Today marks the 40th Anniversary of Late Night. Seth Meyersawaited the original host David LettermanLetterman is returning to NBC and promises to present a special program. Letterman’s first major return, however, came in 1994 when he helped Conan O’BrienHe should keep his job. Here’s what happened.
An ugly exit
Late NightJohnny Carson was the inspiration for the birth of The Tonight Show. The legendary talk show host took control of the 12:30 hour slot after a difficult contract negotiation in early 1980s. Letterman hosted his debut show with Bill Murray in 1982, and never looked back. He appeared ready and prepared to take over after a decade of hosting the show. Tonight ShowCarson made the decision to retire at age 62.
Infamously, that’s not what happened. NBC chose Carson’s permanent guest host and Letterman’s friend, Jay Leno, instead. Letterman and his wife split from CBS. The whole affair was ugly, and was immortalized later in The Late Shift. Lorne Michaels auditioned many folks to replace Letterman, before finally settling on a total unknown: Conan O’Brien.
Late Night with Conan O’BrienIt premiered on September 13, 1993. It didn’t go as planned, with newspapers shaming the former. SNL writer. NBC had O’Brien on Month-to-month agreementsIt was almost like it was a dream. Late NightIt could be cancelled at any time. But it kept going and slowly gained its feet.
Letterman Returns
After his tumultuous exit from NBC, it didn’t look like Letterman would ever return to the network. He did it on February 28, 1994. Sitting beside O’Brien, he held court with a fantastic interview. He had a few snubs at NBC, and regaled the crowd with stories of his baseball days. The entire interview is well worth watching, if for no reason than to see how giddy O’Brien is to sit across one of his idols.
Pivotally, Letterman endorsed O’Brien and the new version of Late Night. “You guys do an incredible amount of comedy and stuff that is produced that is very high level. The volume and the quality of the stuff just knocks me out. I think you’ve really done a great job to carve out a wonderful identity for yourselves… I think you did a nice job.”
A Morale Booster
The appearance wasn’t just funny, but it was a major boon for O’Brien. He later told Entertainment Weekly, “It was a morale boost…I’m thinking, If the guy who created the 12:30 thing comes on and says we’re smart and funny, let’s go.” Letterman would return to his original franchise a few times over the years, and naturally took O’Brien’s side during his own ugly spat with Leno years later.
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