22 Years Later, Chuck Norris’ Most Iconic Role Is Still Defined By A Talk Show Segment

Published Nov 12, 2026, 10:00 AM EST

Zach Moser has been writing for ScreenRant since 2022, covering movies, classic TV, and streaming TV. His areas of expertise cover a wide range of genres with a particular interest in horror and drama, and the conversations around the TV and film industry. When he's not covering the latest film releases or chronicling the latest season of a new show, he's writing humor pieces for McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Slackjaw, and Points In Case or working on short stories and his second novel. 

For a certain age group of TV viewers, Chuck Norris' definitive role is defined by his consistent appearances on a late-night talk show. Chuck Norris is Chuck Norris before he's any other character in his filmography. Before his death in March 2026, an early internet joke consisted of recounting Norris' impossible and illogical feats of strength and intelligence.

Still, if you were to choose one of his roles that defines his career, you can't choose something more emblematic than Walker, Texas Ranger. In that CBS series, Norris plays the titular Cordell Walker, a former US Marine and current Texas Ranger and martial arts instructor.

It's from this nine-season series, which ran from 1993 to 2001, that a lot of the memes that surround Norris are taken from. In the series, Walker and his partner James "Jimmy" Trivette (Clarence Gilyard) keep their state safe, with an attitude about law enforcement more in line with the sheriffs of the Old West.

Using his martial arts prowess, Walker fights bad guys and solves crimes in a procedural story. It's as campy as you would expect, and it wasn't lost on audiences of the era that Walker, Texas Ranger was not to be taken as seriously as the characters in the show insisted. Even if you've never seen it, you'd probably know how ridiculous it can be thanks to a recurring gag on a certain late-night talk show.

Conan O’Brien Made His Walker, Texas Ranger “Lever” A Regular Talk Show Segment

Fans of Late Night with Conan O'Brien have likely seen clips of Walker, Texas Ranger thanks to the show's one-season running gag, the "Walker, Texas Ranger Lever". Even in his early career, Conan was known for wacky and high-concept bits, and a penchant for absurdity that set it apart from other late-night shows.

In this bit, which only occurred during one season of the show, Conan would pull a large, comical lever which would lead to a random clip from Walker, Texas Ranger. The clips were generally completely unrelated to whatever Conan was doing beforehand, and were often of strange, tonally inconsistent moments that would happen in the series.

The origins of the seemingly random clip are due to a unique situation Conan found himself in in 2004. NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment had merged to become NBC Universal, which meant, as he told his audience on May 12, 2004, that he could use any clip from the USA Network without having to pay a fee (via CinemaBlend).

This included Walker, Texas Ranger, which was airing reruns multiple times a day at the time. Late Night writer Michael Korman said that he picked Walker, Texas Ranger because "...it was so the opposite of anything close to the sensibilities of our show." As with many Conan bits, the absurdity is the point.

There was one problem. Conan's assumption that he could air Walker clips for free was totally wrong. A few episodes into the season, Conan learned from NBC producers that the show had to pay all the actors in those clips, and Late Night could go bankrupt if any more were shown. That was the end of the "Walker, Texas Ranger Lever".

The Walker, Texas Ranger “Lever” Returned To Prominence With Chuck Norris’ Death

The "Walker, Texas Ranger Lever" had one last moment in the sun, though. After Norris passed away on March 19, 2026, people naturally wanted to reminisce. For some people, that meant revisiting the Late Night with Conan O'Brien Walker, Texas Ranger gag, a joke that even Norris himself eventually participated in.