Conan O'Brien Faq, v.3.1
Damone
Archive-name: tv/conan-obrien-faq
Posting-Frequency: Monthly
Last-modified: 1997/1/19
Version: 3.1
URL: http://styx.ios.com/~damone/gconanfaq.html
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Posted near the middle of each month to alt.fan.conan-obrien,
alt.tv.talkshows.late, alt.answers, and news.answers.
Created by Joseph Gebis (j-g...@uiuc.edu).
Updated version from version 1.2 on by Damone (dam...@ios.com).
Available as a Usenet group, alt.fan.conan-obrien is a forum for
discussion about "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."
The newest version of the Conan O'Brien faq is available
electronically by many different methods. See section 5.3 for details.
As seen in "Internet Underground" magazine.
All information new for this version is marked with an *
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: The Show Itself
1.1 What is "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"?
1.2 How can I get tickets?
1.3 When do they tape the show?
1.4 Why was Conan so nervous early in the show's run?
1.5 What are some of the recurring skits on the show?
1.6 So who's winning, Conan or Dave?
1.7 What about Tom Snyder and his other competition?
1.8 I heard that Conan was cancelled. Is that true?
1.9 How can I find out upcoming guests?
1.10 Where can I find other electronic information about Conan and
the show?
1.11 What printed sources are there about Conan?
1.12 How can I contact the show?
1.13 How can I write to NBC about the show?
1.14 What was David Letterman's Top Ten list to Conan?
1.15 Who wrote the theme song?
1.16 Is there a Late Night drinking game?
1.17 I want to go to a taping. What should I know?
* 1.18 Are there any Late Night zines?
1.19 How can I get autographed photos?
1.20 Is there a Conan comic book?
* 1.21 Are there any Conan FTP sites or World Wide Web Pages?
1.22 Am I crazy, or was there another opening montage at one time?
1.23 A book? Where?
1.24 What's with all the "I'm gonna get sued" comments?
1.25 Does the show offer internships?
1.26 What's the connection with "The Dana Carvey Show?"
1.27 Where can I get "Late Night" merchandise?
1.28 What happened to the set?
Chapter 2: Conan O'Brien Questions
2.1 When was Conan born?
2.2 What are his parents doing now?
2.3 Where did Conan go to college?
2.4 What has Conan done since then?
2.5 How did such an unknown person get his job?
2.6 Is Conan married?
2.7 Are there Conan smilies?
Chapter 3: Other People on the Show
3.1 Who is Conan's sidekick?
3.2 Who is the band?
3.3 Who plays the characters on the show?
3.4 Who are the behind-the-scenes people?
3.5 How can I write to other people on the show?
Chapter 4: Newsgroup-specific Information
4.1 What is this newsgroup?
4.2 So what is acceptable newsgroup-type behavior?
4.3 Man, what do I do about this [spammer/flamer/etc]?
4.4 Does Conan know about this newsgroup?
4.5 What if I don't get this newsgroup?
4.6 What's this about #krunk?
4.7 Is anyone doing episode summaries?
4.8 What's this about a Conecon?
4.9 Hey, I need an episode! What should I do?
Chapter 5: Information on this Faq
5.1 Who compiled this faq?
5.2 How do I submit additions, corrections, etc?
5.3 How do I get the latest version of the faq?
5.4 Is there an html version of this faq?
5.5 What other information do you need?
* 5.6 Who are all the wonderful people that have added information to
the faq?
5.7 Who else needs to be especially thanked?
5.8 Have you heard the one about the lawyer and the...?
========================================================================
Chapter 1: The Show Itself
"Watch the Conan O'Brien Show -- you'll see."
-- Bart Simpson
1.1 What is "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"?
"Late Night with Conan O'Brien" is a late-night talk show hosted by
Conan O'Brien. LNwCOB appears Monday through Friday on NBC in the
United States. Beginning the week of December 11th, 1995, the show went
back to the old schedule of repeats on Monday, and new shows on Tuesday
through Friday (giving the show extra time to shoot remotes and
production pieces). It starts at 12:36:30 am EST and ends at approximately
1:35 am. It was first broadcast on September 13th, 1993 as the
replacement for "Late Night with David Letterman" when Letterman moved
to CBS to do "The Late Show."
Beginning in December 1996, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" will be
shown at 10 PM EST from Monday to Friday on the CNBC cable network. CNBC
will broadcast re-run episodes one month after their original airing on NBC.
Internationally, "Late Night" is broadcast through the "NBC
Superchannel" at 11 PM, seven days a week. Re-runs fill the two weekend
slots.
The "NBC Superchannel" is currently a Pan European satellite
channel, broadcasting entertainment (NBC) and news (CNBC) programs. It is
broadcast both from Eutelsat 2 F1 across a broad area from Russia to the
Canary, and on Astra 1D, covering of Western Europe. NBC is splitting up
the programming on "The Superchannel," and soon CNBC programs will be
broadcast all the time on Astra 1D, and entertainment (NBC programs,
including "Late Night") will be only found on Eutelsat 2 F1 during
certain parts of the evening. "The NBC Superchannel" is also carried on
many European cable stations, serving most of the continent.
NBC has plans to open "NBC Superchannel Asia" sometime early in 1996,
providing Superchannel programs to the greater Asian Pacific area.
"We're primarily a children's show. There'll be puppets later."
-- Conan O'Brien
1.2 How can I get tickets?
You can get tickets by writing to:
NBC Tickets
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
Or call:
(212) 664-3056/3057
Three hundred tickets are also distributed to a mailing list of
hotels and universities in Manhatten. Check at your hotel lobby or
student union to see if your building receives these comp tickets.
Here's the official info from NBC:
Individuals interested in obtaining tickets to "Late Night with Conan
O'Brien," which tapes Tuesday through Friday from 5:30 - 6:30 PM at NBC's
studios in New York, should mail a postcard with their name, address and
daytime phone number to "Late Night Tickets," c/o NBC, 30 Rockefeller
Plaza, New York, New York, 10112. The wait list is about one month, and
ticket office personnel will do their best to accommodate specific
requests. The ticket office does take group reservations for tickets over
the phone and for individuals turned away from a taping due to the large
audience turn out.
Tickets can also be obtained by coming to the NBC Main Hall information
booth at 30 Rockefeller Plaza at 9:15 AM and picking up either general
admission tickets or standbys for that night's taping, depending on how
heavily booked that evening's show is. Standbys are given out on a first
come, first served basis, and only one per person. Standbys do not
guarantee admission, but our staff does its best to accommodate as many
people as possible.
1.3 When do they tape the show?
They tape at 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Eastern from Tuesday to Friday.
1.4 Why was Conan so nervous early in the show's run?
You try replacing Letterman and see how cool you are. Seriously, the
show was rushed into production to fill the void left by Letterman, and
on top of this pressure, Conan didn't have any talk show experience
before this job. He was a writer they put in front of the camera. Under
this tremendous pressure, Conan was certainly at least a little edgy
during his early run. As the show progressed and settled into its own
rhythm, coming out of Letterman's long shadow, and as Conan gained on
the job training in performing on a talk show, the show has shown a
steady improvement that continues to this day.
Even Conan's harshest critics have begrudged that Conan has improved
greatly over his early shows. Many have re-discovered the show and now
consider his personable interviewing style to be the best on late night
television.
"Oh no, this is television! It goes everywhere!"
-- Conan O'Brien
1.5 What are some of the recurring skits on the show?
A list of the recurring skits of the show is now its own document.
It contains a listing of all the sketches on the show that have appeared
at least twice. The list is by no means complete, but it is the most
accurate listing currently. A version of it can be found at Joe Shaw's
FTP site, Herbert Gambill's web page, and Damone's web page. (See
section 1.21 for all the addresses)
1.6 So who's winning, Conan or Dave?
They are not fighting each other.
Conan and Dave are two separate hosts, with two separate styles,
and two separate shows. They aren't even in the same time slot. They
appear on each other's show, and compliment each other. In addition, they
have done many cross-over events in recent history. Conan has appeared in
Letterman sketches and Letterman even sent some of his standby audience
over to Conan's show once. The relationship is very cordial, and Dave is
very supportive of Conan on and off air, even given that CBS's "Late Late
Show" is in direct competition with Conan.
Comparing Conan and Dave isn't necessarily evil, but it probably
won't get you very far. Since each show is different, there aren't
really too many parts you can compare; comparing shows in general will
most likely have you just repeating which style you like more.
1.7 What about Tom Snyder and his other competition?
It appears that Tom and Conan are attracting different audiences,
since Conan's ratings have not gone down since "Late, Late Show" has come
out. Conan is stronger with youthful demographics, while Snyder has
picked up an older audience. The relations between the two remain very
cordial, and each have appeared on the other's show and guests regularly
appear on both shows. There is definitely no "late night war" on this front.
Up until recently, Conan was also competing against UPN's "Jon
Stewart Show" and Disney's "Stephanie Miller Show." However, both the
Stewart show and the Miller show were cancelled.
There is something new on the horizon. Letterman's production
company, Worldwide Pants, has signed Jon Stewart to develop a project for
CBS late night. Stewart had also been in negotiations with NBC to be a
permanent guest host for movie-making Greg Kinnear of "Later," and was a
guest host for a few shows. The new project is slated to run at 1:35,
opposite of "Later." Letterman has privately expressed some displeasure
at Snyder's performance, and the likelihood is that Stewart is being
preened to take over the 12:35 time slot opposite Conan. This apparently
is also the quiet end of "Lauren Hutton And..", the current CBS 1:35
offering.
Ok, to the numbers:
- Conan is averaging around a 2.5 weekly, with an average 12 per cent
share. Snyder is averaging around a 1.8 weekly, with a 9 per cent share.
- On Thursdays, Conan has been edging up to around or over a 3.0.
- Conan has an average 1.4 in key demographics (young adults), and
Snyder has a 0.7.
- Conan is holding 51% of his lead-in audience, and Tom is holding 41%.
- For some perspective, "Late Night With David Letterman" was
averaging a 2.7 at the end of its run on NBC. Considering the dropoff
Leno took after Carson left, and all the competition Conan is facing, it
makes his ratings even more impressive.
In order to clear up some commonly asked questions, here is a brief
look at what some ratings terms mean. A "ratings point" is a value set
by the Neilsen company. It is slightly less than 1 million viewers, and
is an estimation of the total number of viewers who watched a program. A
"share" is the percentage of total tv viewers at the time who are
watching the show. A "20% share" is different at 8 PM then it is at
11 PM. "Clearance" reflects the number of affiliates who carry the show
at its proper time. The higher the number, the better the clearance.
"Lead-in" is the rating statistics of the show prior to the rated show.
There are often references to the percentage of the lead-in audience that
is retained.
"Conan O'Brien is going to get better and better."
-- Tom Snyder
1.8 I heard that Conan was cancelled. Is that true?
While it is true that Conan's future was not safe until recently,
Conan is now in little danger of being cancelled. As shown above, "Late
Night" has been doing consistently well in the ratings even in the face
of the increasing competition. NBC has expressed support for the show,
bolstered by the felling of competitors like Jon Stewart and Stephanie
Miller. The return to the four day schedule, to give Conan more time to
tape remote and pre-taped segments, is a great show of confidence by the
network. Conan has just been given a year-long contract extension to the
end of 1997. In addition, the show has begun to do yearly anniversary
specials and the writing staff was nominated for an Emmy.
1.9 How can I find out upcoming guests?
Members of Conan O'Brien's staff periodically post upcoming guest
lists to the USENET newsgroup alt.fan.conan-obrien.
Herbert Gambill (hgam...@rbdc.rbdc.com) keeps a list of the current
schedule for both the regular broadcast shows and the CNBC repeats at the
top of his web page. See section 1.21 for the address.
Sue Trowbridge (tr...@access.digex.net) has a "Late Night Lineups" page
that has up to date info on who's going to be on what late night talk
show. It is updated from AP releases by the networks. Its address is:
http://www.interbridge.com/lineups.html
Aaron Barnhart (barn...@echonyc.com) writes a weekly ezine called
"Late Show News" that has information on late night talk shows, including
schedules. To get on the distribution list, mail list...@american.edu
with the message "subscribe late-show-news YOUR NAME" (where YOUR NAME =
your real name). You can also see old issues of it on the web. Its
address is:
http://www.mcs.net/~barnhart/
European viewers with access to teletext can find out guest
information on page 323.
1.10 Where can I find other electronic information about Conan and the
show?
rec.arts.tv and alt.tv.talkshows.late are good newsgroups to look for
information related to "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" or for information
about Conan himself.
Aaron Barnhart's "Late Show News" (See above in section 1.9) also
periodically contains articles and information about the show.
The show used to be part of AOL's "NBC Online" section, but the two
comapnies do not have a business relationship anymore.
Subscribers to the Microsoft Network have access to the NBC Supernet
(keyword "NBC"). This contains some of the same kinds of materials found
on the AOL section, including interview chat sessions. In fact, most of the
chat sessions have been moved here. However, participants from the NBC
homepage (See section 1.21) can follow the interviews as they go along
and submit questions to the participants.
See section 1.21 for a full listing of Web Pages and FTP sites.
1.11 What printed sources are there about Conan?
There used to be a modest list of early Conan printed sources here.
However, this is being changed. Al Bell is currently working on a
comprehensive bibliography on Conan. The bibliography and its
subsequent updates are also available for download at Joe Shaw's Conan
FTP site, and the full text of some of the articles from the bibliography
is available at Damone's site. (See section 1.21 for both)
The new and updated version of the bibliography, marked up for HTML,
is available at Al's page. (See section 1.21)
Also, certain interviews with Conan and other members of the
cast are available in their entirety online at Damone's site. (See
section 1.21)
1.12 How can I contact the show?
Via normal (snail) mail, you can write to:
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York City, NY 10112
The show used to be reachable through cona...@aol.com. Since NBC
and AOL parted ways, AOL revoked the cona...@aol.com account. However,
the show can still be contacted through funn...@aol.com and is working
to get the cona...@aol.com address back. *Do not* use
cona...@aol.com until then. Both are answered by Lynn Kaplan, a
talent coordinator for the show. Remember, use funn...@aol.com.
NBC's general comment phone number is (212) 664-4444.
1.13 How can I write to NBC about the show?
One person is:
Rick Ludwin
Senior Vice President
Specials, Variety Programs and Late Night
NBC Entertainment
3000 W. Alameda Ave.
Burbank, CA 91523
Others to try:
Don Ohlmeyer
Gary Considine
Michael Zirberg
all at:
NBC Entertainment
3000 W. Alameda Ave.
Burbank, CA 91523
Phone: 818-840-3718
NBC's homepage also has a page where you can send feedback into
the station. The address for that is:
Another e-mail address is late...@online.nbc.com. This e-mail is
sent to and read by NBC Burbank.
Individual affiliates also have their own addresses and phone
numbers. A list of affiliates that do not carry Conan (as well as their
contact information) is maintained by Jim Ellwanger. (See section 1.21)
1.14 What was David Letterman's Top Ten list to Conan?
Top 10 Tips for the New "Late Night" Host - April 27, 1993
10. A drugged guest is a well behaved guest.
9. Proper gratuity for Marv Albert: nickel a blooper.
8. Kids will look up to you; don't let them think it's "cool" to smoke.
7. Willard's insane.
6. If you ever have a baby, look out for giant birds.
5. G. E. executives are "pinheads;" NBC executives are "boneheads."
4. No one cares about Walter Cronkite's lunch.
3. Don't panic if you find a strange woman in your house.
2. When all else fails, just say "Buttafuoco."
1. Two words: laugh track.
1.15 Who wrote the theme song?
John Lurie of the Lounge Lizards wrote the theme song. He was a
finalist for the band leader job (Max's position).
1.16 Is there a Late Night drinking game?
Would there be a question like this if the answer was "no"? A hit
with young and old alike, there is a lengthy drinking game for use with
"Late Night with Conan O'Brien." A copy of it can be acquired at Damone's
web page and at Joe Shaw's FTP site. (See section 1.21 for both)
Post any suggestions or additions to this game to alt.fan.conan-obrien.
1.17 I want to go to a taping. What should I know?
Here's a couple of tips on getting tickets. It is just as easy to call
for tickets as it is to write for them. If you know way far in advance
that you are going to go to a particular show, write in for them (use the
address in section 1.12). Otherwise, you can just call in and get
tickets a reasonable time before the date of the show. The wait
*has* been getting longer, so reserve tickets as soon as you know
you want to go. Remember, the show now tapes from Tuesday to Friday, so
Mondays are no good. Even, and especially, if you are going to write in
for tickets, it wouldn't hurt to call NBC to make sure that the show
won't be on vacation the dates you wish to go. Standby tickets are given
out from the NBC Tour Desk throughout the day of the show, though usually in
the morning and right before the show. Outside of those times, you
should ask at the desk if there are any left. Three hundred regular tickets
(not standbys) are sent out to a mailing list of hotels and universities
in Manhatten. Check at your hotel desk or student union to see if they
are on the list to receive tickets.
Once you get to Rockefeller Center, there are a couple things to be
aware of. You can now start lining up for the show (on the wall by the
elevators opposite the NBC Tour Line) at 3:00. Previously, pages used to
shoo people aware before 4 PM. If you have standby tickets, be sure to
get there extra early to increase your chances of getting a seat.
Outside of some occasional VIP seating, it is democratic first come-first
serve. It is *strongly* suggested to get there as close to 3:00 as possible,
especially for the popular Friday shows. A limited amount of standing-
room-only seating is available for the overspill.
A note on younger children: There is currently a prohibition on young
children under 16 coming into the studio for a taping. This is obviously
to avoid crying babies and pesky children disrupting the show (not to
mention the various curses which pass unbleeped in the studio). If a
child is old enough to pass for 16, there shouldn't be a problem. If not,
and it is a slow night, you may be able to get the child in with sheer
persistence. Please, do not force children that you know will be
disruptive into the studio.
Here's a couple of technical points on seating. You can pretty much
gage where you want to sit. If you want to be seen on camera, you want
to be right behind the railing by the bandstand, ideally right behind
Max. Also, in the center in back will also likely get you on camera. If
you want to dance with Conan or get a hug from Andy, you should sit on the
right side on the aisle. They seat left side to right side, so pick your
place. Remember: first in the elevator is last out. Sometimes the
seating is modified due to VIP lists or the like who get preferential
seating.
If you are looking to give gifts or the like to Conan, you have
different opportunities. If you are on the left side, give your presents
to the pages as they seat you. If you are on the aisles on the right
side, you have more of a chance to give your gift directly to Conan. If
you miss your chance, give your gift to the pages as they lead you out.
Here is a description of the "standard" warm-up that they do before the
show goes on. If you want to be surprised, don't read this:
Mike Sweeney, one of the writers, comes out, and begins doing a warm-up
routine. He talks to the audience, engaging them and setting them up for
jokes and barbs. He'll pick on people from out of town, from other
countries, in groups, etc. After that, he'll introduce Max and the band,
who will play for a while. Mike comes back up the stairs and introduces
Conan. Conan barges up the stairs, picks out a woman sitting on the isle,
and begins singing and dancing with her. After this is over, he will
sheepishly apologize to her and everyone for making a fool of himself.
He'll then talk to the woman for a while, and then introduce "the man who
saved my life in Korea," Andy. Conan will then get Andy to give hugs to the
woman and some other people. Conan will tell the band to show some
enthusiasm, and then they all go crazy for a while. La Bamba tries to
vault up into the crowd, but breaks the top off of one of the posts on
the railing. The band, except for Max, then comes up and dances with
Conan and the woman. They all go back, and Conan and Andy leave. Mike
comes back and gives out the ground rules of behavior, and then Max and
the boys play until the show is ready to start.
* 1.18 Are there any Late Night zines?
Krunk! is the main (and maybe only) Conan fanzine. It's got articles
and interviews and all the sorts of stuff you'd expect to find in a fanzine.
Here's the new release on the new incarnation of Krunk!:
************
Krunk!
The fanzine so spanking new the censors don't know what to do with it!
Krunk! is a fanzine dedicated to the television show, "Late Night with
Conan O'Brien."
Krunk! took a long nap while Cynthia Gill, the publisher, moved from
Colorado to Texas and struggled through the bungee-jumping-like
experience of adjusting to a new job. Cynthia has appointed Al Bell as
administrative editor to help bring Krunk! back to America's mailboxes.
The exact publication schedule is still under consideration. The staff
will start by publishing issues every other month.
We will continue to feature things about the show, such as
interviews with stars, writers, and staff; great pics; Q&A with Conan and
his staff with questions from YOU the subscriber; fan polls; articles from
subscribers; and many other fun and festive features (was that too many
"F"s?).
The subscription rate is:
$5.00 for a six month subscription
(this includes three full editions of the fanzine)
Krunk! is run on half a shoestring. Given the recent publication
difficulties, we suggest you subscribe only if you can live with the
possibility that the publication schedule may be erratic.
Please send subscription requests to this address:
Krunk!
c/o Cynthia Gill
PO Box 20063
Fort Worth, TX 76102
* Electronic Mail: all...@vnet.net
1.19 How can I get autographed photos?
cona...@aol.com has posted this:
---
We will be happy to fulfill autographed photo requests. To expediate the
process, it would be helpful if you send us a self-addressed 8 X 11
envelope. You don't need to enclose postage.
NBC
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
30 Rockefeller Plaza
Room 901W
New York, NY 10112
ATTN: PHOTO REQUESTS
---
A copy of Conan's autograph can be found online at:
http://www.io.org/~akennedy/menu2.html
1.20 Is there a Conan comic book?
There isn't a comic book just for Conan, but he has made an
appearance in one. Look in "Anima: the Motion Picture #11." Andy makes
an appearance too. The cover price is $1.95.
"I can't say that on tv. Let these people go on the Internet and find out."
-- Conan O'Brien
* 1.21 Are there any Conan FTP sites or World Wide Web Pages?
There weren't a little while ago, but there are plenty now.
Joe Shaw (joe...@csgrad.cs.vt.edu) has recently opened up the first
official FTP site for "Late Night." It has pictures, the faq, episode
capsules, and other fun stuff. Comments or contributions should be
addressed to LNw...@joeshaw.bevc.blacksburg.va.us
The FTP address is:
joeshaw.bevc.blacksburg.va.us /pub/conan
There are also a plethora of Conan Web pages currently around. The
largest is Damone's (dam...@ios.com) "Late Night With Conan and Merv." It
has all sorts of nifty stuff and links to all the other places. Its
address is:
http://styx.ios.com/~damone/gconan.html
NBC recently got its own web page up and running. It has a page for
"Late Night" in it as well. It contains factual information about the
show and the big three stars, as well as a number of pictures (different
from the ones at the NBC Online section on AOL). This web site is also
*very* graphically oriented (to the detriment of textual browsers). Its
address is:
http://www.nbc.com/entertainment/shows/conan/index.html
Joe Shaw (joe...@csgrad.cs.vt.edu) has recently combined all of his
Conan material into one homepage. It contains his upcoming guest list,
the AOL pictures, and other links. Its address is:
http://joeshaw.bevc.blacksburg.va.us/~joeshaw/conan/index.html
Joseph Nebus (neb...@rpi.edu) has a Web page up for the ConeCon. Its
address is:
http://www.rpi.edu/~nebusj/conecon.html
He also has a "Conan Purity Test" Web page. Its address is:
http://www.rpi.edu/~nebusj/lnfpt.html
Herbert Gambill (hgam...@rbdc.rbdc.com) has a Web page of his favorite
screen shots from the show. Its address is:
http://www.rbdc.com/~hgambill/conanpic.htm
He also has started up a Conan Homepage ("Joyce Loves Conan") that has
the episode capsules, among other things. Its address is:
http://www.rbdc.com/~hgambill/conan.htm
Scott Erickson (xk...@ix.netcom.com) has set up an Andy Richter page
entitled: "Andy Richter: King of the Couch." It has everything you'd ever
want to know about Andy in it. Its new address is:
http://members.gnn.com/xerickson/andy.htm
"Brian Car" (brian...@aol.com) has also set up an Andy homepage for
"The Andy Richter Fan Club." It can be found at:
http://www.angelfire.com/pg4/andyfan/index.html
Al Bell (all...@vnet.net) has set up her own home page, "Al Bell's
Jar." In addition to having many Conan links, her expanding
fan-fiction story ("Terror at 30 Rock, or The Peacock Had Fangs") is
archived there, as well as the Conan Bibliography. Its address is:
http://www.vnet.net/users/allbell/belljar.html
The electronic magazine T@p Online has opened a big Conan section
("Conan-copia") in its TV section. It includes articles written by
Damone about all aspects of the show, as well as having the first weekly
column on Conan: The Conan-Phile. The old address is defunct and is not
being updated. Its correct, new address is:
http://bird.taponline.com/~damone/conan.html
Ervic Aquino (eaq...@sirius.com) has a Conan Picture Gallery Page.
Its address is:
http://www.sirius.com/~eaquino/moira/pages/pic_pages/conan.html
Bob Williams (bo...@icontech.com) has set up his own Conan homepage. It
is a menagere of stuff, including links to other pages, a quotes section
from sketches, pictures, and other stuff. Its address is:
http://www.icontech.com/~bobw/conan.html
NBC Channel 4 Los Angeles (alc...@tvsknbc.nbc.com) has a page of
"Conan Quotables:" jokes from Conan's monolgues that week. The list is
updates regularly, and includes an archives of previous weeks. Its
address is:
http://www.knbc4la.com/quotes/conan.html
Mike "Palomar" Morier (pal...@magic.mb.ca) has a Conan Hompepage.
It has links to other pages and Conan documents, plus two special
sections: The Andy Conveys An Emotion Page, and The Carl "Oldy" Olsen
Appreciation Page. Its address is:
http://www.magic.mb.ca/~palomar/conan.html
Cindy Elder (cin...@lincnet.com) has a tv section on her "McElvis"
homepage. It contains a transcription of all the "Late Night PSA"
sketches. Its address is:
http://www.angelfire.com/ne/GirlZone/psa.html
Mark Schuster (MB_Sc...@acad.fandm.edu) has set up a Pimpbot 5000
Homepage. It is dedicated to that bad-assed mix of 70's pimp and 50's
robot. Its address is:
http://acad.fandm.edu/~MB_Schuster/pimpbothome.html
Jonathan C (jc1...@navix.net) has also set up a Pimpbot
Homepage. It offers more pictures, sounds, and other stuff from the
sketches. Its address is:
http://www.angelfire.com/ne/jonathanco/pimpbot5000.html
Todd (t...@mail.wsu.edu) has a third Pimpbot Homepage. It also has
pictures, sounds, and links for his royal Pimpness. Its address is:
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~twl/pimpbot.html
Martin has a homepage called "The Essential Conan." It has sections
on specific sketches, like Pimpbot, Johnson the Scientology Chicken, and
Synchro-vox. Its address is:
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~heythere/conan.html
Brian Malmon (bk...@columbia.edu) has a Max Weinberg homepage. It has
Max pictures, links, and games. Its address is:
http://www.columbia.edu/~bkm6/max.html
Brad Randall (hap...@prodigy.com) has a Conan homepage. It has
original graphics, links, and other fun stuff. Its address is:
http://www.cei.net/~randall/conan.html
* Jim Ellwanger (trai...@mindspring.com) has re-opened his list of
NBC affiliates who don't show Conan at his regular time. Its address is:
http://www.mindspring.com/~trainman1/conan.html
* Brooke Steffes (bste...@juno.com) also has opened a Conan homepage.
It contains the story of his trip to a taping, and other info and links.
Its address is:
http://aspin.asu.edu/azeb/steffes/index2.htm
There are also pages that just carry the Conan Faq. They are listed in
section 5.3.
1.22 Am I crazy, or was there another opening montage at one time?
For the first two years of the show, "Late Night" had an animated
opening. This opening was a swoop-down into a red-headed animated
character's room who was settling in for the night. He walks in with a
bowl of snacks, kicks his cat out of the bed, turns on the tv with a
remote, and starts munching. The guests for the night would be announced
and would appear as pictures in a spotlight over an animated NYC skyline.
This opening stayed basically the same for two years. (A huge, winking
Conan head was deleted from the opening early on.)
At the Conecon, Conan mentioned that some high-up goober-smoochers
wanted the show to have a live-action opening instead. Conan would not
divulge any more information, except that the new opening was coming.
On the second anniversary of the premiere of the show (September 13,
1995), the new, live-action opening also premiered. This opening features
Conan bicycling through NYC. The whole opening is very blue and very
surreal-ish. Conan bikes through several NYC landmarks, including Grand
Central Station, and the dinosaur room of the Museum of Natural History.
Over a shot of the Museum, the guests' names appear in text as they are
announced. At the very end of the opening (which doesn't always appear on
the broadcast version, but shows up in the studio monitors), Conan bikes
into the delivery entrance of Rockefeller Center.
This opening can still be downloaded in its entirety from the NBC web
site. It is at:
http://www.nbc.com/entertainment/tasties/index.html
The opening recently underwent other changes. It was shortened up
by splicing out some stanzas from the opening theme song and
discontinuing Joel Godard's comments. This made space for a "Late Night"
promo that is shown between the end of the "Tonight Show" and the start
of "Late Night." This was an unpopular, but tolerable change. The week
of June 9th, however, the opening was replaced completely and the promo
*became* the opening. The theme song played behind clips of the upcoming
show while Joel Godard announced the specifics. These changes by NBC
Burbank have been greeted with universal hostility by fans of the show.
Fans wishing to voice their objection to the changes may find detailed
information on what to do at:
http://styx.ios.com/~damone/gbumblehawk.html
1.23 A book? Where?
"Late Night With Conan O'Brien" is releasing its first book. _If
They Mated_ is written by Conan O'Brien, producer Jeff Ross, and former head
writer Rob Smigel. It is based on the sketch in the show where Conan uses
advanced computer graphics to see what would happen if two people in the
news got together and had a kid. The book will feature the best of the
past two years, including Jonathan Goodman and Roseanne, Maurey Povich
and Connie Chung, and Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley.
The book is published by Hyperion Press and was released the first
week of December. The book costs $7.95 ($10.95 Canada), and its ISBN
number is 0-7868-8156-9. The address for Hyperion Press is 114 Fifth
Avenue, New York, NY 10011.
For some reviews of the book, see:
http://www.rbdc.com/~hgambill/mate.htm
http://styx.ios.com/~damone/greview.html
1.24 What's with all the "I'm gonna get sued" comments?
On October 11, 1993, Conan did a segment based on the Ted Danson-in-
blackface incident.
A document from the case describes the situation: "This action
arises out of a comedy skit performed on the October 11, 1993, episode
of the late-night show, 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' (the 'Show'). In
that skit, O'Brien has a conversation with a larger-than-life picture of
the actor, Ted Danson. Danson is in blackface and there is a cutout
where Danson's mouth would be. A cast member speaks Danson's part while
his lips are visible talking through the cutout. O'Brien 'interviews'
Danson about his controversial Friars Club 'roast' of Whoopi Goldberg.
At one point in this interview, 'Danson,' claiming that his performance
was really funny, states: 'Marty Ingalls was peeing in his pants,
Freddie Roman was worshipping me, Red Buttons said it was brilliant,
Jack Carter was in tears.'"
Red Buttons felt that Conan implied he approved of Ted Danson's
antics, and sued Conan and NBC for $20 million.
The case was dismissed March 14, 1994.
A summation of the court's decision, transcribed by Al Bell, is
available at Damone's Web page (See section 1.21).
Octobers have again proven unlucky for the Synchro-vox bit. On
October 9th, 1995, "Late Night" did the bit featuring Pope John Paul II.
During the "interview" while the Pope was in the country, the sketch
portrayed the pontiff as more laid back than his public image, and, at
times, was extremely irreverent to what hard-line devotees would consider
appropriate representations of the head of the Catholic Church.
The Polish-American Guardian Society of Chicago, led by Leonard
Jarzab, has brought a suit against Chicago affiliate WMAQ-Ch. 5, charging
that "Late Night" portrayed the Polish Pope as a "buffoon," and that this
was the latest in a long line of such stereotypical characterizations by
NBC, creating a "hostile" atmosphere to Polish-Americans. Jarzab,
although he has not seen the entire sketch, has judged it "obscene." He
is sueing for unspecified damages.
Neither WMAQ or NBC corporate headquarters has made any official
statement on the matter. It has not gone to court yet, and no date is
set. The chances of the case winning, however, seem slight.
For an article on the case and up-to-the-minute information on its
status, you can access this section on Damone's web page. (See section 1.21)
1.25 Does the show offer internships?
"Late Night with Conan O'Brien" gives out several internships
each semester (and summer) in various departments in the show (research,
writing, etc.) They generally last one semester. Applicants should be
currently enrolled college students and should send a resume' and
coverletter to:
Mr. Chris Deluca
"Late Night With Conan O'Brien"
NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York City, NY 10112
Phone: 212 - 664 - 3737
You can expect to do a lot of drudgework and gopher duties. There
is usually nothing glamorous about your jobs. Stocking refrigerators
and getting lunch are fairly common duties. However, on the plus side, you
get a lot of backstage experience with the show. You get to meet guests
and deal with the stars on a daily basis. Many people who work for
the show were former interns. There is even a small chance of being
featured on the show itself in a bit part.
"Hey, no interns in the dressing rooms. Why don't you go find a warm
place and go screw yourselves?"
-- David Letterman to Conan O'Brien
1.26 What's the connection with "The Dana Carvey Show?"
There are many, from the mundane to the downright spooky. The first
connection is that Dana Carvey was one of the people who passed up the
job at "Late Night" before Conan was hired. (See section 2.5) Secondly,
many of the writers on the "Dana Carvey Show" had worked with on Conan's
"Late Night" before, including first Conan head writer Robert Smigel,
and writers Dino Stamatapolous, Louis CK, and others. So, in effect, Dana
ended up with the writing staff that Conan started with, almost creating
a replay of what would have happened if Dana had taken the "Late Night"
job when offered it. Many of the writers like Smigel continued working
on Conan's show while developing and working on the Carvey show.
"The Dana Carvey Show" itself was a sketch comedy series on ABC.
Originally, ABC ordered 13 episodes of the show as a winter replacement
series. It ended up airing at 9:30 on Tuesdays. Each episode was to be
sponsored by a subsidiary of Pepsico, so the title for each episode
would be something like "The Taco Bell Dana Carvey Show." This
arrangement quickly fell apart as some of the more controversial material
on the show (President Clinton using hormones to grow artificial breasts
and then nursing puppies on-screen) and unflinching jabs at the sponsors
(a glass of Mountain Dew was compared to urine) caused Pepsico to back
out of the deal. ABC cut the order of episodes down to nine and pulled
the show during May sweeps, with one episode to be aired afterwards. It
is not renewed.
Reactions were split on the show. Many found it tasteless, unfunny,
and innapropriate for its time slot. A minority found it hillarious, but
concede it could not survive at that time period. Nevertheless, many
elements the writers brough to "Late Night" (weird political humor, costumes
and puppets, etc) can be seen in the show. Anyone interested in seeing
an episode should contact Steve Saunders (m...@ix.netcom.com), who has all
the episodes on tape and expressed willingness to share them.
1.27 Where can I get "Late Night" merchandise?
Merchandise for "Late Night" can be purchased several ways. The most
direct way is to go to the NBC Studio Store at 30 Rockefeller Center in
New York. I assume they also sell "Late Night" merchandise in the studio
store at 3000 West Alameda Avenue in Burbank.
"NBC Studio Stores" are also becoming a chain, like the "Warner
Brothers Studio Stores" and other similar chains. They can be found in
malls and other outlet areas.
Merchandise can also be ordered through the mail. A catalog of NBC
merchandise can be ordered by calling 1-800-NBC-8760. It can also be
found on the web (with accompanying pictures of the items) at:
The items cannot be directly ordered through the web, and orders must be
mailed in.
Anyone who orders anything form the catalog, including the catalog
itself, will be put on the NBC Catalog Mailing List. NBC "shares" (read:
sells) their mailing list with other catalog companies. If you do not
wish your address to be given out to other companies, be sure to include
a request that your address not be given out to other companies when you
deal with the catalog for the first time.
Several items are currently available. Through the catalog and
the web page, you can order a logo jockey cap ($16), a Conan-head jockey
cap ($18), a logo sweat shirt ($16), a two-mug set of logo mugs ($16), a
logo t-shirt ($18), a silk-screen t-shirt ($16), and the _If They Mated_
book ($8). Merchandise that is also offered at the Studio Store in New
York in addition to the above is a logo lapel pin (price unavailable) and
a logo key chain (price unavailable).
1.28 What happened to the set?
The set has changed little for the first three years of the show.
The original set for the show has no windows and a prominent crescent
moon on the top. The moon was removed and windows were put in early in
the run, leaving everything else in tact. The monologue area had a blue
floor and curtain, with the band along the far wall. The interview area
was done like a den in light reds and browns. There was a large, simple
desk, a couch-chair combo next to it, and a medium-sized coffee table.
The windows were normal-sized with blue sashes.
Small changes happened in early 1996. The curtains remained open
during the monologue, showing the unlighted backstage and
band-performance area. The Max Weinberg Seven area was also redone. Max
was given a red drum riser and the band got a new, bi-level bandstand.
During the two-week hiatus for the 1996 Olympics, the set was
completely redesigned. The band and monologue areas were left alone, but
the interview area was redone totally. The set now resembles a ritzy
apartment as opposed to a den. The set is now in much darker colors.
The walls are covered in cushioned panels. All the furniture is now more
stylized and smaller (with an almost non-existant coffee table). The
back wall was turned into a balcony. Behind the balcony is a somewhat
abstracted New York city-scape. The set is not in its final form yet,
and has been constantly tweaked and changed since it has been put into
service.
========================================================================
Chapter 2: Conan O'Brien Questions
"I'm just trying to make my brothers laugh."
-- Conan O'Brien
2.1 When was Conan born?
Conan Christopher O'Brien was born April 18, 1963 (that makes him an
Aries), third of six children, to Ruth and Thomas O'Brien. Conan was
born in Brookline, a suburb of Boston. He has three brothers and two
sisters, including Neil, Katherine, Luke, Justin, and Jane. Conan is
6'4". Conan took tap dancing lessons as a child, and also began writing
comedic plays early in his life.
2.2 What are his parents doing now?
Conan's mom is a partner in Ropes & Gray, a law firm in Boston.
She earned her BA from Vassar in 1953, and her law degree from Yale in
1956. She was admitted to the bar in 1957.
Conan's father was born in 1929 in Worcester. He earned his medical
degree from Harvard in 1954. He interned at Peter Brigham Hospital.
He is the head of microbiology at Peter Brigham Hospital, and is also a
professor at Harvard Medical School.
In 1988 he founded the WHONET BBS to help practicing physicians,
researchers, and labs share reports of diseases. Physicians from all
over the world are members.
One of Conan's father's articles is available on the WHONET Web site.
Its address is:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol1no2/obrien.htm
He often talks to reporters about bacterial resistance to
antibiotics, and has been quoted in "Newsweek," "Science," "Scientific
American," and "US News and World Report."
2.3 Where did Conan go to college?
Conan went to Harvard from 1981 to 1985. While there, he majored in
American History and Literature. Conan joined the "Lampoon," the
prestigious Harvard humor magazine, in his freshman year. He wrote for
the magazine his entire four years, and was elected president an
unprecedented two terms in a row in 1993-4. He graduated magna cum laude in
1985.
2.4 What has Conan done since then?
Conan worked on HBO's "Not Necessarily the News" for two years (1985-87).
After that, he worked on Fox's "Wilton North Report" (1987-88), a
late-night comedy-and-talk show which only aired for four weeks. After
that, he worked in the "Happy Happy Good Show" (1988), a stage show in
Chicago. He then spent three years (1988-91) writing for "Saturday Night
Live," where he won an Emmy. In 1991, he wrote a TV pilot, "Lookwell,"
that was produced (starring Adam West), but not picked up as a regular
series. After that, he wrote for the "Simpsons" (1991-93), until he got
the job of hosting "Late Night," taking over for David Letterman.
He has also written for the Hanz and Franz movie (no word on if
this is dead or if the deal is still being worked on), "Groundlings" (a
LA comedy group), and acted in some small films. He was also an actor in
industrial films.
Some of Conan's previous writing work from SNL includes the Tom
Hanks/Jon Lovitz girl-watching skit, the nude beach "penis" skit,
"Singing 'Roxanne' in the Elevator with Sting," and "Mr. Short-Term Memory."
Conan has also acted in some SNL skits, including the "Irish
Drinking Songs" skit, a nude talk show skit, a Twin Peaks parody, and was
the doorman at the "Five Timer's Club."
Conan is credited with writing four Simpsons episodes: "New Kid on
the Block," "Marge vs. the Monorail," "Homer Goes to College," and
"Treehouse of Horror IV" (wraparounds). Conan is listed as a co-writer
on the "Treehouse of Horror IV" episode. He also worked on many
others. "Producer" credits were given to any writer who wrote significant
material for an episode, but not enough to be given full writing
credits. There is no easily searchable database for "Simpsons" producer
credits, but we are collecting them as we go. So far, there are "The
Front," "Homer's Barbershop Quartet," "Treehouse of Horror III," (as
"Creepy Conan O'Brien") , "Brother From The Same Planet," and "Wacking Day."
(Incidentally, "Late Night" has appeared itself on the "Simpsons."
Conan interviewed "I Didn't Do It" Bart in "Bart Gets Famous," and Homer
flips through Conan interviewing "Kid n' Play" during "Radioactive Man."
During the "Treehouse of Horror III" episode, "King Homer" gives an
undeniably Conan "rowwl" after he smells Marge's hair.)
Conan has an appearance on Adam Sandler's first CD.
Conan's Emmy is for "Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music
Program," shared with the entire SNL writing crew, for the 1988-89
season.
Conan made his prime time debut on February 1st, as guest character
Cameron Duncan on NBC's "The Single Guy."
"This job? Piece of cake. They put suits on me and Andy, we come out and
babel for an hour, and the checks keep coming."
-- Conan O'Brien
2.5 How did such an unknown person get his job?
Conan's previous boss, Lorne Michaels, suggested that Conan try out
for "Late Night." The show was offered to Dana Carvey and Garry
Shandling, who both turned it down. He tried out April 13, 1993, and
was told that he had been accepted April 26, 1993.
Conan did win an Emmy for his writing; many of his former colleagues
describe Conan as very funny.
Also, NBC got Conan cheap. His contract is for five years, with an
option to renew at one year. He got only a little over $1 million a
year, but a recent raise has bumped that figure up to around $2 million a
year.
2.6 Is Conan married?
Since it now has been widely reported publically, it is fair game to
report what we already knew. Conan is current dating Lynn Kaplan, a
talent coordinator at the show.
2.7 Are there Conan smilies?
Of course there are! Here are some suggestions:
From Michael Gebis (m-g...@uiuc.edu):
J:)
6:)
From Carol Gerber (cge...@dolphin.upenn.edu), some "backwards" smilies:
[<^:?
[<^:9
From Lore Guilmartin (LAG...@Zeus.TAMU.edu):
y:)]
From Greg Mitchell (grm...@herald.usask.ca), a two-liner:
,
6:]
From Sean Russel (Sean....@launchpad.unc.edu):
&:)
@:)
From Elson Trinidad (etri...@scf.usc.edu):
/:^]
6:^]
7:^]
Debra Steffen (dbrs...@ix.netcom.com) offers one for Conan, Andy, and Max:
B,: ^ )]
S': o ))
7,8 ^ )/
Mark Diaz (umd...@cc.umanitoba.ca) offers another version of the three:
@:-)
2:-)
D8-)
========================================================================
Chapter 3: Other People on the Show
"I wasn't paying attention."
-- Andy Richter
3.1 Who is Conan's sidekick?
Conan's sidekick is Andy Richter. He performs in many of the skits
and talks to Conan about many issues. Andy also takes an active role
in many of the interviews, although a lot of people think he is not active
enough!
Paul Andrew Richter was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on October 28,
1966. He was raised in Yorkville, Illinois. His parents are Glenda
Swanson (whose job is cabinet sales & design) and Larry Richter, a
Professor of Russian Language at Indiana University. He has 2 brothers
and a sister.
He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from
1984-1986 (his freshman and sophomore years). He was a journalism
major. Andy then attended Columbia College in Chicago, where he
studied film and video.
After that, he studied improvisation in Chicago with Del Close and
Mick Napier.
He then worked with in Chicago with improvisation groups, including
Annoyance Theater, Gambrinus King of Beer, Comedy Underground, and
Improvolympia.
Andy's first TV role was playing one of serial killer John Wayne
Gacey's victims in a "Hard Copy" re-enactment.
Andy also played Mike Brady in the NY and LA productions of "The
Real Live Brady Bunch." He met his wife on the set of this production. He
had a small role in the HBO movie "...Texas Cheerleader Murdering Mom"
and acted in the movie "Cabin Boy." He was also in the play "Ayn Rand Gives
Me A Boner."
In a recent interview, Andy revealed that he and Conan first met at
Junior's Deli in California where Conan was immediately impressed by
Andy's bowl of borscht.
He worked for a month and a half writing at NBC before he
was asked to work as Conan's sidekick. He started out next to Conan
during the test episodes, and never left.
Andy Richter is 6'2". He is married to Sarah Thyre, an actress.
For the total Andy fan, be sure to check out Scott Erickson's
(xk...@ix.netcom.com) Andy homepage: "Andy Richter: King of the Couch."
(See section 1.21)
"Good grooming is never a distraction."
-- Max Weinberg
3.2 Who is the band?
The band is "The Max Weinberg 7." The members are:
Max Weinberg: leader/drums
Jimmy Vivino: guitar
Mark "Love Man" Pender: trumpet
La Bamba: trombone
Jerry Vivino: saxophone
Scott Healy: keyboards
Mike Merritt: bass
Max Weinberg is the former drummer of the E Street Band, Bruce
Springsteen's major band. His snare drum from the "Born In The USA" tour,
"The Big Beat," is on display at the Hard Rock Caffe in NYC. Max started up
his own record label and production company in 1990 called Hard Ticket
Entertainment. He produced the albums by Killer Joe on this label. He
recently released an album called "Let There Be Drums," a 3 CD collection
of Max's favorite drum tracks from the 50's to the 70's.
Max recently regrouped with the rest of the E Street Band for Bruce
Springsteen's "Greatest Hits" album. He has done several performances with
Bruce and the band since then, and is featured in the video for "Murder
Incorporated," one of the two new songs on the "Greatest Hits" album. Max
has also appeared with Bruce when he has performed surprise shows at
Jersey shore clubs.
Max also has a one-man show called "Growing Up On E Street" that he
has shown on over 150 college campuses across the country since starting
it in 1986. It contains three films that Max produced, and a question and
answer session. In 1990, he expanded the program to include motivational
seminars.
Max went back to Seton Hall after a 15 year break to receive a B.A.
in communications in 1989. He also received a HERO award from the Big
Brothers/Big Sisters of America for his contributions to the organization
in October, 1990.
Max lives with his wife, Becky, and their two children in Middleton, NJ.
There used to be a incomplete discography of the band members here.
Grace Nall (grac...@aol.com) has created an expanded discography,
videography, and background information on the members of the band. She
is also working on a web page for the band. You can view the full text of
the discography at Damone's web page or Joe Shaw's FTP site. (See
section 1.24 for both)
3.3 Who plays the characters on the show?
Here's the people that play some of the regular characters on the
show:
Tommy Blacha (Gaseous Wiener, Siamese Twins) is a writer for the show.
Greg Cohen (Audience Request) is a writer for the show.
Tom Davis (Dippy The Hippy) is a former writer for the show and "SNL."
John Deyle has plays "The People's Scientist, Ray Burns."
Kevin Gee plays the Lenny Bruce of China. Stephen Lee appeared as
the translator. Lee died.
Michael Gordon plays Dizz.
Frank Houston Saari plays "Billy Tyler, the kid that no one loves."
Brian McCann (Pimpbot 5000, Loser at the Beach, Gargoyles, Moths,
Synchro-vox) is a writer for the show. Brian is also an active stand-up
comic and performs with the Asscats comedy troupe in NY. He has also done
some commercial work, including Barq's Root Beer. He hosted a comedy
program in Chicago on WLUP ("The Loop") called "Sunday Funnies" and was
in local comedy group Improvolympic.
Marie McMichaels (The Ooh To Ahh Lady) is an accomplished actress.
She has appeared in several movies, such as "Awakenings," and is a very
popular older model.
Jack Plotnick plays Slim Organbody.
William Preston is Carl "Oldy" Olsen. He started an acting career
later in life, giving up his career as a bookkeeper in a Philadelphia
trucking firm to begin acting at 47. He has extensive stage experience,
performing in over 60 Shakespeare productions as well as being
nominated for Florida's state supporting actor award. Among his
many movie roles, he played John, the bum, from "The Fisher King," a
blacksmith in "Far and Away," and the flask mourner in "Family
Business." More recently, he has appeared in "WaterWorld," "Reckless,"
"Blue In The Face," and "The Crucible." William was born on August 26,
1921 in Columbia, PA. He has a Master's degree in English literature from
Penn State.
Nipsey Russell appears regularly as himself. Nipsey was a popular
comedian during the 1970s, known for his funny poems. He was a regular
pannelist on game shows and Friar's Roasts.
Mitch Semel appears quasi-regularly as the Jerry Seinfeld impersonator.
Chuck Sklar appears as David Copperfield.
Michael Stoynov appears as the Devil in the "Moral Dilemma" sketch.
Robert Smigel (Synchro-vox [Clinton, Dole, others]; Ira, Conan's
Publicist) was the first head writer for the show and a close friend of
Conan. He worked for a Chicago improv group called "All You Can Eat."
Before working on "Late Night," he was a long-time writer on "SNL,"
writing sketches like the "Star Trek Convention," and performing in ones
like "The Moron's Perspective" (on the News) and "The Superfans." He was
head writer for the short-lived variety show, "The Dana Carvey Show." He
is now working at SNL again, producing weekly animated segments, while
making frequent appearances on "Late Night."
Frank Smiley (Interview Hints, Siamese Twins) is a segment producer
for the show.
Dino Stamatapolous (Tomorry The Ostrich, Johnson The Scientology
Chicken, Kiss-Ass Turkey, Skull Juice, The Americlan) was a writer for
the show. He also worked on "The Dana Carvey Show." He still appears
regularly.
Mike Sweeney (Todd, Moths, priests) is a writer for the show. He
also does the nightly warm-up of the studio audience.
Abe Vigoda regularly appears as himself on the show. Abe was a
prominent actor from the 1970s, playing Tessio in the first two
"Godfather" movies and appearing as the incontinent Detective Phil Fish
on TV's "Barney Miller" and its short-lived spin-off, "Fish." He
continues supporting cast work in feature films to this day.
3.4 Who are the behind-the-scenes people?
Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of LNwCOB, also produces
many other projects, including "Saturday Night Live," and nearly all of
the spin-off projects from it. He was also the producer of the wildly
popular "Kids In The Hall" programs.
The musical guests are picked by Jim Pitt, a talent director. About
the type of music on the show, he says, "I'm pretty much left alone ...
I hear music. I like it. I put it on TV."
Here's a list of credits, that are complete and up-to-date as of 4/10/96:
Executive Producer:
Lorne Michaels
Producer:
Jeff Ross
Consulting Producer:
Mitchell Semel
Directed By:
Until recently, the show was directed by Dana Calderwood. Soon after the
400th episode, Dana left the show. The interim director was Morris
Abraham, but the new director is:
Liz Plonka
Head Writer:
Johnathan Groff
Written By:
Chris Albers
Thomas Blacha
Greg Cohen
Janine Ditullio
Michael Gordon
Brian Kiley
Brian McCann
Conan O'Brien
Brian Reich
Andy Richter
Mike Sweeney
Associate Producer: Graphics Coordinator:
John Irwin Charlie Wilke
Talent Executives: Assistant To Mr. Michaels:
Paula Davis Christine Rubin
Kim Friedman
Jim Pitt Assistant to Jeff Ross:
Jacqueline Ytuarte
Segment Producers:
Frank Smiley Assistant To Mr. Semel:
Michael Weinberg Cecile Schwartzman
Talent Coordinators: Assistant Scenic Designer:
Gina Battista Chryss Hion
Lynn Kaplan
Art Director:
Music Director: Dianne Duthie
Max Weinberg
Casting:
Assistant Directors: Jennifer Low Sauer
Tracy King
Maureen Smith Music Coordinator:
Debbie Wunder
Production Associate:
Brenda Ventura House Band:
Jerry Vivino
Set Designers: Scott Healy
Keither Ian Raywood Mike Merritt
Jimmy Vivino
Lighting Consultant: Mark "Love Man" Pender
Phil Hymes La Bamba
Technical Consultant: Assistant Musical Director:
Stacey Foster Jimmy Vivino
Writer's Coordinator: Graphical Consultant:
Ellen Barancik Bob Pook
Costume Designer: Graphics:
Deborah Shaw Mike Collins
Kevin Frank
Technical Director: Doug Zider
Jim Marshall Anne Elbagali
Pierre Bernard Jr
Stage Managers:
Gary Natoli Outside Properties:
Steve Hollander Bill Tull
Paul Saraceni
Production Designer:
Bobby Ber Studio Properties:
Bob Bowman
Scenic Designer:
Daniella Perna Head Carpenter:
Joe Gorta
Lighting Director:
Joe Geores Head Electrician:
Randy Savitch
Production Electrician:
Peter Ehrhardt Scenic Artist:
Joe Konopka
Senior Audio:
Fred Zeller Wardrobe:
Tina Ryan
Music Mixer:
Julie Perez Make-up:
Andrea Miller
Audio:
Glen A. Arber Hair:
Joe Aebig Liza Hazel
Jimmy DeVito
Bruce Leonard Cue Cards:
Barbara Byrd Video Cue
Harta Hogan Brain Kaman
Melanie Winderbaum
Video:
Carl Henry III Photographers:
Baskin Studios
Special Effects: Norman Ng
Neal Schatz Lesly Weiner
Technical Manager: Main Title Theme:
Frank Garafalo Howard Shore
John Lurie
Studio Manager:
George Mendez Announcer:
Joel Godard
Cameras:
Carl Eckett Production Staff:
Mike Bennett Kimberly Simon
George Ciliberto Haleigh Safran
Bailey Stortz Michael Hammek
Jordan Schlansky
Videotape:
Steve Skorupka Production Accountants:
Roger J. Miletic
Electronic Graphics: Dawn Massy
Carol Collings Chris Williams
Editors: Production Consultant:
Chuck DeJan Key Aymong
Katherine Babiak
Ed Hinch Music Equipment Provided by:
Mark Jankeloff Amplification, Inc.
Drum Workshop
Maintenance: Yamaha
Marty Carver Mackie
Steve Sirivanta Gibson
Ed Wieczorek Kurzwell/Young
Paul Kopcienski Chang
Lexicon
Assistant To Mr. O'Brien: Diaz
Maysie Anderson
Executive In Charge Of Production:
Script Coordinator: Gary Considine
Susan Santamauro
Tickets for "Late Night With Conan O'Brien:"
Production Coordinator: Write: NBC Tickets
Geoffrey Added 30 Rockefeller Plaza
Research: Or Call: (212) 664-3056/3057
Mariah Notaras
Amy Roth Broadway Productions
Eliza Minot NBC
3.5 How can I write to other people on the show?
Write to:
(Person)
c/o
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York City, NY 10112
========================================================================
Chapter 4: Newsgroup-specific Information
"Don't go virtual on me."
-- Conan O'Brien
4.1 What is the newsgroup?
The newsgroup is alt.fan.conan-obrien. This newsgroup is a forum
for discussion about any aspect of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien,"
including criticism, praise, questions, and general discussion.
4.2 So what is acceptable newsgroup-type behavior?
The newsgroup welcomes any intelligent discussion about the show, its
cast and crew, or tangential information about any of the above. It is
asked that basic rules of netiquette are followed pertaining to things
like the prohibition of all caps, multiple postings of the same message,
etc. Spams, velveta, and other inappropriate or illegal postings (like
ponzi schemes) are also obviously prohibited.
Criticism *is* allowed, but not flames. The newsgroup would get
boring if all it contained was mindless praise. The difference is that
criticism requires an ounce of thought and can lead to a discussion, while
flaming lacks any mental effort. Criticism is: "I don't like Conan's
style of humor because..." Flaming is: "You're all dorks for watching
this show."
Do *not* post joke or sketch ideas for "Late Night" to the newsgroup.
People from the show do occassionally read and post to the group and
would have to stop for legal reasons if unpublished comedy material were
posted to the group. The only acceptable way to submit comedy ideas to
the show is through their offices and via an agent.
4.3 Man, what do I do about this [spammer/flamer/etc]?
The first and most important rule to any of the above is to *not
reply to the spammer or flamer*. For the most part, all these people are
trying to do is disrupt the newsgroup by starting a fight and drawing in
as many people as possible for the longest time. Do not reward them by
doing so. Obviously, never send any money to someone posting a ponzi
scheme or similar con.
Sometimes, the infraction is a little more serious. In the case of
spams or ponzi schemes ["MAKE MONEY FAST"], you should take the header of
the post and mail it to the postmaster of the user who posted it at:
postm...@users.site
Tell the postmaster what happened in your mail. Be polite.
Just plain flamers are a different story. The best and only thing you
can usually do is to ignore them and not reply. If a particular person
upsets you tremendously, you can put them in a "kill file," a file that
filters out and deletes posts by a certain user before you see them. Ask
your internet provider about how to set one up for your particular
newsreader. There are only a pair of consistent flamers who, like an ugly
rash, never seem to go away. You will eventually run into them. Once
they are in your killfile, 98% of flames on the newsgroup will disappear
for you.
However, a flamer can go to far. If a flamer begins to harass you,
either on the newsgroup or through e-mail, take the offending posts or
e-mails and send them to the user's postmaster, using the same method
described above.
4.4 Does Conan know about this newsgroup?
cona...@aol.com (now funn...@aol.com) takes mail from people for
Late Night. conanshow has posted a few times on a.f.c-ob, including once
when she said, "I'm not Conan, just his assistant. He knows about this
newsgroup and thanks you all for your support. I enjoy reading the
messages and will tell Conan about points I feel he should know about. He
doesn't have time to read this stuff himself."
Conan himself has written and said, "I don't read the Internet
computer network daily, but several of my staff members do and they give
me the gist of the comments."
However, according to at least one recent article, Conan has been
forcing himself to get more computer-friendly, and has been learning to
use the Internet. He has even taken a tour around the World Wide Web.
Whether this will lead to more Conan involvement on-line is uncertain, but
Conan does have a busy schedule (the show and all) that would preclude him
spending any outrageous amount of time online.
Elson Trinidad interviewed Conan, and says, "Of interest to you
people, I told him about THIS NEWSGROUP, and asked if he would make a
guest appearance on here, which he seemed very willing to do. He is
definitely aware of a.f.c-o, though he's never been on, due to his busy
schedule and that he admits to not being much of a computer person, but
he told me that his staff prints out postings to him and that he reads
them."
There are several staff members who read the group regularly, and
some contribute to the discussion from time to time. At the Conecon, it
was revealed that more members of the staff are planning to become active
on the internet, reading and possibly contributing to the newsgroup.
"I'm a technological kinda guy."
-- Conan O'Brien
4.5 What if I don't get this newsgroup?
Complain fiercely. :)
If you don't get news, ask your system administrator if you can. It
does take a lot of time and effort, not to mention disk space and
computer resources. However, if your site administrators know that
enough people from your site want it, they may be able to get it.
If you get news, but you don't get alt groups, ask your system
news administrator. Many admins don't like the "alt" groups because of
their size. However, your news administrator may decide to get them if
enough people ask.
If you don't specifically get alt.fan.conan-obrien while getting the
other alt groups, ask your news administrator to add it. It is a fairly
low-volume group and he should have no qualms about adding it.
There are some public access newsreaders available via telnet or
gopher. They frequently close due to overuse, so if you are desperate
enough to need one, you will have to hunt pretty hard to find one. They
do, however, exist. Your system administrator may be able to help you
find one.
Several resources exist that allow you to post to a newsgroup via
e-mail. For information on one of these services, mail:
Some Conan web pages have links to the newsgroup in them. However,
you usually have to have a local news connection to use them. See
section 1.21 for a list of Conan web pages. There are also web pages
that specifically archive posts and give access to USENET newsgroups. There
are several, but two are:
http://www.altavista.digital.com/
http://www.dejanews.com/
4.6 What's this about #krunk?
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) lets groups of people discuss things in
real time -- that is, it's more like a real discussion than a bulletin
board. Groups of alt.fan.conan-obrien'ers (and others) often meet on
the IRC channel #krunk to talk about the show.
You can drop in any time and someone may be there. Once fallen into
disuse, the channel has become quite active recently. Nights are
generally more active than the days. Virtual Cone-cons have been decided
to be held on Sundays evenings, approximately 10PM EST. This is when the
most people are likely to be on the channel.
If your provider does not directly support IRC, there are some sites
where you may access it via telnet. Ask your system administrator for
help in locating these sites.
4.7 Is anyone doing episode summaries?
Herbert Gambill (hgam...@rbdc.rbdc.com) began an episode capsule
project with episode #401. He has gathered a stable of volunteer
capsule writers who are still churning out capsules to this day. If you
would like to help with this project, e-mail him at the address above.
The capsules used to be housed at both Herbert and Damone's websites.
The sheer volume of capsules has precluded that effort. The capsules are
posted to alt.fan.conan-obrien as they are written, and then are archived
directly to Joe Shaw's FTP site. (See section 1.21)
Although specific links to the capsule sections of the FTP site are
at both Damone and Herbert's sites, Herbert still has some sections of
information about the capsule project at his site. He has short bios on
the capsule writers, a tabular, linked listing of most of the capsules,
and other info. (See section 1.21 for the address)
4.8 What was all this about a Conecon?
The First Tenth Annual Conecon was held on Friday, August 18th,
1995. Approximately 30 or so Conan fans from all over the country from
Oregon to NYC went to the taping of this show. Afterwards, the group
was treated to a pizza party with all of the cast and crew.
In addition to the people who were at the show itself, a smaller
group who couldn't join them in New York gathered on #krunk to share in
the experience.
There is an official Conecon page, maintained by Joseph Nebus. (See
section 1.21)
An audience picture with identification markers to various people is
available as a subsidiary to Herbert Gambill's (hgam...@rbdc.rbdc.com)
page at:
http://www.rbdc.com/~hgambill/conecon.html
The First Eleventh Annual Conecon II was held in New York on Friday,
August 9th, 1996. A slightly larger group came and even included people
from Canada. Due to time contraints placed on the show by the new
set, Conan and head writer Jonathan Groff were only able to talk briefly
with the group after the taping of the show.
All indications seem to suggest that this will be a yearly event.
Check out the Conecon webpage and the newsgroup to check on when the next
one is being planned.
4.9 Hey, I need an episode! What should I do?
Many people find out about guests that they wanted to see but missed,
or bits and the like. Or their VCRs failed in their task. You get the
idea. There is recourse for you. You can post requests for tapes to
alt.fan.conan-obrien. Include as much information as you can about the
episode. You will probably be asked to pay for the tape and postage.
Another resource is the Conan Video Project. In addition to posting
to the newsgroup, you may want to use this as well. It is a place on the
web that lists the episodes that people want with e-mail links to them.
If someone has an episode someone wants, they can e-mail them and arrange
it. It is a part of Damone's page. (See section 1.21)
========================================================================
Chapter 5: Information on this Faq
"Mmm. Heavy. Filled with knowledge."
-- Conan O'Brien
5.1 Who compiled this faq?
Joseph Gebis (j-g...@uiuc.edu) is the creator of this faq, and wrote
some of what you see here.
Damone (dam...@ios.com) did all revisions from 1.2 on, however. I wrote
most of the stuff new for these versions.
5.2 How do I submit additions, comments, and corrections?
Posting suggestions and information to the newsgroup is the most
accepted way of submitting information. You may, if you wish, mail it
directly to me at dam...@ios.com as long as I retain editorship of the faq.
5.3 How do I get the latest version of the faq?
Now that posting has resumed on the *.answers newsgroups, the most
current version of the faq is archived as it is posted. It can be found
on the rtfm.mit.edu FTP site in /pub/usenet/news.answers/tv
as "conan-obrien-faq."
The current version of the faq is also available at Joe Shaw's FTP
site. (See section 1.21)
If you don't have FTP, you can use the ftp-by-mail
service. Send email to mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu with "help" and "index"
(on separate lines) in the body of the message.
An older version is available by ftp from Joseph Gebus' machine
(isr0906.urh.uiuc.edu) when it's up, in /pub/docs.
5.4 Is there an html version of this faq?
Since the close-down of Noah Sturr's (st...@cis.ksu.edu) site, the
most up-to-date and fully marked-up version of the faq is maintained by
Damone (dam...@ios.com) and can be found at:
http://styx.ios.com/~damone/gconanfaq.html
The most recent copy can also be found in a partially marked-up state at:
http://www.cs.ruu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/tv/conan-obrien-faq.html
Older HTML versions of the faq are found at:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/conan-obrien-faq/faq.html
http://wwwcgi.umr.edu/faqs/conan-obrien-faq
5.5 What other information do you need?
Here's a partial list of information that needs to be added to the faq:
- Any information about Andy
- Information on the other people on the show: who plays what character
- Send in your favorite Conan smiley!
- More drinking game info
- <Your interesting tidbit here>
* 5.6 Who are all the wonderful people that added information to the faq?
(cona...@aol.com)
(crea...@panix.com)
(dsr...@prism.gatech.edu)
(esc...@merle.acns.nwu.edu)
(JL1...@aol.com)
(mli...@husc.harvard.edu)
(OR...@delphi.com)
(TVsc...@aol.com)
Dean Adams (dad...@netcom.com)
Al Bell (all...@delphi.com)
Sarah E. Blecksmith (sb...@andrew.cmu.edu)
Tim Boychuk (tboy...@unixg.ubc.ca)
Risa B (R...@epix.net)
Cia (c...@lmaxx.net)
Margaret Chen
Jonathan Collura (jc1...@navix.net)
Patrick Cosner (pco...@ukelele.gcr.com)
Andrew Cunningham (cun...@epas.utoronto.ca)
Damone (dam...@ios.com)
Huw Davies (hda...@bu.edu)
Death To All (bsh...@isisa.oit.unc.edu)
Mark Diaz (umd...@cc.umanitoba.ca)
Michael R. Dong (md...@galaxy.csc.calpoly.edu)
Cindy Elder (cin...@lincnet.com)
Jim Ellwanger (trai...@merle.acns.nwu.edu)
Scott Erickson (xk...@ix.netcom.com)
Herbert Gambill (hgam...@rbdc.rbdc.com)
David Garcia (dlga...@dorsai.org)
Michael Gebis (m-g...@uiuc.edu)
Carol J Gerber (cge...@dolphin.upenn.edu)
Cynthia Gill (cona...@aol.com)
James Groat (ja...@CGK.com)
Leslie Grossman (lesle...@aol.com)
Lore Guilmartin (LAG...@zeus.tamu.edu)
Joe Harris (mi...@aol.com)
Jack Helmuth (jahe...@mailbox.syr.edu)
"Honor's Blade" (jos...@hubcap.clemson.edu)
dd jackson (djac...@nyx10.cs.du.edu)
Kampy (sd...@mail.idt.net)
Yong-Mi Kim (ki...@cs.umd.edu)
Linda Knight (oz...@airmail.net)
Ed Krauss (e...@netcom.com)
Abigail Marie Larsen (ma...@teleport.com)
LateNite24 (laten...@aol.com)
Michael Levy (mle...@umbc8.umbc.edu)
Joe Lourenco (lour...@wit.edu)
Dave Mackey (7105...@compuserve.com)
Brian Malmon (bk...@columbia.edu)
T. K. Manning (tma...@uic.edu)
Amy Elizabeth McWilliams (aem...@tam2000.tamu.edu)
Greg Ryan Mitchell (grm...@herald.usask.ca)
Mike "Palomar" Morier (pal...@magic.mb.ca)
Jeremy Morse (jer...@merle.acns.nwu.edu)
Grace Nall (grac...@aol.com)
Paul Nazaroff (paul.n...@canrem.com)
Joseph Nebus (neb...@rpi.edu)
Heather Anne Newport (00HAN...@bsuvc.bsu.edu)
John Adam Nimpfer (jn...@andrew.cmu.edu)
Charles Papworth (sk...@cris.com)
Dave Porter (da...@wcbs.demon.co.uk)
Don Porter (d...@essrl.wustl.edu)
Brad Randall (hap...@prodigy.com)
David S. Rose (d...@delphi.com)
Sean Russell (Sean....@launchpad.unc.edu)
Leif Rustvold (le...@agora.rdrop.com)
Steve Saunders (m...@ix.netcom.com)
Henning Schroeder (hen...@phoenix.leer.north.de)
Mark Schuster (MB_Sc...@acad.fandm.edu)
Chris Shabsin (sha...@mit.edu)
Joe "Uno" Shaw (joe...@csgrad.cs.vt.edu)
Lauren T. Slawe (lsl...@sas.upenn.edu)
N. Smith (nrs...@psu.edu)
Mike Southworth (mi...@comtch.iea.com)
Tjoyia Spetsieris (ts...@columbia.edu)
Brooke Steffes (bste...@juno.com)
Steklo (ste...@aol.com)
Noah Sturr (st...@cis.ksu.edu)
Todd (t...@mail.wsu.edu)
Elson Trinidad (etri...@scf.usc.edu)
Sue Trowbridge (tr...@access.digex.net)
Typhon (an10...@anon.penet.fi)
Hunter Walk (GrenG...@gnn.com)
die Wawafrau (h...@minerva.cis.yale.edu)
Bob Williams (bo...@icontech.com)
Wendy Wimmer (wawi...@students.wisc.edu)
Christopher Wooff (wo...@snoopy.usask.ca)
Chester Wu (EQT...@prodigy.com)
Jame Yu (jame...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu)
< Your name here :) >
5.7 Who else needs to be especially thanked?
Chris Baird (ch...@glencoe.apanoe.org.au), keeper of the
alt.tv.simpsons faq, for also providing a source to copy from.
Aaron Barnhart (barn...@mcs.net), keeper of the alt.fan.letterman
faq, for providing a good form for the faq to blatantly rip off.
Terry Carroll (tj...@ccc.amdahl.com), keeper of the copyright
law faq, for allowing the use of information and ideas from it.
Jonathan I. Kamens (j...@security.ov.com), keeper of the news.answers
faqs.
Leanne Phillips (phillips@syrinx@umd.edu), keeper of the
killfile faq, for allowing use of that information.
Mike ---- Schneider (Schn...@cup.portal.com) for maintaining
the David Letterman Top Ten lists, and for allowing use of Dave's
list to Conan.
Lt. Starbuck (an5...@anon.penet.fi), keeper of the
alt.fan.karla-homolka faq, for use of information about alternate ways to
receive newsgroups.
Undying gratitude goes out to all of you. Thank you.
5.8 Have you heard the one about the lawyer and the...?
For all versions of the faq previous to version 1.2, Joe Gebis'
copyright applies to the document. It is found on copies of those
versions. For all current versions after 1.2, I (Damone) have taken over
editorial duties of the faq. For this version and all under my editorship,
the following applies:
This document is protected by my public copyright. It may be freely
distributed as long as the document remains wholly in tact and and it is
not sold, not published for profit, and not encorporated into commercial
documents without prior approval. Any change to this document for purposes
such as HTML viewing is encouraged, but needs prior approval by the
current editor.
----
Joseph Gebis j-g...@uiuc.edu http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~jg11772/home.html
Damone dam...@ios.com http://styx.ios.com/~damone/gogo.html