh this is a hard chair.'"^[54] The rest of the set has been described as being "filled with warm wood tones and electric blue screens," and has been compared to the set of his most recent stint on The Tonight Show.^[55] The new set features several differences, however, including a remote-controlled moon, and the backdrop being transformed into a giant blue ocean.^[55] Additionally, Andy Richter, who remained behind a lectern during The Tonight Show's seven month run, now joins O'Brien during celebrity interviews on the main set.^[55]

Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band[link]

Conan O'Brien's longtime band, originally known as The Max Weinberg 7, then The Tonight Show Band, and later as the Legally Prohibited Band, serve as the Conan house band, and are fronted by longtime guitarist Jimmy Vivino.^[56][57] The band also consists of Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg on trombone, Scott Healy on keyboard, Mike Merritt on bass guitar, Mark Pender on trumpet and Jerry Vivino on woodwinds. When the group moved to Los Angeles to play for The Tonight Show, they added an eighth member, James Wormworth, on percussion. Max Weinberg, who had served as O'Brien's bandleader and drummer since 1993, does not appear on the new program.^[56][57] Weinberg was not a part of the Legally Prohibited Tour, and remained vague throughout most of 2010 about the possibility of his participation in the new TBS show.^[58] Weinberg's decision was influenced by a combination of a major heart surgery he had in February 2010, and the fact that his family never left their native New Jersey, even during the Tonight Show period, both issues that he kept private until an October 2010 interview.^[59] Percussionist James Wormworth, who often acted as Weinberg's on-air substitute, serves as the band's permanent drummer.^[56][57]

Following Weinberg's exit, O'Brien sought to revamp the show's title theme song. In an interview with New York Magazine, O'Brien expressed his desire to create a new introduction from the previous Late Night and Tonight compositions, which were used for O'Brien's entire 17-year relationship with NBC, and ultimately unveil a new signature sound for the show. The new theme song was co-written by bandleader Jimmy Vivino, and O'Brien himself. Despite no obvious copyright issues to continue using the previous theme, which was written by Howard Shore and John Lurie, O'Brien stated of the transition to a new composition, "it just felt like the right thing to do [...] There's this feeling of, 'Let's try and build something new.' I came out to that theme for seventeen years and it does feel like, you know what? Let's try some new stuff. Let's try and change it up."^[60] However, the closing theme from his previous NBC shows was retained in a slightly altered form.

Episodes and guests[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

International[link]

"Finland Wants Conan" demonstrative gathering in Helsinki, Finland. Finnish fans wanted to see Conan's new show air in Finland.

In Australia, the program airs on GEM, a multichannel of the Nine Network. Originally it was intended to screen within 12 hours after its original U.S. broadcast at 11:30pm weeknights,^[63] however GEM will now screen the program approximately 36 hours later, beginning on Wednesday, November 10, meaning the program will also air on Saturday nights. The Comedy Channel which aired the previous versions of Conan's shows announced it would not air the program as the Nine Network had exclusive rights to Time Warner programs.

In Canada, the program airs on cable channel The Comedy Network Monday to Thursday nights (Tuesday to Friday mornings) at midnight ET/PT, and is repeated on broadcast network CTV at 1:05 a.m. local time. The show is also rerun the next day on The Comedy Network at 5:00am and 3:00pm eastern time.^[64][65] The program was only initially announced for CTV, leading to some concern about the unusually late time slot, two hours after its airing in the United States for viewers in the Eastern Time Zone (the program airs on CTV Atlantic at 1:05 a.m. AT / 12:05 a.m. ET). This is due to local and national newscasts in the 11:00 p.m. hour, and CTV's existing commitments to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 12:05 a.m. and The Colbert Report at 12:35 a.m.^[66] CTV executives later said the program would likely air earlier on The Comedy Network, owned by CTV.^[66] However, that channel also had a conflict, since it has long aired both Daily and Colbert during the 11:00 p.m. ET hour, simulcasting the Comedy Central feed. The Comedy Network then attempted to move up both programs to 10:00 p.m. ET beginning in September 2010, presumably to make room for Conan at 11:00; however, there were intermittent "technical difficulties" with getting the shows in time for the earlier airing, particularly for a series of special live Daily episodes in late October, which meant re-runs were aired in their place. After viewer complaints about the missed episodes, Comedy elected to move both shows back to their previous timeslots, meaning that Conan was rescheduled on that channel to midnight, on a one-hour delay from TBS.^[67]

Selling rights to a Canadian channel was necessary, since TBS ceased being available in Canada in October 2007. The local Atlanta station through which Canadian cable subscribers had previously received TBS programming then adopted a distinct schedule as WPCH-TV. Some speculated that WPCH might pick up the program anyway, since the revamped station continues to air some of the same syndicated series as TBS, but WPCH later indicated explicitly that it had no plans to broadcast the new O'Brien program.^[68]

In Ireland, the show airs Monday to Thursday at midnight on 3e, exactly one week after each episode's original air date.^[69] Conan is also aired in Norway on the brand new digital television channel, Max, which launched on November 1 as a sister channel of TVNorge. It will air Monday to Thursday 10:50 p.m. UTC+1, exactly one week after their original air date.^[69][70] In Turkey the show airs Monday to Thursday at midnight on CNBC-e almost one week after each episode's original air date. In Singapore, the program will air on SingTel, a video on demand service, with episodes becoming available 24 hours after broadcast in the United States.^[69] In Portugal, the program began airing on November 29 on SIC Radical,^[71] and in Israel, the show will begin airing on January 1, 2011 on the country's version of Comedy Central.^[69]

In Israel, the show is airing on HOT Comedy Central, the local version of Comedy Central, Since the channel lunched in January 2011. Although Conan originally began earlier that year, all of the shows aired since the premiere program, thanks to the holiday break of the show's proudction. Currently an episode is aired one day after the original U.S. broadcast, from Monday to Thursday at 11:35 pm.

Unlike Conan's previous shows, the new show was for some time not aired in Finland.^[72][73] According to Sub, the previous show did not have enough viewers.^[74] Finnish Conan fans organized a rally in Helsinki in December 2010 to get the Conan's new show to air.^[75] In response to this, O'Brien launched a project entitled "Finland's Week Stream," which allowed every episode of Conan to be watched on TeamCoco.com by users located in Finland for an entire week.^[76]

Since August 15, 2011, Finnish channel SuomiTV has been airing Conan. Fox International Channels bought the channel in early 2012 and changed the channel's name to FOX on April 16, 2012 still airing Conan on it.

See also[link]

• 2010 Tonight Show conflict
• Conan O'Brien
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien
• The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Conan O'Brien

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Conan O'Brien

Wikinews has related news: Conan O'Brien

• Official website
• Conan at the Internet Movie Database
• Conan at TV.com

Simon Pegg
Pegg at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010.
Born	Simon John Beckingham (1970-02-14) 14 February 1970 (age 42) Brockworth, Gloucestershire, England
Other names	The Fresh Pegg
Occupation	Actor, comedian, writer, producer, singer, director
Years active	1995–present
Spouse	Maureen McCann (2005–present)
Children	Daughter
Website
www.peggster.net

Simon Pegg (born Simon John Beckingham; 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and starred in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.

He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film, Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible III and its sequel Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and Thompson in The Adventures of Tintin. Much of his major work has been in collaboration with some combination of Wright, Nick Frost, Jessica Hynes, and Dylan Moran. He also starred in and co-wrote Paul (with Frost) and Run Fatboy Run (with Michael Ian Black).

Early life[link]

Pegg was born in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, England, the son of Gillian Rosemary (née Smith), a civil servant, and John Henry Beckingham, a jazz musician and keyboard salesman.^[1] His parents divorced when he was seven and he took on the surname "Pegg" after his mother re-married.^[2][3] He attended many schools, including Castle Hill Primary School;^{[citation needed]} Brockworth Comprehensive Secondary School;^{[citation needed]} The King's School, Gloucester;^[4] and later Stratford-upon-Avon College to study English literature and Theatre.^[5]He studied drama at the University of Bristol and wrote his undergraduate thesis on "A Marxist overview of popular 1970s cinema and hegemonic discourses".^[3] At Bristol he appeared in a Drama Society production of Howard Barker's Victory alongside Sarah Kane and David Greig.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Early appearances in TV series and films include Asylum, Six Pairs of Pants, Faith in the Future, Big Train and Hippies. Between 1998 and 2004, Pegg was regularly featured on BBC Radio 4's The 99p Challenge. In 1999, he created and co-wrote the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced with Jessica Stevenson. For this project Pegg brought in Nick Frost. For his performance in this series, Pegg was nominated for a British Comedy Award as Best Male Comedy Newcomer. Pegg co-wrote (with Spaced director Edgar Wright) and starred in the "romantic zombie comedy" film Shaun of the Dead, released in April 2004. At George A. Romero's invitation, Pegg and Wright made cameo appearances in Romero's film, Land of the Dead. In 2004, Pegg also starred in a spin-off of the television show Danger! 50,000 Volts! called Danger! 50,000 Zombies!, in which he played a zombie hunter named Dr. Russel Fell.

Pegg at a premiere for Star Trek in April 2009

Pegg's other credits include the World War II mini-series Band of Brothers, guest appearances on Black Books, Brass Eye Special, I'm Alan Partridge, The Parole Officer and in the Factory Records story 24 Hour Party People. He also played the mutant bounty hunter Johnny Alpha, the Strontium Dog, in a series of Big Finish Productions audio plays based on the character from British comic 2000 AD and featured in Guest House Paradiso, a film based on the sitcom Bottom.

Pegg appeared in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio story Invaders From Mars as Don Chaney, and portrayed the Editor in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Long Game". He also narrated the first series of the documentary series Doctor Who Confidential.

Upon completion of Shaun of the Dead, Pegg was questioned on whether he would be abandoning the British film industry for bigger and better things, to which he replied "It's not like I'm going to run off and do Mission: Impossible III!" However, he then went on to play Benji Dunn, an I.M.F. technician who assists Tom Cruise's character, Ethan Hunt.^[6] In 2006 he played an American character, Gus, in Big Nothing alongside David Schwimmer.

In 2006, Pegg and Wright completed their second film, Hot Fuzz, released in February 2007. The film is a police-action movie homage and also stars Nick Frost. Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, a London policeman who is transferred to rural Sandford, a fictional village situated in Pegg's home county of Gloucestershire, where grisly events take place.

In 2007, Pegg starred in The Good Night (directed by Jake Paltrow) and Run Fatboy Run directed by David Schwimmer and co-starring Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria.

In 2008, Pegg wrote the dialogue for an English language re-release of the cult 2006 animated Norwegian film, Free Jimmy. Pegg received screenwriting credit for this, and Pegg also voiced one of the main characters in the English language version, which has an international range of actors including Woody Harrelson.

Pegg co-wrote and starred with Frost in the film Paul, about two young men who encounter a comedic extraterrestrial alien during a road trip across the US.^[7][8] The completed script appeared on the 2008 Black List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays. Paul received two votes.^[9]

Pegg also announced that he and Wright had the idea for "the concluding part in what we are calling 'The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy" (the first two being Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz). It is provisionally called The World Ends.^[10]

In those films and in Spaced, Pegg typically plays the leading hero while Frost plays the sidekick. However, he has revealed that Paul will reverse this dynamic.^[11]

Pegg in New York City

Pegg played engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the eleventh Star Trek film,^[12] released 8 May 2009. In 2010 he appeared as William Burke in Burke and Hare, a film directed by John Landis about the Ulster men who were notorious murderers and bodysnatchers in early 19th-century Edinburgh. His likeness was also used for the character of Wee Hughie in the comic book series The Boys; while this was done without Pegg's permission, he quickly became a fan of the title, and even wrote the introduction to the first bound volume.^[13] He also voiced Reepicheep, the heroic mouse in Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.^[14]

Pegg reprised the role of Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, making him the third actor in the film series, after Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames, to appear in more than one of the films.^[15] Despite having a minor role in his first appareance, Pegg became a member of the main cast in this film.

Personal life[link]

Pegg married Maureen McCann on 23 July 2005.^[16] On 21 February 2009, Pegg announced his wife was five months pregnant with the couple's first child.^[16] Their daughter Matilda^[17] was born circa early July, 2009.^[18] Pegg has stated on his personal Twitter feed that he is an atheist.^[19]

Along with Jonny Buckland, Pegg is godfather to Apple, daughter of close friends Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow^[20] in return Martin is godfather to Pegg's daughter.^[21] Pegg's parents and sister briefly appeared in Spaced while his mother alone appeared in both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

Pegg was awarded an honorary fellowship by the University of Gloucestershire on 4 December 2008.^[22]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Film[link]

Video games[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Simon Pegg

• Official website
• Simon Pegg at the Internet Movie Database
• Simon Pegg at AllRovi
• Simon Pegg at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Simon Pegg in Gloucestershire
• BBC Radio Gloucestershire interview with Simon and John Beckingham (his father) – from the set of Run Fatboy Run