Editing Late Night with Conan O'Brien (section)

==Format==

===Humor===
The show was known for its wacky and absurd sophomoric comedic sensibility that is edgier than most other talk shows. Like his ''Late Night'' predecessor, David Letterman, the show's humor also had a streak of biting sarcasm and irony. According to [[Robert Smigel]], who served as head writer in 1993, the show's comedic approach was to focus on being different from David Letterman:

{{blockquote|I set down a lot of rules, some of which were crazy, but ultimately it forced us to come up with a lot of original stuff. We had the added bonus of being Letterman's replacement.}}

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. The show had an unusual quantity of comedy and original content rather than other talk shows such as ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'' or ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'' that relied heavily on recurring segments and 'found' humor. The show was particularly unique in the lack of 'found' humor to derive content from i.e. most content being scripted as opposed to Letterman's Small Town News or Jay Leno's headlines that used this "found humor". O'Brien would often playfully chide his audience for an underwhelming or overly enthusiastic response to his jokes.

Particularly in the early years, comedic sketches overtook all segments on the show, occasionally even interrupting guest interviews and O'Brien's monologue. Frequently sketches would randomly begin without introduction, such as during banter between Richter and O'Brien. A lot of the humor had a fantasy-like quality to it, where inanimate objects would talk or silly characters would disrupt the show. Sometimes a short story would emerge in these sketches with a resolution culminating in a song.

One recurring technique is to superimpose lips onto an existing image, as in the [[Syncro-Vox]] [[limited animation]] technique, resulting in the speaker saying things often quite out of character.

Although ''Late Night'' used political humor, it did so far less frequently than competing shows did. During the 1996 and 2000 presidential election seasons, ''Late Night'' was found to be the least politically oriented late night program. It averaged 310 political jokes per election season, in contrast to the Leno-led ''Tonight Show'' with 1,275.<ref name="SantaAna">{{cite journal |last1=Santa Ana |first1=Otto |title=Did You Call in Mexican? The Racial Politics of Jay Leno Immigrant Jokes |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40207913 |journal=Language in Society |year=2009 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=23–45 |doi=10.1017/S0047404508090027 |jstor=40207913 |s2cid=145777390 |access-date=25 October 2021}}</ref>

(See [[List of Late Night with Conan O'Brien sketches|List of ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' sketches]] for an extensive list)

===The Max Weinberg 7===
The show's [[house band]] was [[Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band|The Max Weinberg 7]], led by drummer [[Max Weinberg]]. The other six members were [[Mark Pender]] on trumpet, Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg on trombone, [[Mike Merritt (musician)|Mike Merritt]] on bass, [[Jerry Vivino]] on saxophone and brother [[Jimmy Vivino]] on guitar, and [[Scott Healy]] on keyboards. Weinberg sometimes took extended leaves of absence to tour with [[Bruce Springsteen]] as the drummer for the [[E Street Band]]. During his absence, [[James Wormworth]] would typically fill in on drums, and the band was led by Vivino under the name Jimmy Vivino and the Max Weinberg 7.

With the departure of Andy Richter from ''Late Night'' in May 2000, Max Weinberg assumed a bigger role as an interlocutor for O'Brien's jokes. One common running gag was Max's awkwardness on camera and his apparent lack of chemistry with Conan. Weinberg was often used in sketches as well, which usually revolved around his purported sexual deviance (mostly a penchant for bedding barely legal [[Groupie|groupies]]), although long-running sketches also spoofed Max's lack of knowledge of current affairs.

"LaBamba" was also used as the butt of many of Conan's jokes. These humorous sketches usually revolved around LaBamba's sizeable mustache, his poor acting skills, and his alleged inability to read [[sheet music|written music]]. Mark Pender would often sing songs on the topic of a current event which ended with him screeching uncontrollably and climbing the risers into the audience. All members of the 7 have had successful side careers as [[Session musician|studio musicians]].

====Theme song and other music====

The show's opening theme was co-written by composer [[Howard Shore]] and [[John Lurie]] (of the band [[The Lounge Lizards]]). Lurie would later say that he was contracted by Shore to write the theme, and after he turned in the piece, Shore made minimal changes and claimed an unwarranted co-writing credit.<ref name="indie">IndieWire article: "[https://www.indiewire.com/2016/04/listen-john-lurie-talks-fishing-with-john-working-with-jim-jarmusch-conan-obrien-more-in-hour-plus-podcast-talk-292378/ Listen: John Lurie Talks ‘Fishing With John,’ Working With Jim Jarmusch, Conan O’Brien & More In Hour-Plus Podcast Talk]."</ref><ref name="maron">[[YouTube]] video: "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3wEMU80ZaI John Lurie - WTF Podcast with Marc Maron #696]".</ref> Lurie also claimed to have been a finalist for ''Late Night'''s band leader position, but said producers told him, "Conan thinks you’re funnier than him and that scares him."<ref name="indie" /><ref name="maron" />

As is common in the talk show format, the Max Weinberg 7 performed the show's opening and closing themes, played [[Bumper (broadcasting)|bumpers]] into and out of commercial breaks (they actually played through the entire break for the studio audience), and a short piece during O'Brien's crossover to his desk after his monologue. The show's closing theme was called "Cornell Knowledge", and was lifted from Jerry and Jimmy Vivino's first album together. However, on ''Late Night'', it was played at a much quicker tempo than the album version. The band also played a wide variety of songs as bumpers coming to and from commercial breaks and introducing guests—usually [[popular music]] from a variety of eras.

===Joel Godard===
[[Joel Godard]], a long-time announcer for NBC shows, was the program's announcer and a frequent comedy contributor. On the show's final episode, Conan noted that Godard was originally hired to simply announce the show's intro and claimed "nobody thought you'd ever see him"; however, he was gradually worked into the show's comedy pieces. These bits usually revolved around Godard's supposed homosexual fetishes, deviant sexual habits, substance abuse, and suicidal tendencies. The humor came in part from Godard's delivery. No matter how depressing or deviant the topic being discussed was, he always did so in an exaggeratedly cheerful voice and with a huge smile plastered on his face. Several sketches ended with Godard apparently committing suicide in his announcer's booth. When Andy Richter left the show in 2000, Godard began to appear in sketches more frequently.

===Writing staff===
In the first few seasons of the show, the writing staff consisted of several now-prolific comics including [[Robert Smigel]] as the head writer, [[Bob Odenkirk]], [[Louis C.K.]], [[Tommy Blacha]] and [[Dino Stamatopoulos]]. Smigel left his position as head writer of the show in 1995<ref name="avclub.com"/> but continued to appear on the show to do bits as [[Triumph the Insult Comic Dog]] and the 'Satellite Interviews'. [[Jonathan Groff (writer)|Jonathan Groff]] took over his position until replaced by Mike Sweeney in 2001.

Members of the show's writing staff frequently appeared in sketches on the show. Among the most prolific were: [[Brian McCann (actor)|Brian McCann]] (Preparation H Raymond, FedEx Pope, The Loser, Airsick Moth, Jerry Butters, Awesome Dave, Funhole Guy, Bulletproof Legs Guy, Adrian "Raisin" Foster, S&M Lincoln, etc.), [[Brian Stack (comedian)|Brian Stack]] (Hannigan the Traveling Salesman, Artie Kendall the Ghost Crooner, The Interrupter, Kilty McBagpipes, Fan-tastic Guy, Clive Clemmons, Frankenstein, Ira, Slipnut Brian, etc.), [[Jon Glaser]] (Segue Sam, Pubes, Awareness Del, Wrist Hulk, Ahole Ronald, Gorton's Fisherman, Jeremy, Slipnut Jon, etc.), [[Kevin Dorff]] (Coked-up Werewolf, Jesus Christ, Mansy the half-man/half-pansy, Joe's Bartender, Todd the Tiny Guy, etc.), and [[Andy Blitz]] (Awful Ballgame Chanter, Vin Diesel's brother Leonard Diesel, Slipnut Andy, Chuck Aloo aka the star of the ''24'' spin-off series ''60''). Blitz went so far as to travel to India for one bit in which he carried his computer through the streets of India to get technical support firsthand from the telephone representative at NBC's technical help center.

Several writing staff interns have gone on to become noted actors or writers including [[Vanessa Bayer]],<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/NdQyofgKSx0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140211113627/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdQyofgKSx0&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdQyofgKSx0 |title=Vanessa Bayer: I Was Too Ugly For A Peanut Commercial |author=Team Coco |work=YouTube|date=February 11, 2014 |access-date=July 14, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[John Krasinski]],<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.people.com/people/john_krasinski/biography/ |title=John Krasinski Biography |work=People |year=2014  |access-date=July 21, 2014}}</ref> [[Mindy Kaling]],<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/e7f-R5ipL30 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130810143117/http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=relmfu&rl=yes&v=e7f-R5ipL30&hl=en&gl=US&client=mv-google&guid= Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7f-R5ipL30 |title=Mindy Kaling Was A Conan Intern |author=Team Coco |work=YouTube |date=November 7, 2012 |access-date=July 21, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Ellie Kemper]]<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ucbtheatre.com/news/view/1125 |title=Ellie Kemper featured in Nylon Guys |first=Liza |last=Darwin |work=[[Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre]] |date=March 2, 2012 |access-date=July 21, 2014}}</ref> and [[Jack McBrayer]].<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/3hFPhE1C1N0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130413180014/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hFPhE1C1N0&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hFPhE1C1N0 |title=Conan O'Brien Mercilessly Ridicules Jack McBrayer |author=SuzakuX |work=YouTube |date=February 4, 2013 |access-date=July 21, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Sketch actors and cameo appearances===
''Late Night'' employed a number of sketch actors, many of whom were frequently reused in different roles in different episodes. Several years before joining the cast of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', and before playing the role of [[Leslie Knope]] on another NBC TV show, ''[[Parks and Recreation]]'', [[Amy Poehler]] often appeared as a regular in many sketches, though she was best remembered for playing the recurring role of Andy Richter's Conan-obsessed teenage sister, Stacy. Other notable comedians such as [[Jack McBrayer]], [[Rob Riggle]], [[Rob Corddry]], [[H. Jon Benjamin]], [[Ellie Kemper]], [[Bobby Moynihan]], [[Matt Besser]], [[Ian Roberts (American actor)|Ian Roberts]], [[Matt Walsh (comedian)|Matt Walsh]] and [[Andrew Daly]] also frequently appeared as sketch actors on the show for several years. [[Triumph the Insult Comic Dog]] (created and voiced by original head writer [[Robert Smigel]]) began as part of a sketch on ''Late Night.'' Celebrities such as [[Joyce Brothers]], [[Nipsey Russell]], [[Abe Vigoda]], [[James Lipton]], [[Bob Saget]] and [[William Preston (actor)|William Preston]] as the character Carl 'Oldy' Olsen also made frequent cameo appearances in comedy sketches on the show at different periods. One of the show's graphic designers, [[Pierre Bernard (comedian)|Pierre Bernard]], was featured in several sketches, such as "Pierre Bernard's Recliner of Rage" and "Nerding It Up For Pierre".

Celebrity guests of the night would also occasionally appear in sketches either during their interviews or during the earlier comedy segments, e.g. in "In the year 2000" (which always included the participation of a celebrity guest after Andy Richter left the show) or a sketch where Conan would pretend to write in his diary while an attractive female guest was there. Quite rare for a talk show, sometimes interviews began normally but turned into sketches with both the guest and Conan participating, usually when the guest was a "friend of the show."

===Costumed characters===
Unusual for a late night talk show, ''Late Night'' made frequent use of various costumed characters such as The Masturbating Bear, Robot on a Toilet, and Pimpbot 5000. The humor in these sketches often derived from the crude construction of the characters' costumes as well as the absurdist nature of their conceptions. For example, Pimpbot 5000 was a 1950s-style robot who dressed and acted in the manner of an exaggerated [[blaxploitation]] [[Procuring (prostitution)|pimp]], while The Masturbating Bear was a man in a bear costume wearing an oversized diaper who would invariably begin to fondle himself to the tune of [[Aram Khachaturian]]'s "[[Sabre Dance]]" when brought on stage. Many of these characters did little more in their appearances than walk across the stage or be wheeled out from behind the curtain, but some had extensive sketches on the show.