The First Late Night with Conan O'Brien

It was 25 years ago today that the first episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. To commemorate the event, Team Coco has uploaded the full show to their youtube channel.

The official upload is much better video quality than any of the existing versions. However, some of the episode has been cut out. The other full episode versions are still around and I'm sure they'll be around forever but just for fun, here are what's cut out...

9:30 - The Max Weinberg 7 play Conan over to the desk.

14:30 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial, a clip of Conan cleaning crackers for Tom Brokaw is played. Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing. Conan dances at his desk and kisses his microphone. Andy: You love that microphone! Conan: I do, it's why I'm here.

18:54 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial. Conan shakes John Goodman's hand. Late Night with Conan O'Brien trivia: Q. What were the names of the two youngest members of the Partridge Family? Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing. Late Night Trivia: A. We don't know. Conan is dancing at his desk. Conan: Yeeooww! Drew Barrymore is coming out in a bit and...

24:24 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial while John Goodman and George Wendt continue to leg wrestle. Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing and a graphic of Conan sumo wrestling is shown. Conan: Alright... thank you...

25:29 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial. Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing. Conan: Coming up tomorrow night: Mary Tyler Moore, Chris O'Donnell and musical guest Radiohead...So tune in. My next guest comes from a legendary showbiz family, co-starred with an extra terrestrial and recently portrayed Amy Fisher. Please welcome Drew Barrymore. The Max Weinberg play Drew on with a jazzy version of the Star Trek theme.

30:50 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to commercial. A graphic of Conan as a panda bear. Back from commercial, the Max Weinberg 7 are still playing. Conan: My next guest has been on more than a thousand talk shows and since I'm new at this, we figured someone should know what the hell he's doing up here. Please welcome Tony Randall. The Max Weinberg 7 play Tony on. Conan begins to sit down before Tony does. Conan: Oh, sorry! How rude of me. You first and then me, of course. Tony: That's one thing you've done right. Conan: Ouch! Tony: No, I didn't mean that.

34:24 - The Max Weinberg 7 play to and back from commercial. A graphic of Conan as Elvis shaking hands with Richard Nixon is shown.

Late Show - First Episode

It was 24 years ago today that the Late Show with David Letterman first premiered.

I remember seeing the commercials leading up to the first episode that "Dave" was "coming to CBS" but didn't really know what that meant at the time. My mom was a Dave fan but would never in a million years have let me stay up to watch it in 1993.



Having not seen it at the time - and watching it now - I'm not filled with nostalgia, but rather something much weirder - excitement. In this first episode, it really seems like the dawn of a brand new era. A seismic shift has occurred and the world will be better from now on because of it. Very strange to be excited for a future that's already past. Very strange indeed.

Now all we need to do is bring the Paul Newman "shoot point" back into common usage.

Late Show with Stephen Colbert - First Reaction

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: First Reaction

It was perfectly average. It felt exactly like a cable show that moved to a major network.

This has been: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: First Reaction