Conan O'Brien: 1995 White House Correspondents' Dinner featuring Bill Clinton

• Report rights infringement
• published: 03 May 2013
• views: 27222

Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and voice actor. More Conan: https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&tag;=mg03-20&linkCode;=ur2&linkId;=b9a148a304ec19fd8e8f4955f6040520&camp;=1789&creative;=9325&index;=dvd&keywords;=conan%20o'brien He is best known for hosting several late-night talk shows, the most recent of which, Conan, premiered on American cable television station TBS in 2010. O'Brien was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and was 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. O'Brien was a writer and producer for The Simpsons for two seasons until he was commissioned by NBC to take over David Letterman's position as host of Late Night in 1993. A virtual unknown to the public, O'Brien's Late Night tenure received unfavorable reviews and remained on a multiweek renewal cycle during its early years. The show generally improved over time and was regarded highly by O'Brien's departure in 2009. Afterwards, O'Brien relocated from New York to Los Angeles to host his own incarnation of The Tonight Show for seven months until network politics prompted a host change in 2010. Known for his spontaneous hosting style, which has been characterized as "awkward, self-deprecating humor," O'Brien's late-night programs combine the "lewd and wacky with more elegant, narrative-driven short films (remotes)." He has hosted Conan since 2010 and has also hosted such events as the Emmy Awards and Christmas in Washington. O'Brien has been the subject of a documentary, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011), and has also hosted a 32-city live comedy tour. Late Night with Conan O'Brien, originating from Studio 6A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, premiered September 13, 1993 to unfavorable reviews from contemporary critics. This reception was not completely unsurprising; O'Brien wrote a self-deprecating New York Times piece titled "O'Brien Flops!" on the day of the show's premiere.[38] Critics attacked O'Brien: Tom Shales of The Washington Post suggested that "the host resume his previous identity, Conan O'Blivion."[3][39] Generally, critics viewed O'Brien as nervous and fidgety on-camera, and that he was "too smart, too East Coast, too sophisticated, too young and even too tall to be successful."[3] The show was constantly at risk for cancellation; at one low point in 1994, NBC threatened to put him on a week-to-week contract. Executives were anxious to replace him with Greg Kinnear, who followed O'Brien with Later at 1:30am.[3] Interns filled empty seats in the audience while affiliates began to inquire about replacement hosts.[40][41] In one installment after a short stretch of reruns, sidekick Andy Richter described his vacation activities as follows: "I sat back and reminded myself what it's like to be unemployed." The in-joke referenced the rumors floating in the trades that NBC was near canceling the program.[42] Things would improve slowly. Banter between O'Brien and Richter improved, and sketches grew in popularity ("If They Mated", "Desk Drive", "In the Year 2000").[41] A reliable staple involved a TV screen, lowered behind O'Brien's desk and displaying a still photo of news figure. The lips and voice of these characters — frequently a party-crazed hillbilly interpretation of Bill Clinton — were supplied by writing partner Robert Smigel.[41] A turning point was David Letterman's February 1994 appearance. "It was a morale boost," said O'Brien. "I'm thinking, If the guy who created the 12:30 thing comes on and says we're smart and funny, let's go."[43] The show went through a temporary wobble in January 1995 when Robert Smigel, feeling burned out, quit as head writer.[24] The show's quality improved slowly over time, and most credit O'Brien's growing comedic performance. Within a year, a comedic formula began to arise: the show would combine the lewd and wacky with a more elegant, narrative-driven remotes.[3] Regular characters would typically include a "Masturbating Bear" and a famous remote found Conan visit a historic, Civil War-era baseball league.[3] That piece was one of O'Brien's personal favorites, later remarking, "When I leave this earth, at the funeral, just show this, because this pretty much says who I'm all about."[44] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_o%27brien Image By Ryan (IMG_3804 Uploaded by Muboshgu) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons