So the media descended on O'Brien, trying to get a reading on the man who would have to fill Letterman's large shoes. He responded to the intense scrutiny with wit.

The show ran promotional ads poking fun at O'Brien's anonymity by having an announcer mispronounce his name as "Conrad O'Brien." The sad host shook his head and corrected him, "That's Conan..."

And O'Brien penned a humorous essay that ran in The New York Times on Sept. 13, the day his show premiered. The piece described a show that bombed badly and blasted the host (himself) as incompetent and bumbling.

Unfortunately for O'Brien, it was one instance in which life imitated art.

From its first night, "Late Night" was panned by the critics. Some took issue with O'Brien's interviewing style, others with his hair, laugh, nervous tics and long monologues.

Few had anything nice to say about O'Brien's debut, which closed with the host's performance of "Edelweiss," leading a Nazi and a nun in the audience to break down in tears.

O'Brien and sidekick Andy Richter braced themselves for the ax to fall.

But it never did.