The show followed the established six-piece format used by previous hosts
Jay Leno and
Johnny Carson, as well as elements established by O'Brien during his tenure on
Late Night. The first segment included a
monologue by O'Brien, sometimes accompanied by altered news clips, or several brief comedy sketches. Most episodes also included a second segment, immediately after the monologue, with a full comedy sketch. An interview with either one or two guests followed, as well as a musical or comedy performance. After the last performance segment, O'Brien walked on camera to thank the performers, bid farewell to the audience, and recommend watching
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. For the first six shows, the credits ran in the right half of a split screen, a former NBC standard that
Late Night continued to use long after the network abandoned it. After episode seven, NBC's current practice of running credits at the bottom third of the screen was employed.