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Conan O'Brien Opens Up About Being Back At 'Tonight Show' For First Time Since Awkward Ouster
Venerated late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at New York's Rockefeller Center, which was his old stomping grounds until he was unceremoniously let go by NBC.
The writer and comedian was the host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien from 1993 for 18 seasons and was relocated from New York to Los Angeles in 2009 for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, an extension of NBC's Tonight Show franchise.
The new venture lasted only seven months before Conan and NBC parted ways due to a contractual dispute over timeslot and host changes involving Jay Leno.
On Tuesday, O'Brien said it was "weird to come back" to his former NY workplace at 30 Rock for the first time in 14 years.
O'Brien told Fallon:
“I haven’t been in this building for such a long time, and I haven’t been on this floor in forever."
“You have strange memories. I mean, I was here for 16 years doing the ‘Late Night’ show before we went to L.A., right across the hall.”
You can watch a clip here.
Conan O’Brien Makes His "Tonight Show" Return and Reminisces on His Time Hosting "Late Night"youtu.be
“All these memories came flooding back to me," he continued telling Fallon.
“And the first thing that will hit you–and it will hit you, too, because one day, you’ll have this show as long as you want it–but, when you’re 98, you’ll move on, and someone else will be in this studio.”
“When someone else is in your studio, it feels weird.”
O'Brien elaborated on the strange sensation of feeling out of place by recalling an incident involving a popular American Idol winner who took up residence in the studio where O'Brien hosted.
He said:
“So I walked in, and I said, ‘Who’s in my old studio?’”
“And they said, ‘Kelly Clarkson.’ And I love Kelly Clarkson. Who doesn’t love Kelly Clarkson?"
"But still I felt like, ‘It’s not right! It’s blasphemy! They should have burned it to the ground!’”
In 2004, NBC decided that O'Brien would take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in 2009 and the departing host would be moved to a prime time slot for the new The Jay Leno Show.
When the network was unhappy with the ratings performance for both programs, NBC proposed to shuffle things around.
NBC's strategy was to move Leno's show from the prime time slot back to late night with a 30-minute program and to push The Tonight Show, with O'Brien still attached as host, to 12:05 a.m.
Three days after NBC executive Jeff Zucker discussed the plan with the two hosts, NBC Universal Television Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed NBC was going ahead with the schedule changes, with Leno taking the 11:35 p.m. slot following NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Insiders said O'Brien was disappointed with NBC's plan, and it resulted in his ouster the next day with a $45 million severance deal, with $12 million allocated to O'Brien's staff who moved from New York to Los Angeles when he left his Late Night program to take over The Tonight Show in 2009.
In his famous departing monologue, O'Brien graciously thanked fans and gave a shout-out to his soon-to-be former employer, demonstrating there were no hard feelings despite the ugly negotiating process.
"I have worked with NBC for over 20 years," he said.
"Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life."
"I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible."
"Every comedian dreams of hosting 'The Tonight Show' and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second."
"I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-Eleven parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun."
In closing, he asked viewers not to be cynical.
"I hate cynicism," he said, adding that it was his "least favorite quality and 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."
You can watch his final Tonight Show monologue from January 22, 2010, here.
Conan's Goodbyeyoutu.be
Following his split from NBC, O'Brien hosted the variety and late-night talk show Conan on TBS for 11 seasons from 2010 to 2021. With his final bow as the TBS host on June 24, 2021, his late night TV hosting duties, combined with his NBC talk shows, spanned a total of 28 years.
His latest hosting endeavor is an international travel series called Conan O'Brien Must Go.
The premise will center on O'Brien meeting various fans he featured on video-conference calls in his podcast series Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan, which was launched in 2018.
Conan O'Brien Must Go will stream on Max starting April 18, 2024.