Editing Late Night with Conan O'Brien (section)

===Replacing David Letterman===
Upon [[Johnny Carson]]'s retirement from ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|The Tonight Show]]'' in 1992, executives at NBC announced that Carson's frequent guest-host Jay Leno would be Carson's replacement, not David Letterman. NBC later said that Letterman's high ratings for ''Late Night'' were the reason they kept him where he was. Letterman was bitterly disappointed and angry at not having been given ''The Tonight Show'' job; and, at Carson's advice, he left [[NBC]] after eleven years on ''Late Night''. [[CBS]] signed Letterman to host his own show opposite ''The Tonight Show''. Letterman moved his show to CBS virtually unchanged, taking most of the staff, skits, and comedy formats with him. However, NBC owned the rights to the ''Late Night'' name, forcing Letterman to rename his show ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]''.

Keeping the ''Late Night'' name, NBC set about building a whole new show in the 12:30 a.m. time slot, from which the network had been making some $20 million to $30 million a year towards the end of Letterman's tenure.<ref name="battle"/><ref name="new-york-times-feb-1993">{{Cite web |last=Kolbert |first=Elizabeth |date=23 February 1993 |title=New Job for NBC's Laugh Master: Fill the Late-Night Letterman Gap |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/23/arts/new-job-for-nbc-s-laugh-master-fill-the-late-night-letterman-gap.html |archivedate=4 May 2025 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250504185820/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/23/arts/new-job-for-nbc-s-laugh-master-fill-the-late-night-letterman-gap.html |url-status=live |access-date=4 May 2025 |agency=[[The New York Times]] |language=English}}</ref> NBC brought in ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' executive producer [[Lorne Michaels]] to produce the new show, including selecting its host.<ref name="new-york-times-feb-1993"/> After auditioning some lower-profile comedians, such as [[Jon Stewart]], [[Drew Carey]], and [[Paul Provenza]], Michaels and the network started going after more established names like ''SNL'' star [[Dana Carvey]] and ''[[The Larry Sanders Show]]'' star [[Garry Shandling]]. Both eventually declined offers to host it,<ref name="contrarian">{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20030914/ai_n12516995 |title=Conan the contrarian |author=Rosenthal, Phil |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=2003-09-14 |access-date=2008-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314015546/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20030914/ai_n12516995 |archive-date=March 14, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> with NBC reportedly making several approaches to Shandling.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Bill |date=19 April 1993 |title=Suspense Builds in the Drama of 'Late Night' Host |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/19/arts/suspense-builds-in-the-drama-of-late-night-host.html |archivedate=13 January 2014 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20140113111745/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/19/arts/suspense-builds-in-the-drama-of-late-night-host.html |url-status=live |access-date=4 May 2025 |agency=[[The New York Times]] |language=English}}</ref> 

Months into the process, Michaels gave [[Conan O'Brien]], an unknown writer for ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and former writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', an audition for the job. It was reported that Micheals had originally considered hiring O'Brien as a producer for the new show, but that O'Brien then persuaded Michaels to give him a shot at being the host.<ref name="nyt-apr28-1993">{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Bill |date=28 April 1993 |title=As TV Gets a New Star, It Wonders: Who Is He? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/28/arts/as-tv-gets-a-new-star-it-wonders-who-is-he.html |archivedate=12 August 2024 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20240812084053/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/28/arts/as-tv-gets-a-new-star-it-wonders-who-is-he.html |url-status=live |access-date=4 May 2025 |agency=[[The New York Times]] |language=English}}</ref> Despite having "about 40 seconds"<ref name="lastleno">''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', May 29, 2009.</ref> of television-performance experience as an occasional extra on ''Saturday Night Live'' sketches and briefly appearing in comedy bits on ''[[The Wilton North Report]]'',<ref name="nyt-apr28-1993"/> O'Brien auditioned for the show on April 13, 1993. His guests were [[Jason Alexander]] and [[Mimi Rogers]]; the audition took place on the set of ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]''.<ref name="contrarian"/> NBC offered the show to O'Brien on April 26, and O'Brien made his first meaningful television appearance later that day when Leno introduced him on ''Tonight''.<ref name="lastleno"/> In 2009, on the final episode of his 16-year run, O'Brien stated that he "owed his career to Lorne Michaels".