Four men have hosted Late Night: David Letterman (1982–1993), Conan O'Brien (1993–2009), Jimmy Fallon (2009–2014), and Seth Meyers (2014–present).

This was done against the wishes of Carson, who had always seen Letterman as his rightful successor, according to Worldwide Pants senior vice president Peter Lassally, a onetime producer for both men.

Letterman was bitterly disappointed and angry at not having been given The Tonight Show job, and, on Carson's advice, walked away from NBC after eleven years on Late Night.

Despite having "about 40 seconds"[7] of television-performance experience as an occasional extra on Saturday Night Live sketches, O'Brien auditioned for the show on April 13, 1993.

The premiere episode featured John Goodman (who received a "First Guest" medal for his appearance), Drew Barrymore, and Tony Randall.

The episode featured a cold open of O'Brien's walk to the studio with constant reminders that he was expected to live up to Letterman, parodying a popular sentiment expressed in the media at the time.

During the interview, Letterman gave O'Brien positive reinforcement, telling him "there's nothing like this show anywhere on television" and that he was doing a terrific job as host.

Ratings and reviews continued to improve for Late Night, and in 2002, when time came to renew his contract, O'Brien had notable offers from other networks to defect.

These humorous sketches usually revolved around LaBamba's sizeable mustache, his poor acting skills, and his alleged inability to read sheet music.

Mark Pender would often sing songs on the topic of a current event, which ended with him screeching uncontrollably and climbing the risers into the audience.

These comedy bits usually revolved around Godard's supposed homosexual fetishes, deviant sexual habits, substance abuse, and suicidal tendencies.

Several years before joining the cast of Saturday Night Live, Amy Poehler often appeared as a regular in many sketches, she was best remembered for playing the role of Andy Richter's little sister, Stacy.

Celebrities such as Dr. Joyce Brothers, Nipsey Russell, Abe Vigoda and James Lipton also made frequent cameo appearances in comedy sketches on the show at different periods.

Unusual for a late-night talk show, Late Night made frequent use of various costumed characters such as The Masturbating Bear, Robot on a Toilet, and Pimpbot5000.

As part of O'Brien's 2004 contract renegotiation with NBC, he was tapped to replace Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show five years later, in the summer of 2009.

[15] To help him prepare for his new Late Night host role, Michaels had Fallon perform comedy in clubs and create a series of webisodes.

Upon Fallon assuming the hosting role, Late Night moved across the hall into Studio 6B, which had housed The Tonight Show under Jack Paar and then Johnny Carson.

Fallon premiered on March 2, 2009, with Robert De Niro, Justin Timberlake and Van Morrison appearing as his guests.

After a brief retrospective with Higgins about their time on Late Night, the show ended with Fallon playing drums and singing backup to "The Weight" behind an ensemble of The Muppets.

[21] On May 12, 2013, NBC officially announced that Seth Meyers would become the new host of Late Night following Fallon's exit to preside over The Tonight Show.

during its original run plus talk shows for Phil Donahue and Rosie O'Donnell, and NBC's coverage of the National Football League.

In fact, Meyers' studio is directly above Fallon's, meaning that the shows cannot tape at the same time due to inefficient soundproofing and elevator capacities for audience members.

Late Night begins taping at 6:30 PM, roughly thirty minutes after production of The Tonight Show wraps.

The two usually engage in a nightly exchange in which Armisen details (to great length) an absurd concept he has pioneered while Meyers plays the straight man and questions its validity.

Letterman O'Brien Fallon Meyers One of the behind-the-scenes traditions of Late Night is the possession of a giant, plastic pickle by the current host.

[26] When O'Brien went to host The Tonight Show, he left behind the pickle for Fallon along with a handwritten note, reading in part: "Whenever you're done -- which won't be for a long time -- make sure you pass it on to the next sap.

Fallon first made public the pickle tradition in one of his regular video blog segments that led up to his Late Night premiere.

During his final week hosting Late Night in early 2014, Fallon passed the pickle to Meyers during their interview, marking its first on-air appearance.

[27] During Seth Meyers' run on March 18, 2015, the pickle makes a cameo during a skit called "Hannah Horvath Joins the Late Night Writing Staff", a character Lena Dunham portrays on the HBO TV series Girls.