New York (CNN Business)After nearly 30 years and a lot of hilariously bizarre moments, Conan O’Brien said goodbye to late night on Thursday night.
“Conan,” O’Brien’s long-running TBS show, concluded on Thursday night, bringing an end to a late night TV era. And O’Brien’s late night career came to a close with the man who helped start it all, Homer Simpson. The final “Conan” opened with an animated O’Brien doing an exit interview with Homer. O’Brien was a former writer on “The Simpsons,” and helped write some of the show’s most popular episodes such as “Marge vs. the Monorail.”
“Homer, you work in H.R.?” the animated O’Brien asked.
Conan O'Brien's long, strange late-night journey comes to a close”Well, over the years I’ve had hundreds of jobs,” Homer responded. “At one point, I was even a monorail conductor. What a stupid idea that was!” Read MoreThe exit interview between the two ended with O’Brien telling Homer that he meant the world to him.”You mean the world to me, Conrad,” Homer responded.O’Brien’s run in late night has been prolific. As an unknown comedy writer, O’Brien was tasked with replacing David Letterman on NBC’s “Late Night” in the early ’90s. After a somewhat bumpy start, he captured the love of a loyal audience while making a unique name for himself thanks to a mix of solid interviewing and silly humor.After “Late Night,” O’Brien had a brief and tumultuous stint as the host of “The Tonight Show” before being replaced by the host he took over for, Jay Leno. Then he ended up on TBS, where he’s branched out away from his desk to do travel specials in countries such as Cuba and Armenia.As much as Thursday is an end, it’s also a beginning for O’Brien. He will host a new weekly variety series for HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s streaming service. (Like CNN, TBS and HBO Max are units of WarnerMedia.)
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerConan O’Brien is seen backstage on the set of his show “Conan” in 2019. He’s been a late-night host for nearly 30 years.Hide Caption 1 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerConan O’Brien is seen backstage on the set of his show “Conan” in 2019. He’s been a late-night host for nearly 30 years.Hide Caption 2 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien is the guest as he appears on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” in 1996. In 2009, O’Brien would replace Leno as “The Tonight Show” host — at least for a short while.Hide Caption 3 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien does a skit with his longtime show sidekick, comedian Andy Richter, in 1996. Richter has been a part of O’Brien’s show for much of his late-night run.Hide Caption 4 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien delivers a monologue as he hosts an episode of “Saturday Night Live” in 2001. Before he became famous, O’Brien was a writer for the show.Hide Caption 5 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien warms up the crowd at one of his “Late Night” tapings.Hide Caption 6 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien takes a photo of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates during the Consumer Electronics Show in 2005.Hide Caption 7 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien hands a Valentine’s Day present to Finnish President Tarja Halonen as he visited the presidential palace in Helsinki in 2006. O’Brien’s resemblance to Halonen became a recurring bit on his show, and he eventually traveled to meet her and do a special episode from Finland.Hide Caption 8 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien jokes around with fellow talk-show hosts Stephen Colbert, left, and Jon Stewart during a “Late Night” episode in 2008.Hide Caption 9 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien does a Christmas segment with boxing legend Mike Tyson and longtime show performers Andy Richter and Max Weinberg in 2009. O’Brien replaced Jay Leno as host of “The Tonight Show” earlier that year, but he didn’t stay there for long.Hide Caption 10 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien is joined by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, one of his show’s most iconic characters, in 2009.Hide Caption 11 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien’s last episode of “The Tonight Show” aired on January 22, 2010, less than a year after he started. With ratings flagging, NBC wanted to move Jay Leno back into late night and push “The Tonight Show” to a later time slot to accommodate Leno’s new show. O’Brien refused the time change and left. But during his farewell show, O’Brien had a hopeful message for his audience. “All I ask is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people that watch: Please do not be cynical,” he said. “I hate cynicism. For the record, it’s my least-favorite quality — it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” Hide Caption 12 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien appears on Letterman’s show in 2012. They discussed O’Brien’s short-lived stint as host of “The Tonight Show” and had some fun at Jay Leno’s expense.Hide Caption 13 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien jokes with President Barack Obama as he hosted the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in 2013. It was O’Brien’s second time hosting the event. He also hosted in 1995.Hide Caption 14 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien hosts the MTV Movie Awards in 2014.Hide Caption 15 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien wears a bomb disposal suit as he taped episodes of his “Conan” show in Qatar in 2015. O’Brien traveled to Qatar along with first lady Michelle Obama, and he also entertained US troops who were stationed there.Hide Caption 16 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien dances in Cuba in 2015. He became the first American late-night host to do a show in Cuba in more than 50 years.Hide Caption 17 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien speaks on stage during a gala tribute to comedian Steve Martin in 2015.Hide Caption 18 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien poses for a photo with journalist Jorge Ramos as they walk in Mexico City in 2017. O’Brien taped an episode of his show in Mexico to “do something positive” after the tensing of US-Mexico relations.Hide Caption 19 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien fist-bumps basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal during a Turner Upfront show in 2017.Hide Caption 20 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien tapes a segment while visiting Japan in 2018.Hide Caption 21 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien goofs around with Stephen Colbert while appearing on “The Late Show” in 2019.Hide Caption 22 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien visits Ghana with his show in 2019.Hide Caption 23 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien does a segment about “The Two Popes” in 2020.Hide Caption 24 of 25
Photos: Conan O'Brien's late-night careerO’Brien’s last “Conan” show will air on June 24, 2021. The show has been on TBS since 2010.Hide Caption 25 of 25
Homer wasn’t the only special guest that O’Brien had for his last show, however. Will Ferrell, who was also a guest on O’Brien’s other final shows, Zoomed in to say goodbye to his friend.”If you don’t mind, can I pre-tape a few goodbyes, and you can just use them when your next several shows flame out?” Ferrell said to laughs. The comedian proceeded to do a series of taped goodbyes for O’Brien’s future shows including his “late night show on Al Jazeera network” and O’Brien’s “Delta in flight talk show.”O’Brien’s final show included many clips from his years as host of “Conan” as well as joking around with his long-time sidekick, Andy Richter.”It is our final show on TBS,” O’Brien said during his opening monologue.”Wait… what?!” Richter interjected.
Why Conan O'Brien was such a brilliant late-night hostThere was also an interview with his last guest, Jack Black. Black and O’Brien told a story that the show planned to do a big musical number for Conan’s goodbye in which Black would pretend to get injured. However, Black actually got hurt when he sprained his ankle.”It felt fitting for our show,” O’Brien said with laugh. “When all of these legends go off the air, everything is meticulous. Of course, we would think of a bit with Jack where Jack pretends to get hurt and when shooting it, Jack gets hurt.”
To end the show, O’Brien sat on a stool and thanked the people at TBS, his family, his staff and his fans before saying goodbye. “I’ve devoted all of my adult life to pursuing this strange phantom intersection between smart and stupid,” O’Brien said. “There’s a lot of people who believe the two cannot coexist, but god I will tell you, it is something I believe religiously, I think when smart and stupid come together… I think it’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”
Source: edition.cnn.com
