Summary

• Conan O'Brien felt at home returning to The Tonight Show, reminiscing about his time on the sixth floor studio.
• His experience with The Tonight Show includes a brief tenure as host before pivoting to create Conan on TBS.
• Despite a rocky exit, O'Brien's successful career includes winning Emmys and now hosting a travel show.

Conan O’Brien reacts to his return to The Tonight Show. O’Brien is best known as a talk show host for the series Late Night with Conan O’Brien, which ran from 1993 to 2009, and later Conan, which ran from 2010 to 2021. In between, O'Brien hosted The Tonight Show for nearly 8 months between 2009 and 2010, which concluded with a highly publicized exit from the series. On April 9, O’Brien returned to The Tonight Show for the first time since his departure.

Speaking on the Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast, O’Brien reflects on his experience returning to The Tonight Show.

O’Brien itted that he was “curious how [he] would feel seeing that sixth floor again.” When he got there, he was met with kindness from The Tonight Show staff, who he said “could not have been nicer.” Furthermore, he said that he “immediately felt at home and happy to be there,” reminiscing fondly on his time working on The Late Show just across the hallway from Jimmy Fallon’s current studio. Check out the full quote from O’Brien below:

I was curious how I would feel seeing that sixth floor again, because that was such a big part of my life when I did the Late Night show for 16 years. And hadn’t been there in so long. And Jimmy’s studio is 6B, mine was 6A, that’s where Letterman’s show took place, that’s where we did our show for 16 years, and Jimmy’s across the hall in 6B.

And so, it was just going right back home again. And I just liked being there. I enjoyed it. And, it felt good. I was thinking, am I going to get in my head about going back to this place that has so many strong memories? And I just immediately felt at home and happy to be there. And the Tonight Show staff could not have been nicer. And it was really a good time.

Conan O’Brien’s History On The Tonight Show Explained

O'Brien Had A Messy Exit From Hosting The Tonight Show

From June 2009 to January 2010, O’Brien was briefly the host of the very show on which he was appearing, The Tonight Show. He had taken over for former Tonight Show host Jay Leno. Less than a year into his Tonight Show tenure, however, NBC wanted to push The Tonight Show back from its established time to put Leno's flailing series, The Jay Leno Show, in a better position. O’Brien refused this change and departed the show, moving on to TBS with Conan.

On his Tonight Show appearance, the former Simpsons writer mentioned his Tonight Show appearance only briefly. Upon entering Fallon’s stage, O’Brien received a standing ovation, and uttered the joke: “I know you meant well, but I had The Tonight Show for ten minutes and you ate into my time.” Overall, however, he went through his Tonight Show appearance mainly focusing on the purpose of his appearance, which was to promote his travel show, Conan O'Brien Must Go.

Apart from his rocky exit from The Tonight Show, O’Brien has continued a largely successful career. He won three Emmys for Conan throughout its run, and was nominated for many more. Now, the talent can continue his creative pursuits through his travel series Conan O’Brien Must Go and the podcast Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend. Even with his tough history with The Tonight Show, it was good to see O’Brien return to the series, and great to know that he was magnanimously welcomed as well.

The Tonight Show airs weekdays at 11:35 PM.

Source: Team Coco/YouTube