ENTERTAINMENT

TV Writer Emerges as Possible Letterman Successor: Conan O’Brien, a TV writer and stand-up comic, has emerged as the front-runner candidate to succeed late-night talk show host David Letterman at NBC, industry executives said. O’Brien is a producer on “The Simpsons” and former writer and sketch actor on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Earlier this week, O’Brien, 28, taped a 40-minute mock segment on the Jay Leno set at NBC in Burbank and impressed NBC executives and “Saturday Night Live” executive producer Lorne Michaels, who is developing the successor show to Letterman. Letterman is moving his show to CBS later this summer.