Premiere of Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Late Night with Conan O'Brien premiered on September 13, 1993, to unfavorable reviews from contemporary critics. This reception was not completely unsurprising: there was significant public apprehension due to O'Brien being virtually unknown to the public, and O'Brien himself wrote a self-deprecating The New York Times piece titled 'O'Brien Flops!' on the day of the show's premiere. Critics attacked O'Brien, with Tom Shales of The Washington Post suggesting that 'the host resume his previous identity, Conan O'Blivion.' Generally, critics viewed O'Brien as nervous and fidgety on-camera, and that he was 'too smart, too East Coast, too sophisticated, too young and even too tall to be successful.' The show was constantly at risk for cancellation; at one low point in 1994, NBC threatened to put him on a week-to-week contract. Executives were anxious to replace him with Greg Kinnear, who followed O'Brien with Later at 1:30 am. Interns filled empty seats in the audience while affiliates began to inquire about replacement hosts. In one installment after a short stretch of reruns, sidekick Andy Richter described his vacation activities as follows: 'I sat back and reminded myself what it's like to be unemployed.' The injoke alluded to the rumors floating in the trades that NBC was near canceling the program.