Conan O'Brien: Difference between revisions
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* [http://hornymanatee.com/ O'Brien's ''Horny Manatee Website''] |
* [http://hornymanatee.com/ O'Brien's ''Horny Manatee Website''] |
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*[http://worldsfunniestvideo.blogspot.com/search/label/Conan%20O%27Brien "The Best Moments From Late Night With Conan O'Brien"] |
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Revision as of 21:51, 9 July 2007
| Conan O'Brien | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Conan Christopher O'Brien |
| Born | April 18, 1963 Brookline, Massachusetts, USA |
| Medium | theatre, television |
| Nationality |  American |
| Years active | 1985 - present |
| Genres | Improvisational comedy, Sketch comedy, Physical comedy, Surreal humor |
| Subjects | self-deprecation, pop culture |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Ann Powel (2002-present) (2 children) |
| Notable works and roles | Host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien |
| Website | NBC.com/Late Night with Conan O'Brien |
Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963)[1] is an Emmy-winning American comedian, writer and television personality best known as host of NBC's late-night talk/variety show Late Night with Conan O'Brien. NBC has announced that O'Brien will take over for Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show in 2009.
Background
Conan was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, to Ruthe Reardon, an attorney, and Thomas Francis O’Brien, M.D.[2] O'Brien excelled at English; he served as managing editor of his school newspaper and interned for Rep. Barney Frank.[3]
After graduating from high school, O'Brien entered Harvard University and, in his three upper-class years, lived in Mather House. Throughout his college career, he was a writer for the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine. During his sophomore and junior years, O'Brien served as the Lampoon's president, making him only the second person ever to serve as president twice, and the first person to have done it in 85 years. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1985 with a B.A. in History and Literature.
While attending Harvard, O'Brien was roommates with Damon Krukowski, who later became drummer for the indie band Galaxie 500. O'Brien had previously bought himself a drumkit, but had only recently given up playing it. He lent it to Krukowski, whom he knew would get more use out of it. O'Brien's drum kit can be heard on many of Galaxie 500's early recordings.
Career
Television Writer
O'Brien moved to Los Angeles after graduation to join the writing staff of HBO's Not Necessarily the News.[4] He spent two years with that show, and performed regularly with improvisational groups like The Groundlings. He also acted in corporate infomercials to earn money during this period.
After Not Necessarily the News, O'Brien partnered with Harvard classmate Greg Daniels (who went on to be the executive producer of King of The Hill and The Office) as staff writers on the short-lived Wilton North Report for Fox Broadcasting.[citation needed] He also occasionally served as that show's live audience warm-up person. Wilton North, with former Letterman producer Barry Sand as executive producer, lasted only four weeks, and is noteworthy mostly as the show that bumped the Arsenio Hall-hosted Late Show off the air.[citation needed]
In January 1988, Saturday Night Live's executive producer Lorne Michaels hired O'Brien as a writer. During his 3 years on SNL he wrote such recurring sketches as "Mr. Short-Term Memory" and "The Girl Watchers," the latter of which was first performed by Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz. O'Brien also wrote the sketch "Nude Beach", a sketch in which the word "penis" was said or sung at least 42 times.
While on a writers' strike from Saturday Night Live following the 1987-1988 season, O'Brien put on an improvisational comedy revue in Chicago with fellow SNL writers Bob Odenkirk and Robert Smigel called Happy Happy Good Show. While living in Chicago O'Brien briefly was roommates with Jeff Garlin.[citation needed]
In 1989, O'Brien and his fellow SNL writers received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series.
O'Brien, like many SNL writers, occasionally appeared as an extra in sketches, including a role as a doorman in a sketch in which Tom Hanks was inducted into the SNL "Five Timers Club" for hosting his fifth episode. Years later, when Hanks was a guest on Late Night, O'Brien showed the clip and jokingly claimed their appearance together was the source of all of Hanks' subsequent success.[citation needed]
From 1991 to 1994, O'Brien was a writer and producer for The Simpsons,[5] credited as writer or cowriter of four episodes[1] Of all the episodes he wrote while writing for The Simpsons, he considers "Marge vs. the Monorail" to be his favorite.[5] Years later, in his speech given at Class Day at Harvard in 2000,[6] O'Brien credited The Simpsons with "saving" him, a reference to the career slump he was experiencing prior to his hiring for that show.[7] As of 2004, Conan's office at The Simpsons was being used as storage.[8]
Late Night
On April 25, 1993, Lorne Michaels chose O'Brien to be David Letterman's successor as host of Late Night with David Letterman, with Andy Richter signed on to be his sidekick. Conan auditioned on the set of The Tonight Show, where he interviewed Mimi Rogers and Jason Alexander.[9] O'Brien resigned his position on The Simpsons, despite the fact that his contract had not expired.[9]
Premiering on September 13, Late Night with Conan O'Brien received generally unfavorable critical reviews for the first 2 to 3 years after its debut. O'Brien himself, an almost total unknown among the general public before being named host, was seen by many as not being worthy of the program. NBC even poked fun at this perception in a radio ad which aired shortly before the show's debut and had Conan relaying an anecdote where someone recognized him on the street and said, "Look, honey, there's the guy who doesn't deserve his own show!" Another source of criticism was the fact that Conan himself appeared to be very nervous and awkward during the show's early days. As a self-deprecating nod to this, the original opening sequence for Late Night With Conan O'Brien was animated and featured a caricature of Conan who sweated and pulled at his collar nervously. O'Brien was a guest on The Howard Stern Show, where Stern and his crew mocked him by throwing a going-away party for him, brought on by newspaper reports that NBC was already looking for someone to replace O'Brien.
The show was reportedly canceled by network executives, but was allowed to remain on a week-to-week basis when NBC realized there was no programming available to replace it. By 1996-97, O'Brien's writing and comedic style was thought to have improved, and he began to develop a growing fan base, especially with high school and college students, as well as the respect of critics and his peers. O'Brien would later poke fun at the first three years of the show when on his 10th Anniversary Special, Mr. T appeared to give O'Brien a gold necklace with a giant "7" on it. When Conan tried to point out that he's actually been on the air for ten years, Mr. T responded, "I know that, fool...but you've only been funny for seven!"
Since then, O'Brien and the Late Night writing team have consistently been nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Series, though they have not won as of 2006. In 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004 he and the Late Night writing staff won the Writers Guild Award for Best Writing in a Comedy/Variety Series.
In 2001, he formed his own television production company, Conaco, which has since shared in the production credits for Late Night.
On the first episode after September 11th, O'Brien went out of character and told a story of how he went to pray for the first time in eight years, the previous time was after he was announced as the host of Late Night. O'Brien was noticeably shaken up, however he did not cry on the air. He talked about a need to have faith and even said "God Bless" at the end of the show.
After meeting Finnish actor/director Lauri Nurkse on October 11, 2005, O'Brien discovered that he was popular in Finland, and began a long running joke that he resembles the first female President of Finland, Tarja Halonen. After joking about this for several months, O'Brien traveled to Finland and appeared on several television shows, and met President Halonen. The trip was filmed and aired as a special.
Conan ad libbed the fictional website name "hornymanatee.com" on December 4, 2006, after a sketch about the fictional Florida State University manatee mascot and its inappropriate web-cam site. NBC opted to purchase the website domain name for $159, since the website did not previously exist. The network was concerned that someone might register the domain name and post content with which NBC would not wish to be associated, or that people would get upset and sue NBC when they found out the website is fictional.[10] NBC now owns the rights to www.hornymanatee.com for 10 years, as per Conan O'Brien. According to Conan, it was decided that, since NBC owned the name, they might as well create the website. Late Night has since developed an actual website, which now has received millions of hits, reaching 4 million page views in four days. People send in "horny manatee" artwork, poems, and other content. According to the Alexa website ranking system, Hornymanatee.com has had over 10 million web hits.
In 2005, Jay Leno named Conan as his replacement when he leaves the "Tonight Show" in 2009. Leno stated on the show that he had done this to avoid a repeat of the controversy and hard feelings that resulted when he was chosen by NBC to host the Tonight Show over David Letterman. According to speculation, NBC had asked Leno to do this so Conan, who was a vital asset to the network, wouldn't jump ship for a more lucrative offer. It was rumored that at the time of the announcement ABC was talking to Conan about possibly replacing Jimmy Kimmel.[citation needed]
As of October 2006, Late Night with Conan O'Brien had for eleven years consistently attracted an audience averaging about 2.5 million viewers.[11]
Other work
O'Brien appears as a character in the 1999 film, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, voiced by Brent Spiner. O'Brien mentioned, when South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were guests on Late Night, that he loved the appearance and only wished he had done the voice. O'Brien later appeared in Hell in the episode "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?". In 2006, he voiced himself in a short South Park scene as part of the opening of the 2006 Emmy Awards.
O'Brien is an avid guitarist and music listener. When Bruce Springsteen appeared on the show as a musical guest, O'Brien joined several members of the Max Weinberg 7 and played acoustic guitar and backup vocals for the song, "Pay Me My Money Down".
In 2005, O'Brien appeared in The White Stripes' music video, "The Denial Twist". The band had previously been a week-long musical guest on Late Night when they were promoting their 2003 album, Elephant.
He has appeared on another late-night talk show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast (SGC2C), in Episode 77: Fire Ant, in which he and Space Ghost argue between themselves about a number of things, including whether or not anyone actually watches SGC2C. Space Ghost later quips, "Well, that's very stupid, and you won't make it in television," an obvious parody of early reviews of O'Brien's show. After a while, Space Ghost ignores the interview entirely to follow a fire ant that bit him (for about 11 straight minutes). As Space Ghost is crawling out of the studio, O'Brien gripes that "For all these people know, my show is a cop show on Fox or something!" to which Space Ghost replies, "Isn't it?"
Conan made an appearance on the Robot Chicken Star Wars Special on June 17, 2007 as the voice of the bounty hunter Zuckuss. In a parody of Late Night, Zuckuss hosts a talk show called "Late Night with Zuckuss. Conan's "Fake Celebrity Interviews" segment was even spoofed when Zuckuss did a "fake interview" with Emperor Palpatine.
On March 7, 2006, NBC announced that it had ordered a pilot episode for Andy Barker P.I., a new comedy executively produced by O'Brien, who also co-wrote the pilot. The show starred O'Brien's former sidekick Andy Richter. After several episodes and low ratings, the show was canceled.
Conan also hosted the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards on August 27, 2006, to critical acclaim.[12][13] He had previously hosted the Primetime Emmys in 2002.
Personal life
On January 12, 2002, O'Brien married former advertising copywriter Elizabeth Ann 'Liza' Powel of Seattle, Washington. Officiating at the wedding was O'Brien's long-time friend, Father Paul B. O' Brien, with whom he founded Labels Are For Jars, an anti-hunger organization based in Lawrence, MA. Conan and Liza have a daughter, Neve, born October 14, 2003 and a son, Beckett, born November 9, 2005, both born in New York City.[14]
Comedy and mannerisms
On Late Night, Conan has become known for his more active and spontaneous hosting style. His stage habits include, but are not limited to: pantomime, self-deprecation, dramatic expressions, various impressions and use of awkward pauses or responses. O'Brien is extremely popular among some people for jumping around like a mad man, rowing, licking the TV camera, headbutting the TV camera, etc. He frequently makes fun of the audience. He commonly makes light of his own appearance including his hairstyle, his pale skin, and his height of 6'4" (1.93 m)[15].
One of his trademarks is the "string dance," which is often recreated by his guests who have seen him do the dance. He also does unique impressions of celebrities; some of the most common are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Donald Trump. In the past they have also included Anna Nicole Smith and Bill Clinton.
Partial list of film and TV appearances
- Saturday Night Live - 1991, 2001
- The Simpsons - 1994 (as himself)
- Space Ghost: Coast to Coast - 1994 (as himself)
- Mr. Show with Bob and David - 1995
- The Single Guy - 1996
- Arli$$ - 1996
- Spin City - 1998
- Futurama - 1999
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - 1999 (character - voiced by Brent Spiner)
- Storytelling - 2001
- Andy Richter Controls the Universe - 2003
- Bewitched (film) (as himself) - 2005
- Robot Chicken - 2005
- 30 Rock (as himself) - 2006
- O'Grady - 2006
- The Office (cameo) - 2006
- Queer Duck - the movie (as himself) - 2006
- Robot Chicken (Star Wars special) - As Zuckuss) - 2007
References
- ^ a b Conan O'Brien at IMDb
- ^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/celeb/obrien.htm
- ^ . O'Brien has also donated money as a professional, to prominent politicians and candidates in the Democratic Party.'Poonster Gets the Last Laugh, June 2000 article from The Harvard Crimson
- ^ O'Brien interview from The A.V. Club
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
speakerbiowas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ O'Brien Returns to Harvard, June 2000 article from The Harvard Crimson
- ^ Text of O'Brien's 2000 commencement speech at Harvard from Everything2
- ^ The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season. DVD commentarty for episode 9F10, "Marge vs. the Monorail"
- ^ a b The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season. DVD commentarty for episode 1F02, "Homer Goes to College"
- ^ "So This Manatee Walks Into the Internet, a December 2006 New York Times article
- ^ Conan on the Couch, a New York magazine October 2005 article
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (2006-08-28). "A sorry sight". New Jersey Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "A valiant, near-heroic effort by Conan O'Brien..."
Adalian, Josef (2006-08-27). "The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards". Daily Variety. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ NBC Universal: Birth Notice from Late Night with Conan O'Brien
- ^ Height details for Conan O'Brien on CelebHeights
- Interview with Conan on NPR's Fresh Air (September 8, 2003)
- Part One and Part Two of an interview with The A.V. Club
- O'Brien on The Charlie Rose Show from Google Video
External links
