My ticket to Late Night with Conan O'Brien that night.

On January 2nd, 1998, I, Bill Lehecka, made my second trip to see Late Night with Conan O'Brien at the NBC Studios in New York City. For this trip, I took Kim, the same person I took to my first Letterman Trip. This trip I was still reeling after the New Year's Eve taping of Letterman. The trip into the city was similar to all the other trips prior. We took the Huntington train into Penn Station. For Lunch, Kim and I stopped by a local TGI Fridays. I had a Pizza (11 dollars?!?!) and Kim had a hamburger (13 dollars?!?!?). After Lunch, we made our way to the studio. We got there around 3 PM.

NBC Studios at 30 Rockerfeller Plaza.

I went to pick up my tickets, but I had to wait in line for them. Once the Conan people got around to me, my name was not even on the list. I was starting to mumble and get a little angry, but it turns out that it was a computer error, and I got my tickets. We waited in line for no more than an hour. We were brought up to the studio, and got into Studio 6A. You know, I still haven't gotten a reason for why Studio 6A is on the 7th floor, but never mind. (Editors Note: I FINALLY found out the reason, since the 7th floor is above 6th and you have to walk down, and it actually on the sixth floor. OK. Thank you. Please, don't write me again on that topic... :-) )We then were seated. It turns out that Kim and I got to sit in the 5th or 6th row, right on the aisle. So we knew Mike Sweeney and Conan would pass us. Kim and I also learned that behind us, a skit was going to happen because they had advised those people to give up their seats for a couple of minutes and get free merchandise. I knew then we'd get on television somehow. In the background during the seating, you could hear songs from Late Night's CD "Live from 6A." I'm telling you, go out and buy that CD, it's great! Anyway, Mike Sweeney came out to do his usual warm-up. He did the usual "Who goes to the worst college" bit. The one thing I noticed is that there were a lot of Californians in the audience. Not that I have anything against Californians, but so many in New York City in January was odd to me. Mike introduced the band, and the band played on... Mike then introduced Conan.

Conan's Studio - 6A - after a taping of the show.

Conan came out without his suit coat on, holding a microphone. I knew the dance with the female audience bit was coming up, but the game is who is Conan going to pick. He comes up the aisle, and he points in my general direction. For a second, I thought he chose me, but instead it was the kid in front of me. He was very nervous and barely moved. Conan then stopped and continued with the preshow. He welcomed everyone. Before he went, though, he wanted the band to dance with the kid. They did, then Conan was like "Let's all get naked." The kid then started to take his shirt off, which prompted Conan to stop the music and say "You won't dance, but you're all for full frontal nudity." He then went off stage, and the band played two more songs. Then the show began.

Can you find Kim and I?

The show was good overall. The guests were Nicholas Turturro, Joey Lauren Adams, and a band named Marcy Playground (Now I'm hearing them all over the place) The show was great, but what was really hilarious was when they had a clip for replacements for Seinfeld. It had everyone on the floor, even Conan, who probably saw it a couple of times. But the great part of the show was in the middle when Stacey, Andy's sister (Not in real life, just for this bit) came out. Near the end of the bit, you can see

There's Kim! And there I am!

Kim and I in the crowd. I got the screen captures here. Let's play a little game, see if you can find me and Kim in the picture... OK, I'm waiting. Waiting. OK, below is where we both are. I know, it was incredible easy... :-) Also proof that I've now appeared on two networks! Woo hoo!

The show ended, and I noticed something funny going on in the first row. It seemed one of the cue card guys was giving away the cue cards. I found this odd, but I went down to get one. Here's what mine says: (One of these days I'll take a picture of it and put it here)

The Rockerfeller Center
Christmas Tree.

But probably no one is more upset than the executives right here at NBC. Seinfeld is their highest rated comedy and the linchpin of their big Thursday night lineup.

I thought that the Cue card was very cool to have. After the taping, Kim and I made our way over to Rockerfeller Center to see the big Christmas Tree. I so happened to take a picture of that same tree and place it on this web page. One of the things that struck me about the tree is that it looked smaller than I remember. Maybe I'm bigger, or something. Well, it was a fun trip overall with a person I love to go with to these tapings, and a great way to wrap up the Week to Remember, which could have easily been the week to forget, but was not.. Let's do it again in March!