Greater than 14 years after being canned as host of The Tonight Present, Conan O’Brien made a triumphant return to the scene of the crime on Tuesday when he sat down with Jimmy Fallon to talk about his new Max sequence, which—satirically sufficient for this specific interview—is titled Conan O’Brien Should Go.
Whereas Fallon made loads of time to talk along with his predecessor about his new sequence, it was unimaginable to disregard the elephant within the room: that this was the primary time O’Brien had returned to his outdated stomping grounds after the tumult that occurred in early 2010– simply seven months into O’Brien’s tenure as The Tonight Present’s host–when NBC determined to maneuver Jay Leno (O’Brien’s predecessor) again into his outdated time slot. The change prompted O’Brien to tender his resignation and finish a 22-year-career at NBC.
However O’Brien didn’t miss a beat upon his return. In response to rapturous applause and a standing ovation, O’Brien jokingly chastised the gang. “I had The Tonight Present for 10 minutes,” he lamented. “You’re reducing into my time.”
When Fallon described his visitor as “larger-than-life,” O’Brien shortly shot again: “The phrase’s ‘iconic.’” However he admitted that it was “bizarre” to be again.
“I haven’t been on this constructing for such a very long time, and I haven’t been on this flooring,” O’Brien mentioned. “Flashbacks occur… I imply, I used to be right here for 16 years doing the Late Evening present earlier than we went out to L.A. and proper throughout the corridor. All these reminiscences got here flooding again to me.”
The strangest half, in response to O’Brien, was seeing his outdated studio, the place The Kelly Clarkson Present now shoots.
“The very first thing that can hit you—and it’ll hit you too, as a result of… while you’re 98, you’ll transfer on and another person might be on this studio. When another person is in your studio, it feels bizarre.”
Ultimately, speak turned to O’Brien’s new sequence, which premieres on Max on April 18. However Fallon couldn’t let his visitor go earlier than thanking him for giving him his first alternative to look on a chat present (sure, there was a photograph) and for the various improvements O’Brien made to the late-night format. However Conan additionally bought very candid.
“I need to say, I’m simply very pleased for you,” O’Brien instructed Fallon. “I’ve had the respect of assembly each Tonight Present host going again to Steve Allen. And I believe what you’ve carried out with the present is gorgeous. You made it your personal. You’ve carried out a lot nice, high quality work. And I couldn’t be happier for you.”