Recommended Reading

Vanity Fair has an oral history of the early days of Late Night with Conan O’Brien. I was an instant fan of the program, mainly because of the surprising quantity of solid and ingenious comedy writing. As the years rolled on, the quantity and ingenuity of the writing declined and it seemed like someone decided that the “gold” of the show was Conan ad-libbing and, often, trying too hard to top his guests. But I sure liked the early years that this piece is about.