Now that David Letterman has officially retired, let’s turn our attention to the man who replaced him at NBC in 1993:  Conan O’Brien.

Letterman’s creative freedom at “Late Night” was the result of one thing and one thing only:  the power Johnny Carson wielded at NBC.  “Late Night” was the result of Carson’s grueling contract renegotiation in 1980.  His new blockbuster pact with NBC included control of the time slot after his, and in late 1981 it was announced that David Letterman was going to host a talk show following “Tonight” in early 1982.  “Late Night” was produced by Carson Productions, which meant Dave had to answer to Johnny Carson instead of Brandon Tartikoff.

Fortunately for all concerned, “Late Night with David Letterman” was an immediate hit. Letterman’s insulation from the NBC brass wouldn’t become a liability until 1991, when the executives he held at arm’s length chose Jay Leno to host “Tonight.”

In April of 1993, NBC picked a comedy writer named Conan O’Brien to succeed David Letterman.  The move shocked everyone because the “next man up” theory of talk show hosting dictated that “Late Night” should be given to Dana Carvey or Garry Shandling, two of the hottest comedians working at that time.

Conan was picked by Lorne Michaels, who was going to produce “Late Night” after Letterman left in June.  Lorne knew Conan from his years as a writer on “Saturday Night Live.”   O’Brien sealed the deal with an audition on the “Tonight Show” set.  He was extremely awkward in his oversized sport coat, but he was also witty and charming.

“Late Night with Conan O’Brien” hit the air in September of 1993 and the new talk show host was like the guy in the audition tape. He was awkward, but he was also witty and charming .  The reviews from TV critics were merciless.  Tom Shales of the Washington Post called Conan a bundle of nervous tics.  O’Brien would later say that that only thing that saved his job was the epic failure of the Chevy Chase Show, which was flaming out on Fox just as “Late Night” hit the air.

For the network, the choice of Conan O’Brien didn’t make any sense.  He didn’t look good on TV.  He had a strange name.  He was chosen over a bevy of TV ready talent.  Again, Conan was the beneficiary of several lucky breaks.  Garry Shandling liked doing “The Larry Sanders Show” for HBO.  Dana Carvey and Greg Kinnear wanted to do movies.  David Letterman chose Tom Snyder to host the show after his.

Had Letterman picked Jon Stewart, for example, to host the “Late Late Show,” Conan O’Brien would have been the answer to a trivia question.  NBC would have immediately zapped Conan in favor of a bigger name that would protect “Late Night” from stronger competition.

From 1993 to 1995, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” was subject to 13-week renewals. Most shows get a production commitment of one year.  Conan, along with his staff, was living with the knowledge that they were three months away from losing their jobs….every three months.

Throughout all of this, Conan remained his same, dorky self.   In late 1994, he spent a half hour with Howard Stern, at a time when Stern had a tendency to destroy marginally talented TV personalities (ex: “The Magic Hour” in 1998).

Just as Letterman captured a generation of high school and college age viewers in the 80’s, O’Brien was doing the same in the 90’s.  Instead of irony, Conan relished in the comedy of the absurd.  For example, devoting an entire segment to a 1950’s sci-fi robot…on the toilet.

What viewers also saw was an unabashed dork who didn’t try to run away from who he was.  He was awkward.  He would talk about not dating anyone in high school.  He delighted on throwing references at an audience that was well versed in TWO generations worth of pop culture.

By 1996, Tom Shales was a fan.  In 1998, instead of another 13-week renewal, Conan got a prime time TV special marking his 5th anniversary.  To those of us who were watching in a dorm at Marquette University (ahem), it looked like the triumph of the nerds.

And it was, just not in the way I imagined that night 17 years ago.  The success of Conan O’Brien meant that the audience was ready to embrace its inner geek, and that turned out to be a very lucrative proposition.  Comic book movies are multi-billion dollar businesses. There are multiple “Star Wars” movies in production. Network schedules are loaded with fantasy TV shows.   Comic Con went from a convention about comic books to an essential cog in the entertainment publicity machine.

Maybe it’s a coincidence, but the success of Conan O’Brien got that ball rolling.