The talk TV legend wrapped up 11 years on TBS.
As he announced last month, late night talk show host Conan O’Brien has ended the run of his eponymous talk show on TBS after over a decade on the air. The final episode of the program aired on Thursday night, where O’Brien spoke about his experiences over the past 11 years.
“Try to do what you love with people you love, and if you can manage that, it’s the definition of heaven on Earth,” he said.
The special finale episode featured clips from the show’s past, featuring jokes and talks from O’Brien himself as well as his myriad celebrity guests. Speaking of guests, O’Brien was joined remotely by one of his closest friends, Will Ferrell, whose appearances on the show have “kind of become a tradition” according to O’Brien. Ferrell jokingly gave O’Brien some advance farewells for his upcoming show on HBO Max, as well as any possible future endeavors, in the event that they don’t pan out.
“People would say six episodes isn’t a lot, but you packed enough entertainment in them for eight episodes,” Ferrell said.
As a throwback to his days as a writer on The Simpsons, an animated version of O’Brien was then joined on stage by Homer Simpson, apparently conducting an exit interview as an HR rep for TBS. When Homer didn’t recall who he was, O’Brien reminded him that he’s a talk show host.
“Wow, a dying breed,” Homer said. “There’s only like 800 of you left.”
Fun Fact: The watch Conan is wearing on tonight's #CONAN is the same watch he wore for his first episode of "Late Night." pic.twitter.com/Bn0oBxBZnB
— Team Coco (@TeamCoco) June 25, 2021
Finally, O’Brien was joined onstage by actor and musician (and all-around cool guy) Jack Black for some reminiscing, and in spite of the fact that he was nursing a sprained ankle, he stood up to belt out an impromptu O’Brien tribute track to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”
O’Brien’s undisclosed new show is scheduled to begin streaming on HBO Max some time next year.