Born Conan Christopher O'Brien, Conan born to Irish Catholic parents in Boston. His comedic gifts emerged early in life, although it was simply referred to as "goofing off" by his parents and early teachers. As a student at Harvard, Conan became the editor for the Harvard Lampoon for two years. His is only the second person to have held that position for two yearshttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005277/bio. He graduated Harvard in 1985 magna cum laude, with a BA in American History & Literature.

After leaving school, and attempting to write for a number of unsuccessful television shows, Conan's rise to fame began with a gig writing for Saturday Night Live and producer Lorne Michaels. After SNL, O'Brien moved to another NBC show, The Simpsons in 1989, when he wrote a number of that show's most popular episodes. His talents led NBC as Michaels to offer Conan the job of producer for "Late Night" a 12:30am talk show that has just been vacated by David Letterman. After failing to find a new host, Conan auditioned himself, leading to a long and successful time as the host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005277/bio

Conan O'Brien is married to Liza Powel. They have two kids together, daughter Neve and son Beckett. In addition to his comedy, Conan plays guitar, and has been known to do the occasional song and dance routine (as he did as host of the Primetime Emmy Awards).

While attending Harvard University, O'Brien write for the humor magazine Harvard Lampoon. After graduation, he took a job in Los Angeles as a staff writer for the satirical HBO series, Not Necessarily the News. He was then hired for three seasons as a Saturday Night Live writer, working largely with TV Funhouse creator Robert Smigel, who would later contribute characters and scenes to Late Night, including Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. From 1991 to 1993, O'Brien worked as a writer and producer on The Simpsons, though he's credited with writing only four episodes. (He cites "Marge vs. the Monorail" as his favorite.)

1. New Kid on the Block
2. Marge vs. the Monorail
3. Homer Goes to College
4. Treehouse of Horror IV

On September 13, 1993, O'Brien debuted on Late Night in the time slot recently vacated by David Letterman. Relatively unknown by the general public, and appearing somewhat awkward and nervous during his monologues and interviews, O'Brien struggled as the show began, but eventually started to build a fan base, along with co-host Andy Richter. Richter left the show in 2000.

By 2004, Late Night was so dominant in the late night ratings that NBC faced a difficult choice. With Conan's popularity on the rise, the risk of him jumping to another network (Fox was reportedly very interested) we too much for NBC. To keep Conan at the network, NBC signed him to a long term deal that promised The Tonight Show to Conan. O'Brien would continue as host of Late Night until 2009, when it was expected that Jay Leno would be ready to retire. Conan would then take over as the new host of The Tonight Show, a position that O'Brien deeply coveted.

On February 20, 2009, NBC aired the final episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Conan then took a few months off to prepare to become the host of The Tonight Show. O'Brien was replaced by Jimmy Fallon as host of Late NightE! Online: [E! Online: NBC Reveals Conan Exit Date, Jimmy Start Date (January 15, 2009). Conan O'Brien became the fifth host of the Tonight Show on June 1, 2009.

On June 1, 2009, O'Brien began hosting the Tonight Show, along with former sidekick Andy Richter as his announcer. The Max Weinberg 7 also made the transfer, but they added a new permanent member (James Wormworth on percussion) and officially became known as The Tonight Show Band. O'Brien's very first guest was Will Ferrell, and the first musical guest was Pearl Jam. O'Brien has revived several sketches from Late Night, including "Celebrity Survey" and "Noches de Pasion con Señor O'Brien." The popular Late Night sketch "In the Year 2000" was changed to "In the Year 3000" for The Tonight Show.

Unfortunately, NBC's lineup shuffle, which included moving Jay Leno to a new 10pm show, didn't fare well in the ratings. Viewers didn't flock to Leno or Conan's show, and NBC affiliates began to complain that their 11pm news was suffering as a result. After weeks of negotiation, NBC announced on January 10, 2010 that Jay Leno would resume hosting The Tonight Showhttp://www.tmz.com/2010/01/14/jay-leno-conan-obrien-nbc-the-tonight-show/, with Conan leaving NBC with a large cash settlement. The boondoggle was late night fodder for weeks, with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel taking particularly pointed shots at NBC and Leno. Conan himself had a field day with the controversy, and came away as the more sympathetic person involved, with many people blaming Leno and NBC for a perceived injustice to O'Brien.

January 22, 2010 marked the final episode of The Tonight Show hosted by Conan O'Brien. In his final statement, Conan addressed his fans:

"Every comedian, every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and — for seven months — I got to do it. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second [of it] ... All I ask is one thing, and I'm asking this particularly of young people that watch: Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism, for the record it's my least favorite quality. It doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

As part of it's 5th birthday celebrations, Conan O'Brien offered his list of his five favorite YouTube videos.

They are:

1. Leeroy Jenkinshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCNJRfSZBU&feature=PlayList&p=B2515E47C121F26F&playnext_from=PL&index=1
2. Pinky the Cat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR_LHlFwlhk&feature=PlayList&p=B2515E47C121F26F&playnext_from=PL&index=2
3. CSI Miami - Endless Caruso One Liners http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sarYH0z948&feature=PlayList&p=B2515E47C121F26F&playnext_from=PL&index=3
4. Winnebago Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWUWPx2VeQ&feature=PlayList&p=B2515E47C121F26F&playnext_from=PL&index=5
5. SPIEGEL TV - Der Trololo-Songhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1nRJ5GtdE8&feature=PlayList&p=B2515E47C121F26F&playnext_from=PL&index=5

On Sunday May 2nd, 2010, Conan O'Brien gave his first televised interview after the fiasco that was NBC's late night programing. Appearing on CBS' 60 Minutes, Conan avoided taking direct shots at NBC or Jay Leno, but was more than willing to discuss how he might have done things differently. "If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well, and then... I don’t, would not have come back six months later. But that’s me, you know. Everyone’s got their own, you know, way of doing things."

He also discussed his planned move to cable network TBS, and the feeling that many people have that TBS is a step down from network television. "I do not look down my nose at cable," he said. 'And I think anyone who does isn’t paying attention to television these days."

Conan's interview was not without controversy. At one point, he was asked about the losses that NBC reported it was taking because of the low-ratings. Conan said "I honestly don’t see how that’s possible. It’s really not possible. It isn’t possible." He also explained that he felt NBC made their choice because Leno's severance was $150 million compared to the $32 million is cost to say goodbye to him. NBC issued a press released after the interview aired that accused O'Brien of lying.

On March 12, 2010, Conan O'Brien announced on Twitter that he was launching a tour across North America. Beginning in Eugene, Oregon, Conan will start his tour on April 12th. The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour will star Conan and many of his staff from The Tonight Show, including Andy Richter and members of the band. Team Coco's tour was quick to sell out, with most tickets being gone withing hours of his first Twitter posting. Because of the popularity, a second show was added in a number of cities on the tour.

"'Tour Dates"'

• April 12 Eugene, OR
• April 13/14 Vancouver, BC
• April 16 Spokane, WA
• April 17 Enoch, AB
• April 18/19 Seattle, WA
• April 22/23 San Francisco, CA
• April 24/25 Universal City, CA
• April 29 San Diego, CA
• April 30 Phoenix, AZ
• May 01/02 Las Vegas, NV
• May 04 Reno, NV
• May 05 San Jose, CA
• May 06 Sacramento, CA
• May 09 Boulder, CO
• May 10 Denver, CO
• May 13 Dallas, TX
• May 14 Austin, TX
• May 15 Tulsa, OK
• May 16 Kansas City, MO
• May 18 Minneapolis, MN
• May 19/20 Chicago, IL
• May 22 Toronto, ON
• May 30 Atlantic City, NJ
• June 01/02 New York, NY
• June 04/05 Boston, MA
• June 06 Uncasville, CT
• June 07 Upper Darby, PA
• June 08 Washington, DC
• June 11 Manchester, TN
• June 14 Atlanta, GA

On April 12, 2010, it was announced that Conan O'Brien had been signed to do a late night talk show on TBS. The 11pm show surprised many people, since the popular rumor had O'Brien going to Fox. O'Brien returned to television with the late-night talk show Conan, which premiered on TBS on November 8, 2010 at 11pm Eastern time. His first guests on the new show were Seth Rogen, Jack White and Lea Michele.http://entertainment.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978679617 George Lopez's Lopez Tonight was moved to the midnight timeslot.http://www.tbs.com/

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