Editing Late Night with Conan O'Brien (section)

==Production==
[[File:Late Night Conan O'Brien ticket.JPG|thumb|225px|A ticket to the show]]
''Late Night'' was a production of Lorne Michaels's [[Broadway Video]] (and, since 2003, O'Brien's Conaco). It was taped in Studio 6A in the [[GE Building]] at [[30 Rockefeller Plaza]] in New York City. Next to the door were framed pictures of Letterman, Carson, [[Jack Paar]] and [[Steve Allen]], each of whose groundbreaking late-night shows originated from studio 6A or 6B (where ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon]]'' is currently taped).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nbc.com/news/2009/01/15/conan-obrien-signs-off-of-late-night-february-20-2009-and-jimmy-fallon-takes-over-march-2-2009/ |title=CONAN O'BRIEN SIGNS OFF OF 'LATE NIGHT' FEBRUARY 20, 2009 AND JIMMY FALLON TAKES OVER MARCH 2, 2009 |publisher=NBC.com |access-date=2011-10-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113102232/http://www.nbc.com/news/2009/01/15/conan-obrien-signs-off-of-late-night-february-20-2009-and-jimmy-fallon-takes-over-march-2-2009/ |archive-date=November 13, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The studio holds just over 200 audience members. It was taped at about 5:30&nbsp;pm as an uninterrupted hour-long program, with the band playing music through the portions that would be filled by commercials. Generally, shows were taped at 5:30&nbsp;pm Monday through Friday, although for much of the show's run, reruns would be aired on Mondays and the show would not tape that day.

The show's format consisted of an opening [[monologue]] from O'Brien, followed by various "desk bits". These generally included several brief sketches, recurring segments, or some other form of comedy. Typically O'Brien would play the 'straight man' role to the general absurdity of the comedy, treating the material or wacky nature of the sketches with sincerity. In the show's second and fourth segments, O'Brien interviewed two celebrity guests, between which, in the third segment, O'Brien listed the next night's/week's guests. There was often a comedy bit as well during this segment. The show's fifth segment was usually reserved for a musical or stand-up comedy performance, or occasionally another guest interview. The show's final segment was usually a quick "goodnight" and the closing credits, which sometimes featured part of a bit from earlier in the show. Quite rare for a talkshow, frequently comedy segments would also spill into the interviews, typically when a guest was a 'friend' of the show.

During the live tapings, and prior to the show,{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} there was an audience warm-up, during which the audience watched a montage of highlights from the show, and staff writer [[Brian McCann (actor)|Brian McCann]] greeted the audience (this task was formerly undertaken by head writer Mike Sweeney). McCann delivered a few jokes, told the audience what to expect, and finally introduced the band and then O'Brien. O'Brien then thanked the audience for coming, meeting as many audience members as he could. He would often then do a musical number with the band to pump up the audience ("[[Burning Love]]" was one standard).  After the show was finished taping, O'Brien sang the "End of the Show Song", which never aired on Late Night, although in February 2009, a short video of it was posted on Late Night Underground.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.latenightunderground.com/2009/02/the-end-of-the-show-song.shtml |title=TV Network for Primetime, Daytime and Late Night Television Shows – NBC Official Site |publisher=Latenightunderground.com |access-date=2011-10-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213092601/http://latenightunderground.com/2009/02/the-end-of-the-show-song.shtml |archive-date=February 13, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The End of the Show Song finally did reach air on January 21, 2010, his penultimate show as Tonight Show host. It also was aired on the March 29, 2012 episode of Conan. The tradition of singing The End of the Show Song has continued, un-aired as usual, on ''[[Conan (talk show)|Conan]]''.

===Broadcast===
[[File:conan widescreen.jpg|thumb|300px|right|O'Brien poking fun at the show's new [[HDTV]] [[widescreen]] format]]
''Late Night'' began broadcasting in [[1080i]] [[ATSC standards|ATSC]] on April 26, 2005, with a downscaled [[Letterboxing (filming)|letterboxed]] [[NTSC]] simulcast (unlike ''The Tonight Show'', whose NTSC simulcast is fullscreen). O'Brien celebrated the conversion to the [[widescreen]] [[High-definition television|HDTV]] format with jokes throughout the week.

On December 6, 2005 ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' segments began selling on the [[iTunes Store]]. Most segments were priced at $1.99, as were most episodes of other shows, with "special" best-ofs and other longer segments priced at $9.99. In December, 2007 NBC stopped selling all its television shows on iTunes, but the network returned it to iTunes in September 2008 after NBC and Apple worked out a new agreement. The show was offered free at [[Hulu|Hulu.com]] and the NBC website but has been unavailable on the Internet since the [[2010 Tonight Show conflict|2010 ''Tonight Show'' conflict]]. However, in May 2018, O'Brien and [[TBS (American TV channel)|TBS]], announced they would partner with NBC to make his entire ''Late Night'' archives available online, marking the 25th anniversary of O'Brien's late night debut.<ref>{{cite web|title=Conan O'Brien's TBS Late Night Show Shifts To 30-Minute Format in 2019|url=https://deadline.com/2018/05/conan-obrien-new-half-hour-format-tbs-late-night-tour-1202381555/|author=Lisa de Moraes|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=May 3, 2018}}</ref>

===Set design===
O'Brien's ''Late Night'' had three long-term permanent sets, but retained the basic structure used when Letterman occupied Studio 6A: the performance space at the viewer's left, and the desk area, to the viewer's right, where interviews were done. O'Brien did his monologue in the performance area, emerging at the start of each episode from the area where musical guests perform. The Max Weinberg 7 were in the corner made by the stage-right wall and the wall in front of the audience. The desk area had a desk for O'Brien, a chair and couch(es) to the viewer's left for guests (and originally Andy Richter), and a coffee table.

Primarily, set changes involved the background behind the desk and chair and couch. The original set, used from the show's debut in 1993 until August 6, 1996, was primarily yellow, and the desk background resembled the living room of a New York City apartment, with windows that looked out at a Manhattan backdrop; it was modeled after Lorne Michaels' office.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/16/garden/the-set-makes-the-host.html |title=The Set Makes The Host |last=Louie |first=Elaine |date=April 30, 2005 |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=March 10, 2023 |quote=Not so Conan O'Brien. The set of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," at the 30 Rockefeller Center studio his predecessor used, is tidy. The set, which looks like a hip men's club, was inspired by the office of Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of "Late Night" and "Saturday Night Live."}}</ref> For years afterwards, O'Brien mocked this original set, particularly its "mustard color". The two subsequent set designs featured darker blues and violets to emulate the feel of nighttime, with the final set featuring a balcony railing in front of a backdrop with the view from the top of Rockefeller Center. This set debuted on September 4, 2001, and necessitated changes almost instantly as its backdrop view of New York City contained the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]], which was [[September 11 attacks|destroyed a week later]]. A special curtain was used to obstruct the towers until October, when the curtain became a permanent part of the set design even after the backdrop was altered. During his final week of episodes, Conan took an axe to parts of the set, giving it out to audience members as souvenirs, not wanting to allow it to simply be thrown away.