Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Originally published on 26th June 2021, this was my little tribute to Conan on the end of his late night career.
This week, it was the last night on TV for Late Night’s Conan O’Brien. His show on TBS, CONAN, came to an end after a marvelous run of 11 years! It was his third late night TV show and likely his last.
Conan, who was a writer on Lorne Michael’s Saturday Night Live and worked as a writer for The Simpsons for some time, started his 28-year-long late night hosting career when he replaced David Letterman on NBC’s Late Night. After that, he hosted NBC’s other show, The Tonight Show, which he left with an unpleasant experience, only after seven or eight months, as the previous host of the show, Jay Leno, who had previously retired, decided to come back and reclaim the late night slot. With that spoiled relationship with NBC, Conan moved to TBS, a network which he said promised him, and most likely delivered as Conan decided to stay with them until the very end of his career, greater creative freedom.
What makes Conan special? What’s so different about this Irish-American guy with weird hair that makes him stand out from the Fallons and Kimmels and Colberts? I’ll say it’s his strategy of selective self-deprecation. There are moments in his interviews with celebrities when he will improvise and ‘play a fool,’ to make them open up and engage the audience. In his farewell speech, he put that into words:
“I’ve devoted all of my adult life - all of it - to pursuing this strange phantom intersection between smart and stupid. And there is a lot of people who believe that the two cannot co-exist, but god, I’ll tell you, it is something that I believe religiously. I think when smart and stupid come together - it’s very difficult, but if you can make it happen - I think it’s most beautiful thing in the world.”
For his last week, some of the funniest people of Hollywood made appearances on the show. Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Nick Offerman, and Jack Black, to just name a few. Homer Simpson did an exit interview. And this below 👇🏼 is Conan’s interview with Bill Hader. Why I chose this one? Oh, it’s obvious. I love Hader (Stefan? Vinni Vedecci? Barry?) Also he does a ton of impressions.
“My advice to people watching out there right now - It’s not easy to do. It is not easy to do. It’s not easy to do, but try - try and do what you love with people you love. And if you can manage that, it’s the definition of heaven on earth. I swear to God, it really is.” Conan O’Brien