'War' stories

Bill Carter's new book, "The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy," is filled with eye-popping anecdotes.

November 6, 2010 at 7:46PM

'WAR' STORIES

Bill Carter's new book, "The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy," is filled with eye-popping anecdotes. A sampling:

• Before Jimmy Kimmel committed to ABC, he was aggressively wooed by Fox, which offered to "groom" him by giving him a show at its Minneapolis affiliate, KMSP, Channel 9.

• There was actually a 1986 unaired pilot called "The Jay Leno Show." It featured a guest appearance by David Letterman, who is "killed" by Leno in the opening sequence.

• Conan O'Brien didn't even own a sports coat before auditioning for "Late Night." (His buddy Lisa Kudrow took him shopping.) Jon Stewart, Drew Carey and Michael McKean also tried out for the gig.

• O'Brien roomed with "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Jeff Garlin during a short stint in Chicago. At night, the two would do a fake talk show in their apartment, with O'Brien playing the role of George Takei.

• When O'Brien was working on "Saturday Night Live," he would sneak onto Letterman's set late at night and write sketches at the host's desk. At one point, O'Brien applied for a writing job on "The Late Show" and was turned down because Letterman thought he already had too many Harvard guys.

NEAL JUSTIN

about the writer

about the writer

Neal Justin

Critic / Reporter

Neal Justin is the pop-culture critic, covering how Minnesotans spend their entertainment time. He also reviews stand-up comedy. Justin previously served as TV and music critic for the paper. He is the co-founder of JCamp, a non-profit program for high-school journalists, and works on many fronts to further diversity in newsrooms.

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