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TBS
Launched	December 17, 1976
Owned by	Time Warner (Turner Broadcasting System)
Slogan	"very funny" (2004–2011) "veryfunny" (2011–present)
Country	United States
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia
Website	www.tbs.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 247 (SD/HD)
Dish Network	Channel 139 (SD/HD)
Cable
Available on most U.S. cable systems	Check your local listings
Verizon FiOS	Channel 52 (SD) Channel 552 (HD)
IPTV
AT&T U-Verse (US)	Channel 112 (SD) Channel 1112 (HD)

TBS (Turner Broadcasting System), stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s. WTCG reportedly stood for "watch this channel grow" (although the "TCG" officially stood for Turner Communications Group, the forerunner to Turner Broadcasting System).

Availability[link]

TBS is a national cable and satellite channel, available throughout the entire United States. Until October 1, 2007, the national TBS feed could not be viewed within its home media market of the Atlanta metropolitan area, due to the over-the-air presence of WTBS, which carried a nearly identical schedule, plus the required public affairs programming and E/I programming for children.

The operations of WTBS (channel 17) and TBS Superstation were split in October 2007, with the over-the-air channel becoming WPCH-TV, a general-entertainment independent station focused on the Atlanta area only. For the first time, the national TBS feed is available to cable and satellite subscribers within channel 17's viewing area.

Internationally[link]

TBS programming was previously made available to cable and satellite subscribers in Canada through WTBS. However, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; the Canadian equivalent of the FCC) had only approved the Atlanta broadcast station, not the TBS cable feed, to be carried in that country.^[1] As a result, following the separation of TBS and WTBS/WPCH in 2007, Canadian viewers now have Peachtree TV, not TBS, in their cable and satellite lineups. Most flagship TBS programming, such as postseason baseball and original series including Conan, is not broadcast on Peachtree TV, but is instead available through other Canadian channels.

History[link]

Early years[link]

WTCG, which dated back to 1967 as a terrestrial station, had been microwave-linked from that time to many areas of the Southeastern United States via cable companies picking up the UHF channel 17 signal by off-air and microwaving (sometimes several times) the signal back to their headends. Early programming included movies from the 1930s and 1940s; such old sitcoms as Father Knows Best, Green Acres, Hazel, I Love Lucy, and The Lucy Show; and such Japanese animated shows as Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Marine Boy, The Space Giants, Speed Racer, and Ultraman. The station also carried sports, such as Atlanta Braves baseball, Atlanta Hawks basketball, Atlanta Flames hockey, and Georgia Championship Wrestling.

WTCG also bid very low on programming, causing network affiliates in the market to get the stronger shows. But, because of commitments that the affiliates had to their networks, they kept the shows only a few years and rarely renewed them, after which WTCG bought second-hand shows at much lower prices. By the mid 1970s, The Andy Griffith Show, The Flintstones, Leave It to Beaver, The Little Rascals, My Three Sons, Star Trek, The Three Stooges, and many others were added to the schedule.

In 1976, most markets below the top 20 lacked independent stations running general entertainment and generally had only ABC, NBC, CBS, and an educational station. Cable systems in such areas carried stations from neighboring markets and if possible the independent station (often 60 to 200 miles away). In some markets, however, this was not an option. This left cable systems with three markets lacking an independent station and two to three affiliates from each major network.

WTCG gets beamed via satellite[link]

As a result, Ted Turner decided to offer his station nationwide through satellite, enabling WTCG to be received nationwide, especially in markets lacking even a distant independent station. At 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on December 17, 1976, WTCG's signal was beamed via the Satcom 1 satellite aimed to all cable systems across the Americas. The first broadcast was the 1948 Dana Andrews and Cesar Romero film Deep Waters, which had been in progress 30 minutes. Instantly, WTCG went from its status as a small independent television station that was available only in Georgia and neighboring states to a major coast-to-coast operation. WTCG became a so-called "superstation" and set a precedent for today's basic cable television. By 1978, WTCG was on cable systems in all 50 states.

HBO had moved to satellite transmissions to distribute its signal nationally in 1975, but that was a service cable subscribers were required to pay extra to receive. Ted Turner's innovation signaled the start of the basic cable revolution.

Initial change to WTBS[link]

WTCG was renamed WTBS in 1979. The new call letters were acquired via a monetary donation to the MIT student radio station, now WMBR. In the late '70s, WTBS continued to acquire second hand programming such as Popeye made for TV cartoons, The Brady Bunch, The Munsters, and others. They did manage to acquire reruns of All in the Family and Sanford and Son in 1979 as well as Little House on the Prairie and CHiPs in 1981. Other older shows would fall off the schedule. Movies from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s would also be mixed into the schedule more.

The channel 17 transmitter is located at 1018 West Peachtree Street Northwest, with the antenna located on a large self-supporting tower. The building at this site was once home to the studios of WAGA-TV and, later, channel 17, during its first three years under the callsign WJRJ. Soon after being purchased by Turner, the studios were moved to the former Progressive Club site, a few blocks west.

Initially, WTCG was identified as "Channel 17" both locally in Atlanta and on cable systems outside of Atlanta. Also, the same exact shows that ran locally ran nationally. In 1979, Turner changed the callsign to WTBS, branding it "Superstation WTBS" with "17" as part of the logo. Many cable systems throughout the country even carried the channel on its customary channel 17 position.

In 1981, Turner decided to have all shows continue to air both locally and nationally, but to separate the feeds. The station would be known locally in Atlanta as "Superstation 17." The terrestrial signal would continue to air local commercials as well. Nationally, though, the station would not mention the channel number "17" and would have logos identifying it only as "Superstation WTBS". Separate national advertising or per inquiry ads would air on the superstation feed.

MGM library[link]

In the 1980s, WTBS focused heavily on movies, running two during the day, and all movies after 8 p.m. with the exception of sports events. Other times, WTBS continued to run mostly classic sitcoms, and vintage cartoons. In 1986, with Ted Turner's purchase of MGM, WTBS now had the rights to the entire MGM library as well (including certain acquisitions by MGM). This gave WTBS many theatrical cartoons like Tom and Jerry as well as shows like Gilligan's Island and The Addams Family. WTBS began to run The Little Rascals, Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons released prior to 8/1/1948, theatrical Popeye cartoons, and Three Stooges shorts under the banner Tom & Jerry and Friends between an hour and 90 minutes in the mornings and for an hour in the afternoons from 1986 to the mid 1990s. In the late 1980s, they decreased movies slightly during the day and began to add '70s sitcoms like Happy Days, The Jeffersons, Good Times, One Day at a Time, and others to the evening lineup. Little House on the Prairie ran late mornings continuously from 1986 to 2003.

Other programming[link]

Music videos were also aired from 1983 to 1992 on its late night weekend lineup branded as Night Tracks with up to 14 hours of programming (barring constant preemptions from sporting events running overtime).

Beginning in 1991, a handful of national shows (mostly movies) were pre-empted locally in order to broadcast FCC-mandated news, public service, and children's programming. This continued until the switchover to Peachtree TV. Programming on WTBS has always been Syndex proof. TBS was licensed to run all programming not only for the Atlanta market, but nationally. Most of these shows run nationally were also television syndication in local markets on the respective local stations through additional agreements.

TBS was also the home of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), with a weekly show airing on Saturdays, WCW Saturday Night in 1992 (the promotion was formally owned by Jim Crockett Promotions, which fell under the NWA umbrella). That show would run until 2000, and was the flagship program for WCW before WCW Monday Nitro launched on sister station TNT. Also, in 1998, another WCW show, WCW Thunder, debuted on Thursdays, and was moved to Wednesdays in 2000. The show would run up until 2001 when WWE bought WCW.

Throughout the 1980s to the early 1990s, TBS also carried the Electra teletext service on its VBI. Electra was discontinued in 1993 due to a lack of funding.

In the early 1990s, shows like The Flintstones, Brady Bunch, Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies, Gilligan's Island, and others remained on the schedule as other older shows such as Three Stooges, Little Rascals, Leave it to Beaver fell off and made way for more '80s sitcoms such as Three's Company, Who's the Boss?, Growing Pains, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Saved by the Bell, and others. Original animated programming such as Captain Planet and the Planeteers, 2 Stupid Dogs, and SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron were added as well.

In 1996, Turner was bought by Time Warner. Among the programming changes instituted after the merger was the addition of later Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons, released no earlier than August 1, 1948.

Shift towards comedy[link]

In 1997, TBS began to collect subscriber fees directly from cable operators, effectively making the national feed operating under the conventions of a basic cable network, though still technically a superstation. In exchange, TBS began to lease advertising slots to cable operators to carry local commercials; as a result the channel began to broadcast fewer Atlanta Braves season games to a national audience.^[2] In 1999, WTBS dropped all of its remaining cartoons (which at the time were running under the banner of the "Disaster Area"), several months later making those shows the core of a new TV channel devoted to classic cartoons, Boomerang. WTBS continued to run a mix of movies, sitcoms, and drama shows. By 2001, shows like Full House, Family Matters, Cosby, Friends, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, and other '90s sitcoms moved onto the schedule, many of them part of the afternoon "Non-Stop Comedy Block" by 2002. In 2003, WTBS dropped Little House on the Prairie and other dramatic programming as a part of its new focus on comedic programming, such as sitcom reruns and originally-produced reality series and comedy feature films. As part of this focus, TBS adopted the slogan "Very Funny" and its current logo in June 2004. It is intended as a direct contrast to sister channel TNT, which had focused on old movies initially but moved toward and now focuses on dramatic programming.

On September 1, 2007, a high definition version of the "Superstation" feed of TBS was launched. A digital version of WTBS could already be viewed over-the-air in Atlanta prior to September 1, which was replaced by the "Superstation" HD simulcast, instead of simulcasting Peachtree TV. At this time, TBS dropped its regular Braves coverage, but began airing Major League Baseball postseason games. It also carries some of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship with other Turner networks and longtime tournament broadcaster CBS as of 2011.

TBS currently airs a mix between original sitcoms such as Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Meet the Browns, Are We There Yet?, Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse, Men at Work and Cougar Town (which was previously broadcast by ABC), and reruns of Seinfeld, Friends, Family Guy, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, and others. TBS also aired the Cartoon Network animated series The Powerpuff Girls since January 28, 2006. During the first quarter of 2012, TBS topped all cable networks in the 18-49 age demographic, in spite of not airing any original shows in primetime or having a show in the top 50 cable programs.^[3]

Late-night talk shows[link]

In November 2009, TBS debuted its first late-night talk show, Lopez Tonight, which was hosted by comedian George Lopez. One year later, the network expanded its late-night offerings with the addition of Conan O'Brien on the heels of the former Tonight Show host's controversial exit from NBC. O'Brien's show, Conan, debuted on November 8, 2010. Lopez Tonight was canceled on August 10, 2011, due to a steep decline in ratings, and the final episode aired on August 12, 2011.

Split[link]

In late June 2007, Turner Broadcasting announced that WTBS would change call letters and become WPCH-TV, and would be rebranded as Peachtree TV. According to Turner, the new channel 17 would offer sitcoms and movies geared specifically toward an Atlanta audience. The new station would also broadcast 45 Atlanta Braves baseball games next season. The change occurred on October 1. In addition, the channel 17 change allowed Atlanta cable and satellite television viewers, for the first time since the early 1980s, to receive the national TBS signal as of that date.^[4] Most cable and satellite companies previously carried WTBS's local Atlanta signal instead of the national TBS channel. Following the change, cable systems in Canada were legally required to continue carrying the local Peachtree TV signal, instead of switching to the national TBS feed.^[5]

Evolution of TBS branding[link]

Over the years TBS has had several logos and name changes. From 1979 the name was SuperStation WTBS. In 1987, the "W" from the "TBS" name was dropped to emphasize the channel's national programming prominence, with WTBS in Atlanta assigned the brand Superstation 17. On September 28, 1989, SuperStation TBS was renamed to TBS Superstation to reflect the strong national standing of the channel. In 1990, the word Superstation was removed from the on-air logos and ads and remained that way until December 17, 1996, when TBS celebrated its 20th national anniversary by bringing back the word "Superstation." This branding would last until early 2004, when "Superstation" was once again dropped months before the current TBS logo was adopted.

On May 24, 2011, TBS rebranded itself yet again, even though it kept its logo and slogan "very funny", with a new theme.

TBS HD[link]

TBS HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of TBS. Much like sister channel TNT, TBS airs a moderate amount of 4:3 standard definition content stretched to 16:9 through a nonlinear process similar to the "panorama" setting on many HDTVs that some viewers have nicknamed Stretch-o-Vision after it was first used by TNT; though other simulcasted HD cable channels have also fallen into this practice. The nonlinear stretching process leaves objects in the center of the screen with approximately their original aspect ratio; objects at the left and right edges are distorted. Horizontal panning makes the distortion especially apparent. In addition to true HD content at 16:9, TBS HD also airs unstretched upconverted standard definition content in its original aspect ratio, but commercials are aired in either format without stretching for ads produced in 480i. TBS launched a West Coast feed on June 18, 2010.

Programming overview[link]

Turner Time[link]

On June 29, 1981, TBS Superstation began to use "Turner Time."^[6] While other television offerings generally began at the top and bottom of each hour, TBS decided to begin airing programs five minutes later, at :05 and :35.

By using "Turner Time," TBS Superstation programs were listed under their own time entry in TV Guide during the log listings era, thus enabling the program listings to catch potential viewers' eyes more readily. It also encouraged channel surfers who could not find anything interesting to watch at the top of the hour to still be able to watch a TBS program without missing the first few minutes. Most importantly, since shows ended five minutes later than normal, from a strategic standpoint the off-time scheduling usually encouraged viewers to continue watching TBS rather than flip to watch another program already in progress.

TBS Superstation started to cut back "Turner Time" in 1997 and scrapped it completely by 2000. Currently, TBS usually schedules programs conventionally, at the top and bottom of the hour. However, movies that run anywhere between 2 and 2½ hours (or more, depending on the film's length with commercials added), will cause unconventional start times to be used (for example, such a movie that starts at 7 p.m. ET may cause subsequent programming to start within the half-hour, such as at :15 and :45 after the hour). This often causes major disruptions in the start times of programming. In some circumstances, conventional "top-and-bottom" start times would not be restored until the next day. While this is not exactly related to the "Turner Time" technique, it could strategically serve the same purposes due to the off-time scheduling.

A scheduling format similar to "Turner Time" has been used by Telemundo since 2008, though in a different fashion as programs airing weeknights from 8-11 p.m. ET start a few minutes after its officially scheduled time, about 3–4 minutes after the hour, with shows bleeding into the next timeslot; the 11 p.m. national (or local, if an affiliate carries one) newscast starts at the conventional time. On weekends when a soccer match is scheduled, all programs airing before the game are aired five minutes before the hour/half-hour; otherwise, scheduled weekend programming will air in their conventional timeslots. Since 2010, some Viacom-owned cable channels (such as Spike, TV Land and Nick at Nite) have used a variant in which commercial time is added to the breaks of certain programs, placing start times at irregular slots (e.g., 4:32 p.m. ET for a TV Land airing of Three's Company, or 5:26 a.m. ET for a Nick at Nite airing of Family Matters).

News programming[link]

One type of programming that TBS does not produce presently is news. Nevertheless, TBS Superstation did produce a twenty-minute newscast from 1976 to 1979. The program, entitled 17 Update Early in the Morning, was taped at the end of the workday and aired around 3 or 4 a.m. Eastern between movies. Its format was similar to the Weekend Update segment on NBC's Saturday Night Live and was, to a certain extent, a forerunner to Comedy Central's The Daily Show. The time slot and the snide content were a reaction to FCC rules at the time requiring stations to carry some news and informational content—although TBS had to broadcast news, the FCC couldn't say when it aired or demand that the news have a serious tone. The news show was cancelled months before Turner began his serious news venture, CNN.

TBS Superstation also began airing its own newscast called TBS Evening News, which was produced by CNN. The one-hour program ran usually at 10 p.m. Eastern on weeknights during the early 1980s.

WTBS also simulcast 30 minutes of programming from CNN's sister channel, Headline News (now known as HLN), at 6 a.m.; this was only carried in Atlanta and those cable systems receiving the local feed. Currently, as WPCH-TV, HLN programming is simulcast for one full hour at 6 a.m.

TBS SuperStation, along with TNT and various other networks, carried CNN coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks. During sports blackouts in some areas (particularly in markets where a channel such as a local broadcast station or regional sports network has the regional or local broadcast rights to a particular sporting event also scheduled to air on TBS), TBS carries rolling news coverage from HLN in its place.

Movies[link]

TBS airs movies mostly of the comedy genre due to its format, however some non-comedic films continue to air on the channel; these movies generally air during the overnight hours on a daily basis and during much of the day on weekends (except from mid-afternoon to early evening on Saturdays, when the channel airs a block of sitcoms, as well as between 5-9 a.m. ET on Saturdays and 5-10 a.m. ET on Sundays (with the start time subject to variation) as sitcoms also often air in those timeslots; though that slot airs sitcoms on a nightly basis). TBS will air movies from sister companies Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. The channel also airs movies from Touchstone Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Pictures.

In the recent past, TBS had frequently aired its primetime movies interspersed with other content and commentary (e.g., Dinner and a Movie includes cooking, while Movie and a Makeover adds fashion content); these wraparound segments have since moved to weekend afternoon film presentations. Every Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the 1983 film A Christmas Story airs for 24 hours, which is also done by sister channel TNT at the same time as TBS. Once each weekend, TBS airs a movie in primetime with limited commercial interruption, branded in promo advertisements under the title "More Movie, Less Commercials" (sister channel TNT also runs a primetime movie each weekend, that is telecast with limited commercial interruption).

Sports[link]

Baseball[link]

Coverage of the formerly-Ted Turner-owned Atlanta Braves baseball team was perhaps TBS's signature program, due mainly to its high popularity in Georgia and neighboring states. Turner once famously tried to get Andy Messersmith to use his jersey, which was #17, to promote TBS Superstation in its early years. The back of the jersey read, "CHANNEL 17." Major League Baseball immediately stopped Turner from proceeding because team jerseys are not allowed to have advertising other than that of the jersey manufacturer.

At the 2006 MLB All-Star Game, it was announced that TBS would begin carrying a package that includes all major league teams. It premiered in 2007 in two phases, as follows:

• TBS carries all Division Series games and one of the two League Championship Series, taking them from Fox and ESPN. In addition, TBS carries the announcements of the All-Star teams and any possible games to determine division winners and wild card teams. Those were also carried previously on ESPN.

• The following year (2008), TBS began airing games every Sunday of the regular season for 26 weeks in all. No team may appear on the telecasts more than 162 times.

During the 2007 transitional year, TBS Superstation aired 70 regular-season Braves games. In 2008 and thereafter, only 45 games will be produced, and they will air on WPCH-TV in Atlanta.^[7] Turner sells the package to other stations or cable channels for broadcast in the remainder of the Braves' designated market.

The final Braves game aired on TBS on September 30, 2007. The first divisional playoff game (a tie-breaker) aired one day after, on October 1, 2007 (when the TBS/WPCH split occurred).

On October 18, 2008, a technical problem in Atlanta prevented the channel from showing the first inning of Game 6 of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. The channel aired The Steve Harvey Show instead.^[8]

College basketball[link]

Beginning in 2011, TBS will share duties of broadcasting the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament with fellow Turner properties TNT and truTV, and with CBS. This will initially consist of early rounds to the Sweet Sixteen, but in 2016 will expand to include the regional finals, Final Four and national championship game on an alternating basis with CBS.^[9]

College football[link]

College football games from the Big 12 and Pac-10 aired for several years in a sublicensing agreement with FSN. That agreement ended after the 2006 season.

National Basketball Association[link]

National Basketball Association games were aired before being moved entirely to TNT; some Atlanta Hawks (also owned by Turner) games were shown on TBS Superstation until the TBS and TNT telecasts became subject to blackout within 35 miles of the home-team's arena (this restriction was dropped when TNT gained the right to be the exclusive broadcaster of any game it chose to carry).

Professional wrestling[link]

Professional wrestling aired on TBS from 1971 to 2001 under several different companies including Jim Barnett-owned Georgia Championship Wrestling (1971–1984), Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (1984–1985), Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling and Jim Crockett, Jr.'s Jim Crockett Promotions (1985–1988), which eventually became Turner owned World Championship Wrestling (1988–2001). Through the early 1990s, the wrestling programs were among basic cable's highest-rated offerings, due to, like Braves baseball coverage, heavy viewership in the Southeastern U.S.

NASCAR[link]

In addition, select NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series), Busch Series (now Nationwide Series), and Craftsman Truck Series (now Camping World Truck Series) races were aired on TBS up to the 2000 season. For several years in the late 1990s, the only Cup races aired on TBS were the two regular Cup series races from Lowe's Motor Speedway (TBS did not have rights to The Winston, which usually aired on TNN), and the July race at Pocono Raceway. TBS was also the home of the post-season exhibition races held at Suzuka Circuit and the Twin Ring Motegi tracks in Japan from 1996–1998. Races were switched to TNT in 2001 as part of the then-new NASCAR TV deal, although the initial plans were for TBS Superstation to carry the races. Instead, Turner decided that NASCAR would better fit TNT's "We Know Drama" slogan.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site of TBS
• Official Site of Turner Broadcasting
• Clips of 17 Update Early in the Morning maintained by former anchor Bill Tush
• http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?date=12/11/08&id=20081211turner01

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Conan O'Brien
O'Brien in 2006
Birth name	Conan Christopher O'Brien
Born	(1963-04-18) April 18, 1963 (age 49) Brookline, Massachusetts, United States[1]
Medium	Television
Nationality	American
Years active	1985–present
Genres	Improvisational comedy, sketch comedy, physical comedy, surreal humor, self-deprecation
Influences	Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Robert Smigel, Pee-Wee Herman
Spouse	Elizabeth Ann Powel (since 2002; 2 children)
Notable works and roles	The Simpsons (writer, producer, 1991–1993) Late Night with Conan O'Brien (host, 1993–2009) The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (host, 2009–2010) Conan (host, 2010–present)
Signature
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program 1989 Saturday Night Live 2007 Late Night with Conan O'Brien[2]

Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS.^[3][4]

O'Brien was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and raised in an Irish Catholic family. He served as president of the Harvard Lampoon while attending Harvard University, and was a writer for the sketch comedy series Not Necessarily the News. After writing for several comedy shows in Los Angeles, he joined the writing staff of Saturday Night Live, and later of The Simpsons. He hosted Late Night with Conan O'Brien from 1993 to 2009, followed by seven months hosting The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, the only person to serve as the permanent host for both NBC programs.

Early life[link]

O'Brien was born in Brookline, Massachusetts (a suburb of Boston) to Thomas O'Brien, a physician, epidemiologist, and professor of medicine at Harvard,^[5][6][7] and Ruth O'Brien (née Reardon), an attorney and partner at the Boston firm Ropes & Gray.^[8] He is the third of six children. O'Brien's family is Irish Catholic and descends from pre-Civil War era immigrants.^[7] In a Late Night episode, O'Brien paid a visit to County Kerry, Ireland, where his ancestors originated.

O'Brien attended Brookline High School, where he served as the managing editor of the school newspaper.^[7] In his senior year, O'Brien won the National Council of Teachers of English writing contest with his short story, "To Bury the Living".^[9] After graduating as valedictorian in 1981, he entered Harvard University.^[10] At Harvard, O'Brien lived in Holworthy Hall during his freshman year^[11] and Mather House during his three upper-class years. He concentrated in history and literature and graduated magna cum laude^[12] in 1985.^[13] His senior thesis concerned the use of children as symbols in the works of William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.^[14] Throughout college, O'Brien was a writer for the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine. He also briefly served as the drummer in a band called "The Bad Clams".^[15] During his sophomore and junior years, he served as the Lampoon's president.^[16] At this time, O'Brien's future boss at NBC, Jeff Zucker, was serving as President of the rival The Harvard Crimson.^[17]

Career[link]

[edit] Saturday Night Live (1987–1991)

O'Brien in the offices of The Simpsons writers, 1992

O'Brien moved to Los Angeles after graduation to join the writing staff of HBO's Not Necessarily the News.^[18] He was also a writer on the short-lived The Wilton North Report.^[18] He spent two years with that show and performed regularly with improvisational groups, including The Groundlings. In January 1988, Saturday Night Live's executive producer, Lorne Michaels, hired O'Brien as a writer. During his three years on Saturday Night Live (SNL), he wrote such recurring sketches as "Mr. Short-Term Memory" and "The Girl Watchers"; the latter was first performed by Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz.^[19] O'Brien also co-wrote the sketch, "Nude Beach", with Robert Smigel, in which the word "penis" was said or sung at least 42 times. While on a writers' strike from Saturday Night Live following the 1987–88 season, O'Brien put on an improvisational comedy revue in Chicago with fellow SNL writers Bob Odenkirk and Robert Smigel called Happy Happy Good Show.^[20][21] While living in Chicago, O'Brien briefly roomed with Jeff Garlin.^[22] In 1989, O'Brien and his fellow SNL writers received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series.

O'Brien, like many SNL writers, occasionally appeared as an extra in sketches; his most notable appearance was as a doorman in a sketch in which Tom Hanks was inducted into the SNL "Five-Timers Club" for hosting his fifth episode. O'Brien returned to host the show in 2001 during its 26th season. O'Brien and Robert Smigel wrote the television pilot for Lookwell starring Adam West, which aired on NBC in 1991. The pilot never went to series, but it became a cult hit. It was later screened at The Other Network, a festival of unaired TV pilots produced by Un-Cabaret; it featured an extended interview with O'Brien and was rerun in 2002 on the Trio network.

[edit] The Simpsons (1991–1993)

From 1991 to 1993, O'Brien was a writer and producer for The Simpsons^[19] and was credited as writer or co-writer of four episodes.^[23] Of all the episodes he wrote, he considers "Marge vs. the Monorail" to be his favorite.^[19] Along with this episode, he has sole writing credits on "New Kid on the Block," "Homer Goes to College," and "Treehouse of Horror IV," on which he wrote the episode wraparounds. He was an active producer during seasons 4 and 5 as well, meaning he would frequently contribute to scripts from those seasons as well as come up with story ideas, plot points, and jokes.^[24] The style of the show's comedy during this period was also influenced by his sensibilities, with "Marge vs. the Monorail" being cited by several former writers as the turning point in the show's history where more absurd and visual comedy became acceptable.^[25][26] He also developed a reputation as a "room guy," or a writer who performs comedy bits throughout the day to entertain other writers.^[25]

In his speech given at Class Day at Harvard in 2000,^[27] O'Brien credited The Simpsons with saving him, a reference to the career slump he was experiencing prior to his being hired for the show.^[28]

During his time at The Simpsons, O'Brien also had a side project working with former writing partner Robert Smigel on the script for a musical film based on the "Hans and Franz" sketch from Saturday Night Live. The film was never produced.^[29][30]

[edit] Late Night (1993–2009)

As executive producer, Lorne Michaels invited O'Brien to audition to host the successor show to Late Night with David Letterman.^[7] Premiering on September 13, 1993, Late Night with Conan O'Brien received generally unfavorable critical reviews during its first few years. The show remained on multiweek renewal cycles while NBC decided its fate.^[7] O'Brien later poked fun at the first three years of the show, when on his 10th Anniversary Special Mr. T appeared to give O'Brien a gold necklace with a giant "7" on it. When O'Brien tried to point out that he had actually been on the air for ten years, Mr. T responded, "I know that, fool; but you've only been funny for seven!"^[31]

Beginning in 1996, O'Brien and the Late Night writing team were nominated annually for the Emmy Award for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series, winning the award for the first and only time in 2007. In 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004, he and the Late Night writing staff won the Writers Guild Award for Best Writing in a Comedy/Variety Series. In 2001, he formed his own television production company, Conaco, which subsequently shared in the production credits for Late Night.^[7]

A long-running joke, which stems from the recurring segment "Conan O'Brien Hates My Homeland", is that O'Brien resembles the first female president of Finland, Tarja Halonen. After joking about this for several months (which led to his endorsement of her campaign), O'Brien traveled to Finland, appearing on several television shows and meeting President Halonen. The trip was filmed and aired as a special.^[32]

O'Brien ad-libbed the fictional website name "hornymanatee.com" on December 4, 2006, after a sketch about the fictional manatee mascot and its inappropriate webcam site.^[7] NBC opted to purchase the website domain name for $159, since the website did not previously exist. The network was concerned that the Federal Communications Commission would hold NBC liable for promoting inappropriate content if a third party were to register the domain and post such material.^[33] For a period of time, the website hosted material concerning Conan's initial manatee joke and other Tonight Show references, but today the site just redirects to NBC's main web page.

A popular recurring bit on the show was "Pale Force", a series of animated episodes in which comedian Jim Gaffigan and O'Brien are superheroes who fight crime with their "paleness". As Gaffigan introduced each new episode, O'Brien protested the portrayal of his character as cowardly, weak, and impotent. As of October 2005^[update], Late Night with Conan O'Brien had for eleven years consistently attracted an audience averaging about 2.5 million viewers.^[34] O'Brien is an avid guitarist and music listener. When Bruce Springsteen and the Sessions Band appeared on the show as musical guests, O'Brien joined the 17-piece band, along with the Max Weinberg 7 and guests Jimmy Fallon and Thomas Haden Church, playing acoustic guitar and contributing backup vocals for the song "Pay Me My Money Down". On the June 13, 2008, episode of Late Night, O'Brien simply walked onto the stage at the start of the show. Instead of his usual upbeat antics and monologue, O'Brien announced that he had just received news about the sudden death of his good friend, fellow NBC employee and frequent Late Night guest, Tim Russert. O'Brien proceeded to show two clips of his favorite Russert Late Night moments.^[35] On February 20, 2009, NBC aired the last episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The show consisted of a compilation of previous Late Night clips and included a surprise appearance by former sidekick, Andy Richter. Will Ferrell, John Mayer, and the White Stripes also appeared. O'Brien ended the episode by destroying the set with an axe, handing out the pieces of the set to the audience,^[36][37] and thanking a list of people who helped him get to that point in his career. Among those thanked were Lorne Michaels, David Letterman, Jay Leno, and O'Brien's wife and children.

The Colbert / O'Brien / Stewart mock feud[link]

During the writers' strike in 2008, O'Brien staged a mock feud with Comedy Central's Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show) and Stephen Colbert (of The Colbert Report) over a dispute about which of the three were responsible for giving a "bump" to Mike Huckabee's campaign to become the Republican presidential nominee. This feud crossed over all three shows during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.^[38]

[edit] The Tonight Show (2009–2010)

In 2004, O'Brien negotiated a new contract with NBC. As part of the deal, O'Brien would take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in 2009.^[7] O'Brien was a guest on Jay Leno's final episode of The Tonight Show. On June 1, 2009, Will Ferrell became Conan's first Tonight Show guest on the couch and Pearl Jam appeared as his first musical guest.^[39]

During the taping of the Friday, September 25, 2009, episode of The Tonight Show, O'Brien suffered from a mild concussion after he slipped and hit his head while running a race as part of a comedy sketch with guest Teri Hatcher. He was examined at a hospital and released the same day. A rerun was aired that night, but O'Brien returned to work the following Monday and poked fun at the incident.^[40][41]

[edit] Departure from The Tonight Show

O'Brien in Atlanta, June 2010

On Thursday, January 7, 2010, NBC executive Jeff Zucker met with Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien to discuss how to get Leno out of prime time, where his ratings were lackluster, and back into late night. A proposal was made that would see O'Brien remain as host of The Tonight Show, which would be moved to 12:05 am with Leno hosting a 30-minute show at 11:35 pm^[42] On January 10, NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed that The Jay Leno Show would indeed end at the start of the Winter Olympics on February 12, 2010, and be moved to 11:35 pm following the Olympics coverage.^[43] Sources familiar with the situation told the New York Post that O'Brien was unhappy with NBC's plan.^[44]

On January 12, O'Brien released this statement: "I sincerely believe that delaying The Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t The Tonight Show."^[46][47] On January 21, 2010, it was announced that Conan had reached a deal with NBC that would see him exit The Tonight Show the next day. The deal also granted him $45 million, of which $12 million was designated for distribution to his staff, who had moved with Conan to Los Angeles from New York when he left Late Night.

The final Tonight Show with Conan aired January 22, 2010, and featured guests Tom Hanks, Steve Carell (who did an exit interview and shredded Conan's ID badge), Neil Young (singing "Long May You Run"), and Will Ferrell. For Ferrell's appearance, Conan played guitar with the band and Ferrell sang "Free Bird" while reprising his SNL cowbell. Ferrell's wife, Viveca Paulin, together with Ben Harper, Beck, and ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, also joined the band for this final performance.^[48]

Jay Leno returned to The Tonight Show following NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Under the $45 million deal with NBC, Conan was allowed to start working for another network as soon as September 2010.^[49][50][51] Conan's rumored next networks ranged anywhere from Fox^[52] to Comedy Central.^[53][54]

[edit] After Tonight

On February 8, 2010, it was reported that O'Brien was attempting to sell his Central Park West penthouse in New York with an asking price of $35 million.^[55] He purchased the apartment in 2007 for $10 million.^[55] Two years earlier, O'Brien had purchased a home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles for over $10.5 million.^[56] Some industry insiders have speculated that O'Brien had chosen to stay on the west coast in order to facilitate a return to late night television^[55] and because he did not want to put his children through another move.^[57]

On February 24, 2010, O'Brien attracted media attention for starting a Twitter account.^[58][59] His tweets, although primarily jokes, amounted to his first public statements since leaving The Tonight Show one month earlier.^[60] After about one hour, O'Brien's subscriber list had rocketed to over 30,000 members and approximately 30 minutes later, he was on the brink of passing 50,000 followers, already 20,000 more than the verified @jayleno account.^[61][62][63] After 24 hours, O'Brien had well over 300,000 followers.^[60] In late May 2010, he surpassed the one million mark for number of Twitter followers,^[64] and as of April 2012^[update] he has over 5.3 million followers.^[65]

O'Brien has been named to the 2010 Time 100, a list compiled by TIME of the 100 most influential people in the world as voted on by readers.^[66] After being prohibited from making television appearances of any kind until May, O'Brien spoke about the Tonight Show conflict on the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes on May 2, 2010.^[67] During the interview with Steve Kroft, O'Brien said the situation felt "like a marriage breaking up suddenly, violently, quickly. And I was just trying to figure out what happened." He also said he "absolutely" expected NBC to give him more of a chance and that, if in Jay Leno's position, he would not have come back to The Tonight Show. However, Conan said he did not feel he got shafted. "It's crucial to me that anyone seeing this, if they take anything away from this, it's I'm fine. I'm doing great," said O'Brien. "I hope people still find me comedically absurd and ridiculous. And I don't regret anything."^[68]

The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour[link]

O'Brien performing in a replica of the costume Eddie Murphy wore in Eddie Murphy Raw.

On March 11, 2010, O'Brien announced via his Twitter account that he would embark on a 30-city live tour beginning April 12, 2010, entitled "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour".^[69][70] Co-host Andy Richter, along with members of the former Tonight Show Band, joined O'Brien on the tour.^[71] Max Weinberg, however, was not able to join,^[72] except for a guest appearance at one of Conan's New York City shows. VIP tickets for $695 offered the opportunity to meet O'Brien in person.^[73] On the same day, teamcoco.com—an apparently official website—was launched.^[74]

On April 12, 2010, O'Brien opened his two-month comedy tour in Eugene, Oregon, with a crowd of 2,500 and no TV cameras. The tour traveled through America's Northwest and Canada before moving on to larger cities, including Los Angeles and New York City, where he performed on the campuses that house both of the NBC-owned studios he formerly occupied. The tour ended in Atlanta on June 14. With ticket prices starting at $40, "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour" was effectively sold out.^[3]

[edit] Conan (2010–present)

On April 12, 2010, just hours before the start of his tour in Eugene, Oregon, O'Brien announced that he would host a new show on cable station TBS.^[3] The show debuted on November 8, 2010,^[75] and airs Monday through Thursday beginning at 11:00 pm ET/10:00 pm CT. O'Brien's addition moved Lopez Tonight with George Lopez back one hour to midnight ET/11:00 pm CT.^[4] Refusing at first to do to Lopez what had happened to him at NBC, O'Brien agreed to join the network after Lopez called to persuade him to come to TBS.^[76] In Canada, CTV will air the show^[77] and in Turkey, CNBC-e will air the show.

Other networks that were reportedly interested in O'Brien include TBS' sister networks TNT and HBO, Fox, FX, Comedy Central, Showtime, Revision3,^[78] and even the NBC Universal-owned USA Network.^[79]

On September 1, 2010, O'Brien announced via his Twitter account and Team Coco YouTube page that the title of his new show on TBS would simply be Conan.

Television writer/producer (2002–present)[link]

In 2004, O'Brien apologized to Canadians for engaging in Quebec bashing, something which some felt reflected prejudice against Francophones.^[80] On March 7, 2006, NBC announced a new adventure/comedy series entitled Andy Barker, P.I., starring O'Brien's former sidekick, Andy Richter. O'Brien was executive producer and co-wrote the pilot. After six episodes and low ratings, the show was canceled despite being named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the Top Ten Shows of 2007.^[81] USA Network has handed out a 90-minute, cast-contingent pilot order to the medical-themed Operating Instructions from O'Brien's production banner. O'Brien will serve as an executive producer through his Conaco label. The script comes from Just Shoot Me veterans Judd Pillot and John Peaslee who will also executive produce."^[82] NBC ordered two pilots from Conaco in January 2010, the one-hour courtroom drama, Outlaw, and a half-hour comedy.^[83] Outlaw was produced in eight episodes and premiered on September 15, 2010.^[84]

Voice work and guest appearances[link]

O'Brien's first guest appearance after beginning his late-night career was on the show he used to write for, The Simpsons. He played himself in the season five episode "Bart Gets Famous", interviewing Bart Simpson during his rise to fame as a catchphrase comedian. The episode was produced after O'Brien's audition to replace David Letterman, but before he was hired for the show. O'Brien recorded his part after his own show went on the air, though he believed his show would be canceled by the time "Bart Gets Famous" aired.^[85] In 2006, he voiced himself in a short South Park scene as part of the opening of the 2006 Emmy Awards. In 2005, he provided the voice of Robert Todd Lincoln in the audio book version of Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell.^[86]

O'Brien has made multiple voice appearances on the Adult Swim series Robot Chicken, including the specials Robot Chicken: Star Wars, and Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II as the voice of the bounty hunter Zuckuss.^[87] On the TV show 30 Rock, O'Brien is depicted as an ex-boyfriend of lead character Liz Lemon, who works in the same building. In the episode "Tracy Does Conan," Conan appears as himself, awkwardly reunited with Lemon and coerced by network executive Jack Donaghy into having the character Tracy Jordan on Late Night, despite having been assaulted in Jordan's previous appearance.^[88]

O'Brien made an appearance on Futurama in the second-season episode "Xmas Story". O'Brien plays himself as a head in a jar and still alive in the year 3000. O'Brien performs a stand-up routine at a futuristic ski lodge while being heckled by Bender the robot.^[89]

O'Brien also made a cameo appearance on the U.S. version of The Office. In the episode "Valentine's Day", Michael believes that he spots former SNL cast member, Tina Fey, but has actually mistaken another woman for her. In the meantime, Conan has a quick walk-on and the camera crew informs Michael, when he returns from talking to the Tina Fey lookalike.^[90]

In January 2010, O'Brien appeared in The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice! to honor the show he had written for in the early 1990s.^[91]

O'Brien created a superhero character with veteran DC Comics animator Bruce Timm during one episode of Conan. Named "The Flaming C", the superhero bears a likeness to O'Brien, with a typically muscular superhero body and costume with chest insignia, but also with idiosyncrasies arbitrarily suggested by O'Brien like an oven mitt, a jai alai glove, marijuana leaf buckle, golf shoes, sock garters and fishnet stockings.^[92] O'Brien later aired a clip in which the character appears in Young Justice.^[93]

In 2011, O'Brien hosted the Christmas in Washington special for TBS' sister network, TNT, featuring performances from Justin Bieber, Victoria Justice, Cee-Lo Green, The Band Perry and Jennifer Hudson; with a special appearance by the Obama family.^[94]

Emmy host[link]

O'Brien hosted the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards on August 27, 2006, to critical acclaim.^[95] He had previously hosted the Primetime Emmys in 2002, and co-hosted in 2003.

Commercials and product placements[link]

According to Marketing Evolutions, the company that produces Q Scores measuring the familiarity and appeal of celebrities and brands, almost 74% of U.S. consumers are familiar with O'Brien.^[96] In spite of that high score, O'Brien hasn't done many commercials for corporate America; two recent examples are a 2009 appearance in a Super Bowl XLIII commercial for Bud Light, and one for American Express, which debuted on the same day as Conan.^[96] He donated his proceeds from the Super Bowl commercial to the Fresh Air Fund, a charity which sends inner-city New York children to the country for vacations.^[97] According to The Wall Street Journal, O'Brien was paid more than one million dollars to do the American Express commercial, which required him to spend three days in Jaipur, India filming it.^[96]

While O'Brien has done few commercials, he "does do plenty of promoting, weaving product pitches into his show"; he has said "it's increasingly incumbent to help with tie-ins [but] if it can't be funny, I'd rather go hungry."^[96]

Comedy and mannerisms[link]

On Late Night, O'Brien became known for his active and spontaneous hosting style,^[7] which has been characterized as "awkward, self-deprecating humor".^[98]

Personal life[link]

O'Brien with his wife Liza in 2007

O'Brien met Elizabeth Ann 'Liza' Powel in 2000 when she appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in an advertising skit involving Foote, Cone & Belding, where she worked as senior copywriter.^[99] The couple dated for nearly 18 months before their 2002 marriage in Powel's hometown of Seattle. O'Brien and Powel have a daughter, Neve (born in 2003)^[100] and a son, Beckett (born in 2005).^[101]

O'Brien repeatedly affirms his Irish Catholic heritage on his show. On a 2009 episode of Inside the Actors Studio, he stated that both sides of his family moved to America from Ireland in the 1850s, subsequently marrying only other Irish Catholics, and that his lineage is thus 100% Irish Catholic.^[7]

He has been a staunch Democrat since casting his first vote for President in 1984 for Walter Mondale, although he considers himself a moderate on the political spectrum.^[7] O'Brien's longtime friend and former roommate at Harvard is Father Paul B. O' Brien, with whom he founded Labels Are For Jars,^[102] an antihunger organization based in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and helped open the Cor Unum meal center in 2006.^[103] The two are not related.

In January 2008, after his show was put on hold for two months owing to the strike by the Writers Guild of America, he reemerged on late-night TV sporting a beard, which guest Tom Brokaw described as making him look like "a draft dodger from the Civil War." After leaving The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on Jan. 22, 2010, O'Brien again grew a beard, which he kept until May 2, 2011, when it was partially shaved on the set of his TBS talk show, Conan, by Will Ferrell with battery-operated clippers (and completely shaved off-screen by a professional barber).^[104] The event was dubbed on the show as "Beardocalypse," and included a contest for fan-submitted artwork.^[105]

O'Brien purchased a $10.5-million mansion in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, to prepare for his move there in 2009 from New York City to host The Tonight Show at Universal Studios Hollywood.^[106] As part of a long running gag, he brought his 1992 Ford Taurus SHO with him to California, showcasing it on both the inaugural episodes of The Tonight Show and Conan.

On October 21, 2011, O'Brien was ordained as a minister by the Universal Life Church,^[107] allowing him to perform a same-sex marriage while back in New York (where gay marriage is legal) to tape a week's worth of shows. The wedding, between a member of O'Brien's staff and his partner, was held on the stage of the Beacon Theatre on November 3, 2011, and broadcast on Conan.^[108]

Conan vs. Bear[link]

Conan vs. Bear is a comedic website, lampooning the prospect of Conan O'Brien fighting bears. Artists from around the world have sent in images and videos with their own take on this theme. Currently the site boasts over 400 unique renderings, as well as several original videos inspired by the site. The website was noted by O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.^[109][110]

Victim of stalking[link]

It was reported that since September 2006, O'Brien had allegedly been stalked by Father David Ajemian of the Archdiocese of Boston, who, despite multiple warnings to stop, had been sending O'Brien letters signed as "your priest stalker" and coming in contact with O'Brien's parents. Frustrated that he had been denied a spot in the Late Night audience, Ajemian sent a letter to O'Brien stating that he flew to New York "in the dimming hope that you might finally acknowledge me." He stated in another letter, "Is this the way you treat your most dangerous fans??? You owe me big time, pal." In another letter, Ajemian seemed to make a death threat, saying, "Remember Frank Costello once dodged a bullet in your building and so can you." Ajemian then tried to forcefully enter a taping of Late Night but was caught and arrested. He was previously warned by the NBC security team to stay away from the studio. After a psychological evaluation, he was deemed fit to stand trial. He has since been bailed out of jail.^[111] He was then reported missing by his father on November 10, 2007. He was found and underwent evaluation at a hospital. It is known that the two had attended Harvard University at the same time. He was found fit to stand trial on April 4, 2008. On April 8, 2008, Ajemian pleaded guilty to stalking, stating that he "never meant to cause anxiety or to upset anyone." He was ordered to pay a $95 US$ court charge and to sign a two-year restraining order barring him from coming near O'Brien.^[112] On September 11, 2008, Ajemian checked himself out of his treatment at a hospital against the wishes of his bishop, Seán Patrick O'Malley. Cardinal O'Malley then released a statement saying that because he violated his bishop's wishes, Ajemian could no longer serve as a priest in the Catholic Church.^[113] As of late 2010, Ajemian has moved on to stalking Anthony Everett.^[114]

Nicknames[link]

A poster created by Mike Mitchell during the 2010 Tonight Show conflict displaying his "Coco" nickname.

Conan acquired the nickname "Coco" after its use in the first "Twitter Tracker" sketch during the second episode of his Tonight Show run.^[115] Guest Tom Hanks used the nickname during his subsequent interview, even getting the audience to chant it. In reaction to the moniker, Conan remarked to Hanks in jest, "If that catches on, I'll sue you."^[116][117]

In a March 23, 2011, interview with WWE Champion The Miz on Conan, The Miz dubbed Conan "The Ginja Ninja", a reference to Conan's red hair and the fact that he came back fighting to get his new late-night talk show. A week later, "Team Ginja Ninja" T-shirts were available on TeamCoco.com.^[118]

Filmography[link]

Appearances on talk shows

• Guest appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1993,^[119] 2007, 2008, 2009)
• Guest appearance on Late Night with David Letterman (1993)
• Guest appearance on The Jon Stewart Show (1993)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993–2009)
• Guest appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly (2002)
• Guest appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2007, 2008)
• Guest appearance on The Colbert Report (2007, 2008)
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009)
• The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009–2010)
• Guest appearance on Lopez Tonight (2010, 2011)
• Conan (November 8, 2010–)
• Guest appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2011)
• Guest appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight (2012)
• Guest appearance on Late Show with David Letterman (2012)

Other shows

• Saturday Night Live (1991, 2001)
• The Simpsons (as himself) (1994)
• Space Ghost: Coast to Coast (as himself) (1999)
• Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995)
• The Single Guy (1996)
• Arli$$ (1996)
• Spin City (1999)
• Futurama (1999)
• Storytelling (2001)
• Vanilla Sky (2001)
• Sugar & Spice (2001) (cameo in end credits)
• Dr. Katz (as himself) (2002)
• Andy Richter Controls the Universe (2003)
• End of the Century (2003)
• Bewitched (as himself) (2005)
• Robot Chicken (2005)
• The Denial Twist (The White Stripes music video) (2005)
• O'Grady (2006)
• The Office (cameo) (2006)
• Queer Duck (as himself) (2006)
• 30 Rock (as himself) (2007, 2009)
• Robot Chicken Star Wars (as Zuckuss) (2007)
• Sesame Street (2008)
• Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II (as Zuckuss, Star Wars nerd) (2008)
• The Backyardigans (2009)
• 60 Minutes (interview) (2010)
• Eagleheart (himself) (2010)
• How I Met Your Mother (cameo) (2012)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]