Interviewee: Conan O’Brien
Interviewer: Fritz the Weatherman

Television writer and producer Conan O’Brien is a native of Brookline, Massachusetts. While he was still a student at the Brookline High School, Conan O’Brien started honing his skills as a writer by serving as the managing editor of the school paper. To prove that he had it in him early on, Conan O’Brien won the National Council of Teachers of English writing contest for his short story entitled “To Bury the Living” less than a year before his graduation.

After high school, Conan O’Brien attended the Harvard University, where he served as a writer for the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine. After finishing college, he moved to Los Angeles and joined the writing staff of HBO’s Not Necessarily the News. During the earlier days of his career, Conan O’Brien also spent two years as a writer for Fox’s The Wilton North Report.

In 1988, Conan O’Brien was hired as a writer by Lorne Michaels, executive producer of Saturday Night Live. Working on the show for three years, Conan O’Brien was able to produce several recurring sketches such as “The Girl Watchers” and “Mr. Short-Term Memory.”

Apart from this, Conan O’Brien has also co-written a few other sketches, including the Nude Beach and Lookwell. He and his fellow SNL writers became the recipients of an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in A Comedy or Variety Series in 1989.

Conan O’Brien also served as a writer and producer for The Simpsons from 1991 to 1993. He is the credited writer for the episodes New Kid on the Block, Marge vs the Monorail, Homer Goes to College, and Treehouse of Horror IV.

After his stint with The Simpsons, Conan O’Brien was invited by the Late Night with David Letterman executive producer to audition as a host for its successor show. He was chosen to take over David Letterman and began appearing on the Late Night with Conan O’Brien on September 13, 1993. He later gained the host spot for The Tonight Show, succeeding Jay Leno. Unfortunately, sagging ratings led NBC to decide to put Jay Leno back into The Tonight Show, sparking a huge controversy. Conan O’Brien and NBC separated acrimoniously, with most of the viewing public supporting O’Brien.