O'Brien on his Late Night set in Elmopalooza.
Conan Interviews Kermit The Frog
September 23, 1994
O'Brien parodies his own Late Night show as "Late Night on Sesame Street".
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an NBC talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired from 1993 to 2009. The second incarnation of NBC's Late Night franchise, O'Brien's debuted in 1993 after previous host David Letterman moved to CBS to host the Late Show.
From 1993 until 2000, Andy Richter served as O'Brien's sidekick. The show's house musical act was The Max Weinberg 7, led by E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg. In 1997 the show launched the career of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, a popular recurring character of Late Night performed by then-head writer Robert Smigel.
O'Brien ended the show in February 2009 in order to transition to his short-lived stint as host of The Tonight Show; Jimmy Fallon began his version of Late Night in March 2009.
During O'Brien's tenure with Late Night, the dressing room featuring the closet with the Muppet Pipes belonged to Max Weinberg. When Jimmy Fallon took over the show, the dressing room was demolished and the pipes were put behind glass and added to the NBC studio tour.
Appearances[]
- Kermit the Frog made a guest appearance on the show in its second season, appearing on September 23, 1994 to promote the releases of Muppet Classic Theater and Kermit Unpigged. Other guests that night included Kevin Nealon and Leonard Maltin. (YouTube)
- Quentin Tarantino made an appearance on the show just prior to the initial airing of The Muppets' Wizard of Oz to promote various projects -- a majority of the interview was spent talking about his experience with the Muppets and his love for the characters.
- Andie MacDowell appeared on the show in 1999 to promote Muppets from Space and talked about her cat fight with Miss Piggy. A clip of said fight was shown.
References[]
- O'Brien appeared on Sesame Street in a sketch entitled Late Night On Sesame Street. A spoof of his late night talk show, the sketch featured O'Brien interviewing monsters (including Herry Monster and Telly Monster) from a talk show set in the yard.
- In Elmopalooza, Big Bird passes through the set of Late Night with Conan O'Brien where O'Brien, along with Richter, are shown interviewing the Martians.
Muppet mentions[]
Late Night’s recurring character, "Vomiting Kermit".
Conan's "Muppet Mug Shot Stamps"
- On the September 9, 2004 show, Conan showed a clip of Bert and Ernie singing "Dance Myself to Sleep" dubbed to parody the alleged relationship between the two.
- On the September 14, 2004 show, Conan previewed some fake upcoming postage stamps including a series called "Muppet Mug Shots".
- O'Brien jested in the monologue of his March 11, 2006 show stating, "The producers of Sesame Street say they have decided not to ask Russell Crowe to appear on the show because they don't think he's a good role model. Crowe is upset because he really wanted to host the episode sponsored by the letters 'F' and 'U.'"
- In an "Actual Items" segment from a November 2007 episode, Conan shows an advertisement for Sesame Place, with photos of Oscar the Grouch, the Cookie Monster walkaround, and an illustration of Ernie choking Bert to death.
- The show made a parody of the Faces of Death videos with a "Muppets Faces of Death" spoof.
Recurring[]
- Vomiting Kermit
- A store-bought Kermit doll that spewed fake vomit from its mouth.
- On September 14, 2006, upon the show's 13th anniversary, Conan vowed that there would be no more low-brow jokes, such as "Vomiting Kermit". Instead he introduced the new character "Morally Outraged Kermit".
- Celebrities cast in fictional made-for-TV movies, some of which have featured Muppet characters:
- Sam the Eagle as Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security (September 2005); the same casting was used again in a separate episode (May 14, 2008)
- Guy Smiley as Brian Williams (March 6, 2006)
- Beaker as Cris Collinsworth (September 18, 2006)
- Statler as Sen. Patrick Leahy (March 19, 2007) and Robert Novak (August 2, 2007)
- Count von Count as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (June 6, 2007)
- Scooter as Jerry Springer (November 2, 2007)
- Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as Harry Smith (April 8, 2008)
- Gonzo as former Senator Sam Nunn (June 9, 2008)
- The Swedish Chef as gymnastics commentator Bela Karolyi (August 25, 2008)
- In the Year 2000
- "After 23 years, Miss Piggy will finally end her relationship with Kermit the Frog after he converts to Judaism and can no longer eat pork."
- "The serenity of 'Sesame Street' will be shattered when Silent 'E' finally snaps and guns down the other letters."
- "'Sesame Street's' Bert and Ernie will continue to deny that they have a romantic relationship; but will admit that one night after one too many beers they did bump felt a little."