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Robert Smigel on the stresses of producing Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on some of the challenges he faced as a producer; on his self-effacing personal style; on discontinuing "fake guests" on the show; on Don Ohlemeyer being a big supporter of the show; on a fake guest bit he did with Conan writer Louis C.K. about fake dog trainers; on this being the first time he did the dog-voice (a precursor to Smigel's "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" character); on the genesis of his puppet character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" when he was producing Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on "Triumph" first uttering the phrase “for me to poop on”; on the dog’s gold bow tie and cigar; on the cigar prop; on doing a deadpan stare as "Triumph" in the vein of comedian Myron Cohen; on "Triumph" being able to do what Conan couldn't as a "nice host"; on the popularity of "Triumph"; on doing the first remote shoot with "Triumph" character at the Westminster Dog Show and how they were able to sneak into the show which did not want them filming there; on improvising the remote bits with "Triumph"; on being invited onto Hollywood Squares as "Triumph"; on going to a Bon Jovi concert; on "Triumph" filming the sketch outside a Star Wars movie premiere in New York City

Robert Smigel on the never-aired pilot he produced with Conan O'Brien called Lookwell, starring Adam West of Batman-fame

Robert Smigel on why he left Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and on what made that show unique

Robert Smigel on the controversial opening sketch for the pilot episode of The Dana Carvey Showwhere a fictionalized President Bill Clinton breastfeeds a baby; on not realizing the show that preceded Carvey’s (which was Home Improvement) was a show that kids watched since Smigel himself had never watched it before; on the inevitable backlash to the first episode which Smigel had called resulting in a “cruel prank” on the unsuspecting audience; on the show's sponsor, Taco Bell, and its reaction to the pilot; on how the show was initially received (by getting thousands of complaints); on producer George Schlatter being an early supporter of the show

Robert Smigel on what he learned from producing The Dana Carvey Show; on one of the funniest sketches he was involved in on The Dana Carvey Show, about Gerald Ford, that was never aired until Smigel and Dana Carvey revived it later for Saturday Night Live; on the inspiration for the sketch which was hearing news anchor Dan Rather pre-recording an obituary for Ronald Reagan (who was still alive at the time); on having to fight to get the sketch aired on SNL; on why he had trouble getting his sketches on SNL; on finally being able to get the Gerald Ford sketch on the air only when Dana Carvey came back to host Saturday Night Live in 1996

Robert Smigel on the animated sketches he created for Saturday Night Live; on the "Cluckin' Chicken" piece which he first created for The Dana Carvey Show and later brought to Saturday Night Live; on Adam Sandler as the voice of the "Cluckin' Chicken"; on hiring animation director J.J. Sedelmaier for these pieces; on why he turned to animation as a vehicle for comedy; on wanting to be a cartoonist

Robert Smigel on his animated holiday sketch "Christmastime for the Jews on Saturday Night Live, and on getting Phil Spector singer Darlene Love to sing the song for the sketch