Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Don Ohlmeyer on Conan O'Brien filling Letterman's spot on NBC Late Night

Don Ohlmeyer on Conan O'Brien filling Letterman's spot on NBC Late Night

Robert Smigel on leaving Saturday Night Live; on Lorne Michaels wanting Conan O'Brien to produce the Late Night weekday slot first held by Steve Allen and later Jay Leno; on Lorne initially wanting Dana Carvey to host the show; on Conan O'Brien turning down producing the late-night show slot because he wanted to be an on-camera performer again; on Conan auditioning for Lorne Michaels to take over Late Night on Lorne's involvement with Conan's show Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on hiring Dino Stamatopoulos and Louis C.K. as writers on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on Tom Brokaw's cameo on the show; on the first episode and the tone being very dark

Robert Smigel on the genesis of Late Night with Conan O'Brien; on wanting it to be the opposite of David Letterman’s style but invoking his name in the first episode; on wanting to go right to where the “stress” is in humor; on Tom Brokaw’s cameo on the show; on the very dark humor present in the first season of the Late Night show; on the "Actual Items" bit on the show

Robert Smigel on the sketch "In the Year 2000" that he wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien and on the inspiration coming from 60s television shows like The Jetsons; on the Clutch Cargo sketches which involved cutting out out lips from a still photograph and re-enacting the mouth through the photo (it was Smigel’s mouth); on his impressions being more "impercisions" than impressions of famous people like President Bill Clinton

Robert Smigel on the genesis of the Conan sketch "Masturbating Bear" which Brian Reich developed; on the bear bit being funnier due to the limitations put on it by Standards & Practices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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