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On the format of Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his initial reluctance to produce Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on how the show was received by critics initially; on Andy Richter and how the role of a sidekick for Conan came about and other people who were considered for the job; on the Clutch Cargo-style bits (which consisted of a still image of a celebrity and the mouth of a real person, with Smigel as the mouth impersonating them); on some of his memorable impersonations for the Clutch Cargo sketches; on why the Clutch Cargo sketches worked and what made them funny; on his impersonation of Arnold Schwarzenegger; on his impersonation of (former Senate Majority leader) Bob Dole in the Clutch Cargo sketches 28:25
Interview: Robert Smigel
On not knowing if Late Night with Conan O'Brien was viable and the stresses of producing the show; on his self-effacing personal style; on having fake guests on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on first doing a voice as a dog character which would eventually become "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog"; on the popularity of "Triumph"; on doing the first remote shoot with the "Triumph" character at the real Westminster Dog Show; on the now-infamous sketch with "Triumph" roasting fans at a Star Wars movie premiere; on the line "Triumph" uttered at the Star Wars premiere to a fan dressed as "Darth Vader" ("And which one of these buttons calls your mother to pick you up?”) being one of the funniest lines he wrote as "Triumph" 25:47
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo-style bits he and Dino Stamatopoulos devised for Late Night With Conan O'Brien 04:05
Interview: Robert Smigel | Genre: Late Night
Robert Smigel on a television pilot he did in 1991 with Conan O’Brien called Lookwell; on Smigel's love of Batman and Adam West (who played "Batman" on the original TV show); on actor Adam West having to audition for the role; on hiring a detective show director instead of a comedy director (E.W. Swackhamer); on NBC executive Rick Ludwin; on Brandon Tartikoff leaving the NBC network and Warren Littlefield coming in, who was not as enthusiastic about the project; on not being able to impersonate Conan O’Brien 14:20
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on a television pilot he did in 1991 with Conan O’Brien called Lookwell; on Smigel's love of Batman and Adam West (who played "Batman" on the original TV show); on actor Adam West having to audition for the role; on hiring a detective show director instead of a comedy director (E.W. Swackhamer); on NBC executive Rick Ludwin; on Brandon Tartikoff leaving the NBC network and Warren Littlefield coming in, who was not as enthusiastic about the project; on not being able to impersonate Conan O’Brien 14:20
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Adam West
Robert Smigel on the working relationship he had with Conan O'Brien after the failed Lookwell pilot they had developed together, and on not being able to impersonate Conan 01:51
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on Adam West appearing as a guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and on other sketches he wrote for West 02:19
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Adam West
Robert Smigel on some of the writers he hired for Late Night with Conan O'Brien including Louis C.K. and Dino Stamatopoulos; on wanting the show to steer clear of some of the reality-based humor that Conan's predecessors used like David Letterman; on Louis coming up with the "Actual Items" sketches 01:33
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Louis C.K.
Robert Smigel on Andy Richter and how the role of a sidekick for Conan came about; on how Richter was originally hired as a writer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on why it clicked between Conan and Andy; on how Stephen Colbert was also considered as Conan’s sidekick; on how NBC hated Andy as a sidekick initially; on what made a good sidekick for a personality like Conan’s 06:29
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Andy Richter
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo-style bits he developed with Dino Stamatopoulos (this technology consisted of a still photo image of a celebrity paired with a real person’s mouth voicing an impersonation of them); on how Smigel came to be the mouth of the Clutch Cargo sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien 03:46
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Bill Clinton
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo-style bits he developed with Dino Stamatopoulos (this technology consisted of a still photo image of a celebrity paired with a real person’s mouth voicing an impersonation of them); on how Smigel came to be the mouth of the Clutch Cargo sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his Clutch Cargo impersonation of then-President Bill Clinton; on doing this sketch live being one of the most exciting moments in his career 04:05
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Dino Stamatopoulos
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and on his Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation 00:53
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Robert Smigel on his Bob Dole Clutch Cargo impression on Late Night with Conan O'Brien being his favorite; on talking about the politician in the third person; on Dole being the funniest person he ever got to play; on doing a different version of the impression when he did Dole on The Dana Carvey Show 03:17
Interview: Robert Smigel | Person: Bob Dole
Robert Smigel on why the Clutch Cargo sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien worked and what made them funny, and on his Arnold Schwarzenegger Clutch Cargo impression 02:13
Interview: Robert Smigel | Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on writing for his character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on the Westminster Dog Show remote episodes with "Triumph"; on some of the best lines being improvised and not pre-written; on the remote bit where "Triumph" roasts fans of Star Wars outside the movie's premiere in NYC 07:39
Interview: Robert Smigel | Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on coming up with the idea for his character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" for Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his wife getting him puppets for his birthday, which was coincidentally right when the Westminster Dog Show was happening; on the character first saying “for me to poop on”; on the dog’s gold bow tie; on the cigar prop; on doing a deadpan stare as "Triumph" in the vein of comedian Myron Cohen; on the character being a good catharsis for the audience since Conan is super polite and "Triumph" is the opposite 08:45
Interview: Robert Smigel | Profession: Writers
Robert Smigel on the stresses of producing Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his self-effacing personal style; not being a super enthusiastic personality; on watching an episode of The Simpsons about "Krusty the Klown" and identifying with the premise of being a person who wallows in his creativity rather than rejoicing in it 06:08
Interview: Robert Smigel | Profession: Producers
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo-style bits he developed with Dino Stamatopoulos (this technology consisted of a still photo image of a celebrity paired with a real person’s mouth voicing an impersonation of them); on how Smigel came to be the mouth of the Clutch Cargo sketches on Late Night with Conan O'Brien 04:06
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on coming up with the idea for his character "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" for Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his wife getting him puppets for his birthday, which was coincidentally right when the Westminster Dog Show was happening; on the character first saying “for me to poop on”; on the dog’s gold bow tie; on the cigar prop; on doing a deadpan stare as "Triumph" in the vein of comedian Myron Cohen; on the character being a good catharsis for the audience since Conan is super polite and "Triumph" is the opposite 08:07
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on the stresses of producing Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his self-effacing personal style; not being a super enthusiastic personality; on watching an episode of The Simpsons about "Krusty the Klown" and identifying with the premise of being a person who wallows in his creativity rather than rejoicing in it 05:47
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on Triumph the Insult Comic Dog filming for Late Night with Conan O'Brien outside a "Star Wars" movie premiere in NYC; on roasting the Star Wars fans; on his process creating the Triumph sketches and how much is improvised and how much is written; on the funniest line he improvised as Triumph, when the puppet says to a fan dressed as Darth Vader ‘which one of these buttons calls your mother to pick you up?”; on kids lining up to be made fun of (by Triumph) on other infamous lines he came up with as Triumph 04:14
Interview: Robert Smigel
Robert Smigel on having Adam West as a guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and on other bits he came up with for West 02:42
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on switching roles from writer to producer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on producing a five-day-a-week show; on the format of the show; on what Conan brought to the show's dynamic 04:16
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on Andy Richter and how the role of a sidekick for Conan on Late Night with Conan O'Brien came about; on how Richter was originally hired as a writer; on why it clicked between Conan and Andy; on how Stephen Colbert was also considered as Conan’s sidekick; on how NBC hated Andy as a sidekick initially; on what made a good sidekick for a personality like Conan’s 06:30
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on the Clutch Cargo-style bits he and Dino Stamatopoulos devised for Late Night With Conan O"Brien (this technology consisted of a still photo image of a celebrity paired with a real person’s mouth voicing an impersonation of them); on how Smigel came to be the mouth on the Clutch Cargo sketches; on his impression of President Bill Clinton; on doing this sketch live being one of the most exciting moments in his career 04:05
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on what made the Clutch Cargo sketches work on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on his Arnold Schwarzenegger Clutch Cargo impersonation; on Arnold reminding him of Desi Arnaz 02:14
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on his Bob Dole Clutch Cargo impression on Late Night with Conan O'Brien being his favorite; on talking about the Senator in the third person; on Dole being the funniest person he ever got to play; on doing a different version of the impression when he did Dole on The Dana Carvey Show 03:17
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
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 25:46
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Robert Smigel on not being a super enthusiastic personality; on watching an episode of The Simpsons about their character "Krusty the Klown," and on identifying with the premise of being a person who wallows in his creativity rather than rejoicing in it 02:18
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Simpsons, The
Robert Smigel on the never-aired pilot he produced with Conan O'Brien called Lookwell, starring Adam West of Batman-fame 14:20
Interview: Robert Smigel | Show: Lookwell