This Was A Thing: The Retro Podcast

102: How Conan Lost ‘The Tonight Show’; Or, When Life Gives You Leno…


Listen Later

If you’re like most people, you’ll want to find a job you’re pretty good at, you enjoy, doesn’t require a huge amount of work, and also makes you a decent living. And it’s a nice bonus if other people think we’re decent at it, too. As it happens, a tall red-haired comedy writer and performer found that perfect niche for himself: hosting late night TV. But when behind-the-scenes tensions rose and contractual drama ensued, this much-loved, beautifully pompadoured man suddenly found himself on the outs at the very network he’d been loyally hosting for decades - and it’s still unclear who’s exactly to blame…

Ray teaches Rob about Conan O’Brien’s history as a comedy writer and performer; his rise to fame after he took up the “Late Night” mantle from beloved host David Letterman; the kooky characters and cameos that endeared Conan to his viewers; Jay Leno’s ascendancy to hosting fame and Conan and his competing claims to NBC’s coveted “Tonight Show” crown; the unexpected appearance of economic correspondent Robert Krulwich; and who was really the “villain” in this whole debacle?

If you like what we’re doing, please support us on Patreon or subscribe to our bonus content on Apple Podcasts. And if you have any thoughts or feedback you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you - feel free to send us a message on social media!

Thank you as always for your support, and if you have any thoughts or feedback you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you - feel free to send us a message on social media!


TEAM

Ray Hebel

Robert W. Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Gabe Crawford

Natalie DeSavia


ARTICLESEPISODE CLIPS

First Tonight Show 9/27/54

Jack Paar’s First intro

Johnny Carson’s Last Tonight Show

Late Night With David Letterman Theme

Tonight Show With Johnny Carson Final Episode - May 22, 1992 (1080p60)

Tonight Show With Jay Leno - First Episode - 5/25/92

Late Show #1, August 30, 1993, Full, Stereo

Simpsons - Monorail Song

The First Episode of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien”

David Letterman on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” 02/28/94

The President in Crisis - 9/17/98

Triumph Attends the Premiere of “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones”

The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien

Law & Order Sound Effect (Hq) +Download Link]

Kanye West Cries on Jay Leno!! Apologize to Taylor SWIFT

Dave Responded to Jay’s “Don’t Blame Conan”

Jimmy Kimmel Rips Leno for Ruining Conan

Conan’s Goodbye

ADDITIONAL MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS

“Happy Bee”

• Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional Sound Effects from Final Cut ProiLife, and Logic Pro

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

This Was A Thing: The Retro PodcastBy Robert W. Schneider

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

66 ratings


More shows like This Was A Thing: The Retro Podcast

View all
Broadway Breakdown by Matt Koplik

Broadway Breakdown

292 Listeners

BROADWAY NATION by Broadway Podcast Network

BROADWAY NATION

116 Listeners

Backstage Babble by cbroadwaypodcast

Backstage Babble

67 Listeners