Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend - Adam Scott
Episode Date: February 17, 2025Actor Adam Scott feels pure joy about being Conan O’Brien’s friend.Adam sits down with Conan to discuss the hat he wore to his first background role, the off-kilter surrealism of Severance, his no...torious R.E.M. fandom, and his greatest comedy misfire. Later, Conan, Matt, and Sona bring back the drawing contest in to once again test their artistic faculties. For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com.Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (669) 587-2847. Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/conan.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hi, my name is Adam Scott.
And I feel pure joy about being Conan O'Brien's fucking friend.
Wait, what is this?
What is this?
Yeah, that's right.
But I love that he had to think about it.
You hit pure joy and then you clearly couldn't do it like you had eaten something rotten
and you couldn't keep it down.
I think putrefied is the exact word, the exact feeling.
["Fall Is Here"]
Fall is here, hear the yell
Back to school, ring the bell
Bend the shoes, walk and lose
Climb the fence, books and pens.
I can tell that we are gonna be friends.
Yes, I can tell that we are gonna be friends.
Hey there, Conan O'Brien here.
Welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.
And I do need a friend, fortunately.
I have 1.5 in Sonoma of Sessian. Wait a minute. And Gorley, Matt have 1.5 in Sonamufsesian.
Wait a minute.
And Gorley, Matt Gorley.
Am I 0.5 or are we both 0.75 or is it something else?
You know what?
It's something you'll have to figure out on your own.
That's the beauty of my mystical little quips.
You never know what I really mean.
This is an exciting day.
Mystical.
Because Sona's wearing a jacket I haven't seen before.
And this is a woman who will wear the same jacket
day in and day out.
And I don't believe someone should be a clothes horse.
I don't think someone should be styling it every day.
You know, that's not my way.
Yeah.
But I am not a material man, but-
But you talk about my clothes all the time.
Because for most of the many, many, many years
I employed you, you wore the same jacket every day.
And with all due respect, does that jacket exist anymore?
Jesus, Matt.
Sorry.
It does not.
No, no, did that jacket go up in the fire?
Yes, it did.
This is what I meant.
Oh, yeah, so maybe you should apologize.
Why is he saying that?
I meant to defend you.
I just assumed it would be okay
because you wear it all the time!
So the one time you took it off, you left it in your house,
and that's when your house caught fire?
Yes! So you should buy me a new one.
Yeah, well, I could buy you 30.
They don't look that expensive.
Oh, my God!
I'm sorry!
Oh, my God!
We just also noticed that this is the first recording
we've done since the one recording we've done
after the fires and already you're back on early.
Well, all I'm saying is,
I used to give you a hard time about that jacket
and I'm sure we've discussed it in different episodes.
I called it the old Dr. Zayas.
It was, it's a dark jacket.
Dr. Zayas' was kind of an orange.
Mine is, it was black, it was a black dark jacket. Dr. Zayas was kind of an orange. Mine is, it was black.
It was a black leather jacket.
Yeah, it was black, but had some crenellations and folds.
Had a little bit of an 80s vibe to it.
Unbelievable. Oh my God.
But anyway, you just wore the same thing every single day.
And I used to say, did I not, I'll get you a jacket?
I looked so cool in that jacket. I did. Nothing is cooler than a worn-in jacket.
Oh, it was worn in all right. Yes.
No, no, no. It was... Wow.
I am shocked that jacket's gone, because that is such a part of...
It's okay. She lived a good life.
She saw some shit.
Is it she? It's a she?
Yeah, I don't know.
Your current jacket is definitely a she.
My jacket, my current jacket,
my best friend Veronica got me this one.
Oh, look at this!
What is that?
And she gave me,
cause I had pins all over my other denim jackets,
so she got me a happy face, a popcorn,
a Freddie Mercury, and a vagina pin.
I love that I just pointed to a vagina and said,
what is that?
What is that?
What is that?
I've heard tell! A new discovery. Yeah. Wait.
I know you want to, you should probably see it.
It's not just a vagina.
It's got like the fallopian tube.
Yeah.
It has the whole thing.
Fallopian tubes that are flowers.
What's that?
Really?
I mean, is that a vagina?
Sorry.
No, it's more like a a vagina? ALL LAUGH Sorry.
No, it's more like a cattle head with roses for horns.
Yes, it's, I'm sorry.
What do you guys got going on in there?
Yeah.
Oh, what are we doing?
I don't, don't make me do an anatomy lesson,
because to be honest, I don't even know how it works.
I don't even know what's going on down there.
Do you guys know what's going on?
Oh, you've never done that thing that women are supposed to do
to empower themselves, where they get a mirror
and they look there and they love themselves
and all that whole thing?
Why are you saying it with disdain?
That wasn't disdain. That was...
He's saying it with utter horror.
Yes!
Horror.
Have you ever closely examined yourself?
Your penis?
Well, ours, you could see it all the time.
That's true.
And sometimes it looks right at you.
They're on the outside.
No, there are, there's a lot of things going on with this
and it's, you know, I never really examined it,
but maybe I should and I'll learn some stuff.
Wait, the pin or your actual undercarriage?
Don't say undercarriage.
Don't say undercarriage.
My vagina, you can say vagina.
It's okay to say it.
Just say it.
I don't know, I'm not sure.
It's vagina, that's what it is.
Why do you shrug your shoulders when you do that?
So uncomfortable.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
I'm doing it like Jeff Ross would do.
Vagina.
Do you wanna wear the vagina pin?
I'm good.
Okay.
I'm good.
People will think I just spilled some tomatillo sauce on me.
Um.
Um.
I don't think I'll wear the pin.
I'm good.
All right.
But I think I want women to know I'm in their corner.
Just keep that thing away from me.
Uh.
Now would your mom be okay with you wearing that pin?
Uh, I think at this point they just like don't know what to, they can't tell me not to do
something.
Would she, just looking at that, would she know it's a vagina?
Because it's not, it's not, it's weird.
It's pretty vagy.
You have to, you have to, yeah, I think your first instinct is vagy, but you have to like
give it a double look.
What else could it be?
It's got roses on it.
This is a vagina.
This is how a vagina looks.
Is it?
It's a vagina.
Blay, weigh in.
Well, I have a bunch of men.
Let's get all the men in the house.
Blay has seen two in his lifetime.
Blay, weigh in.
One was the one I came out of.
Yeah.
Passing through.
I...
It's like when you're in a train and it's not your station.
Oh my God.
There goes New Haven.
These are the phallopes.
I think, well, aren't these supposed to be
the fallopian tubes and ovaries?
Yeah.
So it's not just the vagina,
it's the women's reproductive system.
Yes.
Oh, oh, you were being more like tech, yeah, it's the whole thing. No, it's... It's all of it. Yeah, well, why not just the vagina, it's the women's reproductive system. Yes, oh, oh, you were being more like,
yeah, it's the whole thing.
It's all of it.
Yeah, well, why didn't they keep going
and have parts of the bladder?
Why not just keep going at that point?
Why'd they put the fallopian tubes in there?
I don't know, they probably wanna celebrate
that we have the ability to create life
and that makes us special,
unlike men who just like don't do anything.
Where's the tattoo that says do not enter?
Yeah, we have, no, but listen, we have a, we do something.
What do you do?
We carry the sacred seed.
Okay, don't say sacred.
We do, don't stop saying don't say this and don't say that.
I don't know, but the way you approach this is very awkward.
To say that we do nothing, I think is absurd.
It takes two to tango, as they say.
I know. Biologically, yes.
Biologically, I think we are, for now, a necessity.
Yeah, okay. You're right.
I do think, obviously, yes, biologically, yes,
but then we have to do everything after that,
and that's a lot.
Well, we do things, too.
We're like, honey, can I get you some tea?
Oh! Before I go out to the strip club with my pals? A lot. Well, we do things too. We're like, honey, can I get you some tea?
Before I go out to the strip club with my pals?
Honey, can I prop your feet up?
Before I head out and ogle the ladies on the boulevard and eat ham sandwiches with my chums?
Yes.
Sorry.
I was just going to say one thing, which, I think it kind of says everything that someone,
that you have a beautiful pin
celebrating women's reproductive organs
and we have truck nuts.
That's true, that is true.
I don't put them on my...
Well, in your case, you biologically have truck nuts.
I do, yeah.
That was just a gift from God and General Motors.
I have 1963 Saab nuts.
That's a little different.
Those are cold weather nuts.
Those are four wheel drive cold weather
European designed nuts.
They're attractive in a vintage way.
Sure, yeah.
Yeah.
If you can see these nuts, you're way too close, buddy.
Back up.
And they drive on the wrong side of the road.
Exactly.
What are those nuts doing over there?
This is America.
I don't wanna be here.
Listen, I'm sorry.
Can I certainly hold this up, please?
Yes, I am sorry for the loss of that jacket.
I really am.
Okay. I really am.
I don't think you are.
No, I am, I am.
I mean, you went through a terrible thing and I'm,
I do, it was fun making fun of that jacket
and now that it's gone and the way that it went, I'm sad.
So you're sad that you don't really get
to make fun of it anymore.
That's what it is.
I have lost one of the arrows in my quiver.
I now have one less thing to attack Sona with.
Okay.
And I think that's the greatest tragedy here.
So many arrows. Let's wrap it up.
It's an endless supply of arrows.
Like another one just popped up,
but I don't know for what, but it's there.
So don't, you'll be okay.
Yes, I'll get you to the end of time.
Sorry about your loss.
Uh, my guests today start and show us,
like, parks and recreation and party down.
Now you can see him in the second season.
I am so excited about this.
I'm loving the second season.
And I do honestly think this is one of the most
beautifully crafted things on television.
The hit Apple TV series, Severance.
So excited he's here today.
I celebrate this gentleman, Adam Scott.
Welcome.
Very excited to have you here.
Thank you.
I'm so excited to be here.
Because you know I'm a massive fan of your work, but also you as a person.
And we've had the joy of hanging out a little bit.
And I'm just, I could not be happier for you.
Oh, thanks.
That you are right now at the center
of the coolest show on television.
Universal Acclaim, everyone's been waiting
on the second season.
It shows up,
it was appointment television for my son, my wife and I,
we just like, we sat down loving it, we debated it,
it is beautifully made, you're killing it,
and I'm just, I'm happy for you.
Thank you, Conan.
Do I wish it were me?
Yes, I do.
Sure, sure, I understand.
Do I feel that maybe there was a chance
that I'd get that part?
Or it was a mix up of some sort?
Yeah, I know Stiller called me at one point
and I didn't get the call.
I couldn't quite pick it up.
No, I'm just, I'm-
That's show business.
Yeah.
And then he had to go with his second choice.
That's right.
Adam Scott.
That's right.
What the fuck?
Well, whatever.
You know what?
It ended up working out.
And no, it is just so artfully done,
so beautifully done.
So much thought has gone into this.
And I watched the opening shot
of the second season several times.
Oh, really?
Because you're, I'm not giving anything away, but the opening shot of the second season several times. Oh, really? Because you're, I'm not giving anything away,
but the opening shot of the second season,
you are running down this hallway that just doesn't end.
And there's something about the way it's shot.
I don't know what it is.
I've watched a lot of film.
I've watched a lot of television.
And I have never seen anything quite like it.
And I can't put my finger on what's happening there,
but it is a absolutely incredible piece of filmmaking
that's the start of a television show.
Yeah, that's all Ben.
First of all, thank you for having me.
I'm so excited to be here.
I listen to the show all the time.
And Conan, you are one of those people who,
as you move through show business,
you get to know people that you know their work
and you are a fan before you get to know them.
You are definitely one of those people.
I still can't believe that I actually know you.
And I know there are a lot of us who feel that way.
So thank you and thanks for having me.
It may not last.
No, no, no, I can already tell it's fading.
Yeah.
I'm starting to forget your name right now.
That's right, which I totally expect
based on previous experience.
Every time I've seen you out on the street,
I usually ask you, oh, waiter.
Yes.
Can I get some more ice water? It's a party down confusion.
That's right.
Yeah.
But anyway, I know that Ben takes this really seriously
and it's not just making a TV show.
This is a whole other thing.
Yeah.
And that's part of what I love about it
is that he's someone who you know him, he's thinking about all of it.
He's thinking about the whole grid at all times.
And for me, that's, that lets me relax
and the rest of the cast as well.
And we can just focus on,
because if you're worried about like, what it, yeah,
but if you're asking me to do this,
but is it gonna feel ridiculous
because that thing's happening
and we're going 40 miles an hour.
If that guy's right here and I'm reacting this way,
like, and sometimes you say that
and the director looks at you
and it's clear that they haven't thought about any of this,
which is fine too.
It's a matter of experience
or how different people make different things.
But with Ben, you know,
he's thinking about
the entire thing, he's considered every detail.
So we can all just focus on the task at hand.
The sense I get is that Ben is playing
three-dimensional chess.
Yes.
And, you know.
And we're playing connect four.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And you ask him a question, you'd be like, do not worry.
He's seeing like his nine dimensional chessboard.
But looking at the whole span of your career,
this is quite a different gig.
First of all, I know it took you a while.
You paid, talk about paying your dues.
You paid your dues for a long time.
It took you a long time to find your footing,
catch your break.
And then it was really in, I mean,
starting out in like background work.
What you doing, background work?
Yeah, for a Tia Carrere music video.
That was one of my many background gigs.
That was you?
Yeah. I know. You were the best part.
You guys probably all recognized me when I walked in.
Yeah.
Guy with beret, I believe is how they referred to me.
For real?
You were wearing a beret for real?
My own.
I can't find it anywhere.
I really have looked.
It was fall of 93 and I had a beret
and I thought it was great and I wore it all the time.
And I definitely wore it to the filming
of the Tia Carrere video.
So I would love to try and find it.
I don't even know if I appear.
I have to say, I don't know if you guys do this.
I, and you might do it because this used to be your profession.
I look at background people sometimes in scenes.
And if I don't find the scene particularly riveting,
I really do look at the background people.
100%.
And I'm usually impressed.
Like they're in it.
They're both not talking at the same time, even though.
And then every now and then there's someone
who's just too happy about having a cup of coffee.
Yes.
Or having a conversation where they're like, you know.
Yes, yes.
Take it down enough.
Yes.
Yeah.
Or wearing a beret.
Or wearing a beret.
Anything to get noticed.
But you know, then when your breaks start to come,
it's very much ensemble work.
And you are in an ensemble now,
but you are the face of the show.
So this is, I mean, there must be something
kind of comforting about ensemble work.
Clearly, I mean, working on something like Party Down,
you're just working with these wonderful improvise.
I mean, what a cast.
It's incredible.
Yeah, I'm feeling like you're just ensconced in this,
in this incredible, and Parks and Rec too,
just being part of this crew that Amy was really leading.
But yeah, comforting is a perfect word for it.
And it's part of why I was so freaked out
when Severance first came out a few years ago.
It's like suddenly the billboards went up
and it was my face around town.
And it really, it should have been like this big, happy,
you know, monumental moment that I've been waiting for,
for 30 years, but it just freaked me out.
And Ben sort of talked me down because he's certainly been through it. that I've been waiting for for 30 years, but it just freaked me out.
And Ben sort of talked me down
because he's certainly been through it.
Just because at that point, we made the show in a bubble
and no one had seen it and we loved it,
but had no clue if anyone would like it
or if people would just make fun of us.
Like, you just don't know at all
other than your own barometer.
And we thought it was cool, but man, you just have,
you have zero sense of how it's gonna be received.
So it could have been this big embarrassing thing.
Anyway, yeah, when you're kind of out front,
it's frightening and then also rewarding
when you're doing something that you feel good about.
Yes, I've said this for many years
and I don't think most people would understand it.
I think the assumption is if you're working on something
cool, that's gonna be iconic,
everyone knows it as they're working on it.
And that is not the case.
And I've always said it takes a lot of very talented people
working very hard to make something terrible.
Yeah. You know, it's why I get very impatient around Oscar season. a lot of very talented people working very hard to make something terrible.
Yeah.
You know, it's why I get very impatient
around Oscar season, there are all these reviews of movies
and a lot of them are really brilliant movies
and they'll say, yeah, but then they really blew it
in that one part.
Right.
And I'll be thinking, do you know how hard it is
just to make a movie, let alone a great movie?
Yeah.
But there's that one part in The Brutalist
where they kind of miss the mark a little bit.
People become just film historians
when Oscar season comes around.
They get very, very persnickety.
Yeah, and also all the time it takes.
I think that was part of why we were also afraid
of it landing with a thud is that it was so hard to make
and took so long that it would have been a bummer.
But anything that comes out and doesn't quite work,
people were working on it for a few years.
It's always.
One thing geeking out about Severance, the visuals,
the way it shot, the colors,
there's all this thought going into stuff.
The machines they use are oddly out of time.
The cars.
The cars are out of time,
which leads to all different kinds of theories,
but the choices directing and creating a lot of the time
is about choices and just,
everything is just a little off in this weird way
that I can't quite put my finger on.
And I find I could watch it, you know,
watch it with the sound on
and then you could watch it again with the sound off
and just look at the colors and what people are wearing
and how things are framed in the shots.
And I think Hal Ben and Jessica Lee Gagne,
the director of photography, and Jeremy,
our production designer, and Kat, our props master, I think the way they visually tell
the story too, you could watch it with the sound off and get the story too emotionally.
And maybe some of the more kind of mind-twisty details wouldn't be there, but you would emotionally
get the story.
And I think that's really important too,
when you can make something where you can turn the sound off.
It's like, if you listen to your podcast with the sound off,
you get it.
You get it.
You know, I'm gonna tell you something.
You get a little bit more than if you do listen
to it with the sound, right?
We recommend that people, when they're driving,
turn the sound off, yeah.
And you'll have a completely superior experience.
I recommend you put on a different podcast.
Yeah.
But keep the sound off on this one.
Concurrently play another one.
That's the years.
Sona, you're a we all love stepbrothers. You're a stepbrothers. You're a stepbrothers fanatic.
I do love it.
And so the way you popped in that
must have, you know, felt like-
Never had one carb.
Yeah, that's right.
That's right.
I always, that's the thing I remember most
about that movie, yeah.
But, and I know that your arc in Parks and Rec
was a little strange, right?
When the show started, there's a story to it.
Well, I started at the end of season two.
I mean, I had auditioned for the show originally,
but it wasn't even really for a specific role.
It was so early that Mike was still,
me and Rashida read together and blew it and was bummed.
And then Party Down came along.
So in a way it sort of worked out well.
I was able to do that because I didn't get the,
the Parks pilot and I'm so glad I was able to do Party Down.
And then weirdly Mike loved Party Down.
And from that asked me to come and join Park.
So it all sort of came around.
Now, this is the inevitable question.
Did you ever get to ask Mike,
hey man.
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
I was here, remember when I auditioned for you?
That's just something that,
and it's so funny because I've had,
we've had this experience here on this podcast
where we're talking to iconic legendary actors.
And when they bring up the guy who snubbed them,
the casting director, Harrison Ford did it on this podcast.
And he was like, you know, the year was 1967.
He was still like pissed about it.
And he's pissed.
Jerry Tukowsky.
Jerry Tukowsky.
Yeah, and also, you know, famously,
famously Michael Jordan, when he was accepted into like the basketball hall of fame,
his speech was all a list.
He started listing people who,
yeah, this guy benched me in fifth grade, remember that?
It's crazy. Josh Kilaue.
It's his fuel, like that documentary,
he's constantly bringing it.
It's his fuel, but it does bring up the idea
of you're working with someone who-
Rejected me.
I had this with-
I know, wait, what are you saying?
He should be pissed at Mike Sherwood?
No, no, no.
You know what?
You're right.
Yes!
God damn it.
This is the goal of this, my podcast.
To dig up old animosities.
Here's a very well liked,
Adam is a very well liked actor, celebrity,
critically acclaimed, his wonderful family, he's happy,
he's having this big moment that will keep going
and all I wanna do is get him mad.
No, I know.
Fuck.
I'm going straight to Mike's house after this.
Ding dong, hey Adam, bang!
Hey, asshole.
Boom.
Fuck you.
And then we never speak again.
Then later he hears the podcast, oh, I see.
Then he rings my bell, oh, hi Mike, bang!
Soon just a cavalcade of people punching each other. Then he rings my bell. Oh, hi Mike. Bang. Soon.
Just a cavalcade of people punching each other.
And just lawsuits for years.
Yeah, lawsuits for years.
We're all tied up in the courts.
I never asked him, I think because I was just 100% sure why,
which was I blew the, I sucked at auditioning.
I hated it.
It was embarrassing.
And I was just never very good at it.
So I didn't walk out of there thinking
I was gonna get the job anyway.
I had this with Ray Romano, Ray Romano who we didn't,
he wanted to be a monologue writer for my show,
great comedian, great joke writer.
We didn't have a slot, but he had a good packet
and people knew him, so I met with him.
And sat across, he came into my office
and at the time I'm like 32 years old.
Do you remember him meeting you?
Vaguely, and he was sitting there and he was real nervous
and I just kind of said that your stuff is great,
but we didn't have an opening.
So he goes from that experience to maybe a year later,
getting Everybody Loves Raymond,
and then becoming this monolithic TV star.
And I remember later on running into him and saying,
ah, I was really bummed I didn't get that job.
I'm like, what are you talking about?
Do you realize what we pay monologue?
Right?
All right, was it me?
There wasn't an element.
Ray, Ray, hello, Ray.
You're Ray Romano.
That doesn't happen if you're with me writing, oh, you know.
You are profoundly wealthy.
Yeah, exactly.
Because of your greatness.
You can buy and sell me 35, I know,
but I think I could have done that.
Are you sure you weren't talking to Bobcat Goldthwait?
No, I was talking to Cookie Monster.
Ah, cookies.
Anyway, you know, it's just, I don't know,
I love people that just get stuck on something like that,
and I'm trying to get you stuck on it,
but it didn't work out. Yeah, well, I am now.
I'm obsessed.
Al Pacino, too, did he say something obsessed. Um, uh, Al Pacino too.
Did he say something about that?
You guys had Al Pacino on?
Yes, and he sat right where he was sitting
and he's one of my all time-
That was a great interview.
And talk about, you can't believe,
I couldn't believe that I'm in, you know.
I mean, I bumped into him a couple of times.
He had always been very sweet to me, knew who I was,
would like call me, called me over to his table once in a while.
I mean, just, I couldn't believe that this guy,
there's, of all the space in his brain,
there's one cell that knows about me.
I couldn't believe it,
cause I'm such a massive fan,
but he was sitting here and yeah,
he was very in touch with no bitterness at all,
but very much in touch with the fact that, you know,
Coppola and the studio really didn't want him.
Yeah.
I mean, Coppola wanted him to be,
have the role in The Godfather, but studio didn't want him.
And then for maybe half the shoot of the movie,
they don't like, the studio doesn't like him. And Coppola is like, yeah, I know he's not bringing it. For maybe half the shoot of the movie,
the studio doesn't like him. And Coppola is like, yeah, no, he's not bringing it.
He's not bringing it and tells him that.
And he remembered being called over to Coppola's table
at a restaurant and Coppola didn't even stand up.
Yeah, you didn't ask him to sit down.
Didn't ask him to sit down.
And so he was very much in touch with that and still is.
And I remembered him saying to me like,
Conan, they didn't want me, they didn't want me.
And I'm like, yes, but then you did get it
and you became the face of the-
Michael Corleone.
Yes, for not one, but two of the greatest films ever made.
And then you go on to do all this other iconic work
and it's like, I know, but they didn't want me.
And it's just incredible.
Al Pacino. Al Pacino.
Al Pacino is sweating stuff out.
Just to think, I listened to his book
that he was promoting here
and just him talking about like scenes in The Godfather
and how he finally convinced them
he was right for the role
from doing the scene where he shoots
the two guys in the restaurant.
But just thinking about at one point,
there were people just like working on that scene
and trying to figure out like how to do,
it's just so weird to think that there was a time
before that scene existed and that that scene
is because of some decisions that people kind of guessed at
and were just figuring it out.
Also, I love, and this has happened before too,
I love the concept that there are crew people going,
who the fuck is this guy? And when they were shooting, and this has happened before too, I love the concept that there are crew people going,
who the fuck is this guy?
And when they were shooting the opening of The Godfather
and it takes place at the big wedding
at Marlon Brando's estate and everyone's dancing
and having fun and they cut over to Michael and Kay,
he's really underplaying it.
He's just out of the army and he's explaining
who people are, that's Luca Brasi,
he works for my father, he takes care of us.
So what does your father do, Michael?
But apparently those dailies came back
and the people at, I guess it was Paramount maybe,
were like, who is this droopy noodle of a guy
in a big army hat?
He's terrible.
Yeah.
And-
Like zero charisma.
Zero charisma, and he's not being, and the crew, the crew is like, we want this guy.
And apparently, the other time that happened, you're a graduate.
Yeah.
So Dustin Hoffman is, you know, in the book, The Graduate, the graduate is blonde haired, blue eyed.
And so they wanted like Robert Redford.
That was just who it was supposed to be.
And the big brave decision was no,
it's gonna be this little known actor,
theater actor, Dustin Hoffman,
who's not a blonde haired, blue eyed kid.
And the crew and everyone is like, what the fuck?
This guy's mumbling?
Is this the same crew?
What about the assholes?
No, no, no, no.
Hey, trust me, this is the, hey, trust me.
They didn't believe in what they were working on.
This is the crew I had at late night in 93, 94, 95.
Cause we inherited Dave's, and I swear to God,
people were, I don't blame them, but they were like,
you know, they had just had David Letterman.
Wait, you had Dave's crew?
I had a, yeah, his core, I had his camera,
some of his camera, because they stayed behind.
Dave went to CBS and took some people,
but there was a core and I don't blame them.
There was like cable pullers and stuff.
And David Letterman, after 11 years of, you know,
reinventing the format and dominating, has now gone on
to greater heights and they're like,
they got this new kid, here he comes.
And I come in and I'm like, hi everybody.
My name's Conan, I know.
Oh, anyway, I like improv,
we're gonna try some weird stuff.
I don't know, I think it's gonna be okay.
Hey, does anybody, what dries up acne?
Does anybody know?
Like I still had acne break out occasionally.
And I'd be like, does anyone,
cause I use this stuff, is there something better?
And these are, and-
Are you asking the crew about your acne?
I don't know, and these guys-
Just out to everyone asking if anyone has any recommendations.
I open the shows with it often.
Hi, if anyone's out there watching.
It just keeps, I think it's, it might be cystic,
I don't know, it comes back.
Oh, God.
But that was the thing that blew my mind was the,
and I didn't blame them, but there were just,
I mean, there were guys on my crew
that had worked on Sullivan when The Beatles played there.
And I would ask them, like, what was that like?
And they were guys from Long Island, you know?
And they'd say stuff like, I don't know.
I was mad because it was a Sunday night,
I'm not supposed to work Sunday night, I'm on my own.
And then they call me because Steve got,
I gotta come in and I saw him up in there.
And I was like, but it was The Beatles!
It was The Beatles! And I'm like,
that's a lot of night, I don't know,
they have fucking hair, I don't know.
And then I'm on the way home, and then...
The carburetor blows out.
So fuck that shit, you know?
And I don't get paid overtime.
And you're like, that's their memory.
Yeah. You're like, great.
This was a really special talk that we just had.
Thank you very much.
On the subject of music,
I know that you have done many podcasts,
music-centric podcasts.
You have your obsessions, R.E.M.
You love R.E.M.
Yeah, yeah.
Cause I'm, you know, that generation
that kind of grew up with that music.
Like they got huge around 87, like their first big hit.
And I was like 14, so it was kind of perfect timing.
My college girlfriend, when I was, I think a senior,
she was so cool, she knew about music.
She knew bands before they broke,
but I remember her being very cool and saying,
yeah, REM, I'm like, REM?
What is that?
Right.
That sounds, I don't, is that a band?
Right.
And kind of thinking, great, you like your niche little band
that's not going anywhere.
Why did she break up with you?
I know.
You seemed really cool.
I have no idea about anything you're talking about.
Nothing interesting. I think I said to her, nothing you're talking about. Nothing interesting.
I think I said to her, nothing you say is of value to me.
And then she walks out on me.
What's that all about?
So weird that that didn't work.
Women.
No, there was something mysterious about their name
and the way they looked in the music videos
they weren't in.
It was just all cool. you know, back then.
Yeah, and to this day, a lot of great music.
Yeah.
So it's, what are your bands?
Your bands are REM, U2.
Yeah, those were like my Beatles, the Beatles and Stones,
kind of for, I don't know,
for my age group or generation or whatever.
Those were the two big-
I'm seeing here that you're 77 years old.
77 years old.
Yeah.
Yeah, those were the two big ones.
And they were very, now looking back, it's like,
well, of course they were both very mainstream,
like arena rock bands.
And I think that's part of what I liked about it too,
just sort of the grandness of it.
What are you watching when you're a kid?
What are the shows that mean something to you on TV?
Letterman, it was a huge one.
Yep.
We didn't have, I grew up in Santa Cruz, California,
which is a little hip, kind of hippie beach town.
And so we didn't have a TV in our house.
I lived with my mom for a majority of the time
and then went back and forth.
But while I was living there,
my dad got me this little five-inch black and white TV
that I just kept in my room and I was just glued to it.
Without cable television, you have three stations.
So I would just watch whatever was on from 7 PM or whenever
till they went off the air at,
was it 1.30 or two or whatever.
Anyway, Letterman, you know, and Different Strokes
and whatever network comedies were on,
hour long dramas always felt like too grown up
and boring until I got older.
And now you go back and look at hour long dramas
when, you know, we were coming of age
and they're just like pornography bad, you know, we were coming of age and they're just like pornography bad, you know?
Like, not only are they just weirdly bad,
but they show there's so much shoe leather,
just because they're trying to fill up the 42 minutes.
Oh, I'm obsessed with, I've had huge fights.
I had a huge fight with Bill Burr, who loves chips.
And I went after Bill and said,
chips is a piece of shit.
And he's like, what are you talking about?
And he's getting crazy on me about how much he loves chips
and how much it meant to him.
But if you watch those shows now, the editing,
they'll, I don't know if everyone's on Coke
that's making them, but the shots are lazy.
So the whole point of the show
is there's gonna be this big meeting.
Right.
You know, and so a guy is gonna pull up in his car
and go talk to someone who's in another car.
The car will pull up in some big parking lot,
30 feet away, the guy will get out and shut the door
and walk 30 feet to the other guy.
Totally.
No cutting. No.
No editing, cause they're like,
yeah, we can kill some time.
Yeah.
Walking from that giant, bad,
late 70s American car to this one.
That's right.
That's right.
Like people have no idea how lucky they are
with Breaking Bad and the surprise, you know,
whatever, you know, modern television.
Right.
We did those credit sequence things,
the greatest event.
So we had to go and watch Simon and Simon episodes
to find these certain scenes to get context on some of them.
And like Bill Burr, my memories of Simon and Simon
are one thing, it meant so much to me as a kid.
But then kind of diving in and really watching,
it's just a whole different thing.
Like I would challenge Bill Burr to binge chips right now.
Like really see if he can hang in there.
Well, I'm sure I'll be getting a call from him very soon.
I just saw him the other day.
We had a lovely meal
and now he's gonna feel like I betrayed him.
But I think we are in TV's golden age.
I keep saying that clearly the whole business changed
but what you're describing, and now we sound like,
you know, the two old men on the Muppet show in the balcony,
but you watched what was on.
And you had an awareness sometimes,
this doesn't seem that good, but it was all there was.
There's three networks and also there's what comes in,
meaning what will my reception capture?
Yes.
Because sometimes there's a good show
and you'd go to turn it on and there was the antenna,
I keep moving the antenna around.
Yeah, that's right.
And so just this, I don't know.
It was inconsistent.
Some nights CBS would come in great
and some nights it was just garbage.
Right, and so now there's the other problem
of I have 7,000 options.
And yes, there are some very obvious choices I can make
when I know there's a really good documentary out
or hey, Severance is back, I know what I'm doing,
it's appointment television.
But then there's so much where people have told me,
you've gotta watch Gub Gub Nation.
And I'm like, what is it?
I love Gub Gub Nation. You're surrounded by people gotta watch Gub Gub Nation. And I'm like, what is it? I love Gub Gub Nation.
You're surrounded by people that love Gub Gub Nation.
And I'm like, what's Gub Gub Nation?
We're Gub Gubbers.
Yeah, we're just from way back.
Gub Heads, what's up everybody?
Season one Gub Heads.
Oh fuck.
Oh my god.
And I'll say, what is it?
And they'll be like, oh, it takes place
in an advertising agency.
It's British.
But you're gonna really, and then I'll watch like
two episodes.
And I'm like-
Oh, you gotta hang in for seven.
You do.
Seven, get to seven.
No, you have to.
Get to seven,
because that's when the gubb gubbers show up.
Oh, and those gubb gubbers walk in, lights out.
Yeah, and we could like,
cause now kids, it's all dependent on,
they can watch whatever they want.
So it just depends on their taste,
what they're gonna watch.
Back then, like you said,
we just watched whatever was on
and that's how we came up with our taste
was by watching everything.
So it's just to completely,
I have no idea what I'm talking about.
Nevermind, nevermind, nevermind.
The, I remember my writing partner
when I came out to LA for the first time,
Greg Daniels, of course, the great Greg Daniels,
he and I came out here and we're both 22 years old.
And there wasn't that much television.
There was just, as I said, a couple of networks
and a couple of big sitcoms and so, and some dramas.
And so you'd seen everything.
There was no such thing as a show
that you had never heard of,
because there aren't that many shows.
So I remember once Greg and I are working late,
and I think we were over at Sunset Gower Studios,
which isn't too far from where we are now,
and we're these wide-eyed 22-year-old guys
right out of college, and we're working on this show
called Not Necessarily the News,
but then we're also wandering around,
because we're like, wow, this is where they make television.
And we wandered onto, oh my God,
this is the set where they make Benson.
Whoa.
And Benson with Robert Guillaume.
They were still making it?
I think they were still making it.
And this would be 1985.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm seeing an actual, this is the governor's mansion
where Benson lives.
What, that's it.
And it's all the lights are kind of down.
There's a couple of lights on,
but there's like cloth over things.
They put the things, the sheets over the furniture.
And we're wandering in and Greg and I,
I mean, it's so funny now Greg has made so much iconic TV,
but I remembered very clearly him being like, wow.
Yeah.
And I'm like, yeah.
And then we walk in and we get up close and we look
and we're looking at the actual like vase and table
that and it's supposed to be a rich like governor's mansion
and it looks like shit.
It's like, because-
Fake.
It's all fake and it's all slapped on kind of fake gold
paint and that's the vase looks like it costs $2.
And I remember having this revelation of it's all alive.
Yeah, yeah.
Totally.
Benson's mansion sucks.
Yeah.
What is this?
You know, and then having that realization
over and over and over again,
whenever I was on a set and sitting down and like,
this is the chair where the girls on Facts of Life sit?
Wow, how much time did you get to spend
on the Facts of Life set?
I know, I used to go over there a lot.
Hang out in the chair.
That sounds so creepy.
The chair.
Yeah, did you know where the chair is from Facts of Life?
Where the ladies sit?
All of them at the same time?
There's that one scene.
No, I don't-
Which one does Mrs. Garrett sit in?
Yeah.
Point me in the general direction.
Yeah.
No, but I mean, it's just so,
such a revelation when you got to see.
Yeah.
And it would be, I mean, it's never really changed,
you know, when you're on a set.
Oh, yeah.
The first time that I saw Letterman's show,
which so weirdly, but I was in college
and I went to New York and saw a live taping
of Late Night with David Letterman.
That's wild.
Having no idea that I would take over that show.
That's wild.
And in that studio, and that some of those crew members
would be my crew members.
And I'm, so I remembered sitting,
being led in by NBC pages and sitting down and thinking,
what's going on?
This is really small.
Because on television, the perspective is widened
and things look big.
And realizing, wait a minute, what the fuck?
Like, where David's standing doing his monologue,
he can reach over and touch, you know, Paul Schaeffer.
He could touch him.
Whereas on TV, the way they shoot it,
it doesn't look that way at all.
It looks huge.
And Studio 6A is notoriously, it's a small,
it was built for radio.
It wasn't built for television.
And that's the magic of it is that it's small.
So comedy rockets around the room
and bounces off the walls. And it felt like, there was something, it that it's small. So comedy rockets around the room and bounces off the walls.
And it felt like there was something,
it felt exclusive and small.
It felt like the audience,
they didn't sweeten the audience either,
which I don't know if late night shows do that at all,
but they-
I wish we did.
We never thought of that.
By the way, I have a story relating to that,
wishing your audience was sweetened
with a terrible, terrible bit I brought on your show.
But as far as the Letterman show goes,
there was something just as a fan that felt really,
it felt like a clubhouse or something,
like it was an ex...
So did they find you in the audience?
Did they go back ever and find you on that episode?
I was sitting pretty far back and I would have to,
I know one of the-
Because that's incredible.
I gotta find that episode actually.
Who was the guest, do you remember?
It's a blur, I have a memory of one bit
and I'm gonna really have to think about it,
but a door slides open and a boxer comes out of the wall.
But I bet I could figure out what the episode is.
I don't think there's a shot of me in the audience
of sitting pretty far back with my friend Maya Williams.
And afterwards, Maya knew one of the writers
on the show, Steve O'Donnell.
Oh yeah, Steve O'Donnell.
And Steve brought us up to the offices.
And we're sitting in Steve O'Donnell's tiny office.
And I'm sitting there with Maya talking to Steve
and Merrill Marco walks by and a guy in a leather jacket
walks by with her carrying a box and it's Dave Letterman.
He kind of just nods at us and keeps moving.
And I, it was, well, there's no, if I was a kid,
I'd say it was like the president of the United States
walked by, but that no longer works.
Right. That like the president of the United States walked by, but that no longer works. Right.
Right.
That was the president.
Now, I'm sorry, I don't care who's president now
in this world.
It would be like, oh, it was the president.
It's been so demystified.
I mean, he cares.
Whatever.
So, but I'll never forget.
I remember the jacket he was wearing.
I remembered, and remembered thinking, wow.
He gets to have this show.
And then the idea that, what is that?
That's probably 1983.
The idea that 10 years later, I'm hosting that show,
to this day makes no sense to me.
And I think was a mistake.
I really do in my heart think it was a fucking-
No way.
Fucking blunder.
No, I mean, I'm taking it all in and whatever.
I'm saying it's a beautiful thing,
but it doesn't make any sense.
Did you ever tell Dave that?
It's funny.
I don't know that I have.
I don't know that I have.
Cause I don't know, I mean,
not that Dave and I talk that much,
only because we don't cross paths much.
When we do, I treasure those moments.
But from his perspective, it's a story of,
I saw you once and you were wearing a leather jacket
in a hallway.
Yeah.
And I had acne.
Right.
And I asked you, do you have anything
that can clear this up?
Do you have anything?
And will your crew hate me as much as I think they will?
And do you want to spend your moments with Dave
recalling that particular day?
I think I will next time.
Yeah, you should.
I bet he would get a kick out of it.
He might, I don't know.
Or he might have me taken away by his retinue of goons.
What was the story when you were on the bit?
Oh yeah, you didn't tell us you were,
you did a bit, what happened?
Okay, so this ended up being-
I know, go ahead, go ahead.
It ended up being one of the most deeply embarrassing
moments I've had.
And it's also confounding to me from beginning to end
why I did this.
I just had this confidence in this bit
and didn't really slow down to think about it before I,
okay, I was promoting Big Little Lies, right?
The second season of Big Little Lies.
And so the bit that I came up with,
it's also interesting because it's so bad
from so many different angles
and there's nothing about it that works, nothing.
You know what I love?
You so don't wanna tell us what it is.
I know.
That you keep qualifying it.
I know.
And another thing you should know
is that the Roman Empire did not have movable type.
When I tell you the basic premise,
you're gonna be like, why would you do that?
Okay, so Big Little Lies,
the way I saw it going is like us talking and you'd be like,
wow, Big Little, the cast is amazing.
It's like, yeah, no, it's, yeah,
it's all like legendary actresses.
It's like the traveling Wilburys of legendary actresses.
So what I had done is I thought that that saying
the traveling Wilburys of actresses So what I had done is I thought that that saying
the traveling Wilburys of actresses and equating Big Little Eyes with the traveling Wilburys
would be this like comedy explosion.
It is funny.
That would, well.
But then, and then you start to go through like,
for example, Reese is like, go ahead.
I had mocked up the album cover.
Oh, wow.
With instead of the traveling Wilburys,
the actresses faces on their bodies.
And also had gone through for each traveling Wilbury
and switched them out for like Reese is Bob Dylan,
Shailene, Nicole Kidman is George Harrison, whatever.
I don't remember what it was.
So everything- And you had reasons why.
I had reasons why, but the first of all,
nobody under 50 knows who the fuck
the traveling Wilburys are.
This was immediately apparent.
When I said the first line,
it's like the traveling Wilburys of, I just, it was silent.
Silent.
No, you could hear the air condenser.
Literally.
Yeah.
But also I came to learn that those over 50
who do remember the traveling Wilburys,
don't give a fuck about-
I may be your one demographic for this.
Okay.
Why weren't you there?
I was at a Travelling Wheelbarrows concert.
So I say it, silence, show the record cover, silence.
Right.
And then I start going through each member of the band.
Yep, you sure did.
The crazy thing is, is I was so sure that this was gonna create a tidal wave of comedy
that you and I would just be able to surf through
each member of the band,
that I never came up with actual jokes for each one.
Right.
I just had these little like,
oh, she was in Days of Thunder, so she's Bob Dylan,
thinking it would just these little like, oh, she was in Days of Thunder, so she's Bob Dylan, thinking it would just be so like crackly
and you and Andy would be like, oh.
It would take on this life of its own.
And it's like nuclear fission or fusion.
It's just gonna, molecules are gonna be bouncing off
each other and the rest will take care of itself.
And we'll be fine.
But like you in the Letterman Theater,
here we are 10 years later
and look at the gold it's giving us.
No, no, no, no.
And this is the perfect place to discuss this
because it's anatomy of a, you are not alone.
I've had many prominent people come up to me
over the years and say, I just wanna say I'm sorry.
And I'll say what?
And they'll say, oh, in 1998, I came on
and I tried this thing and I bombed so hard
and I don't remember.
Yours, I remember.
I woke up every morning thinking about it.
And my wife is like, what happened?
Is it the Wilburys?
Is it the Ames County Wilburys?
And I'm like, it is, it is.
And she's like, you're not there anymore.
It's over, it's over. You're safe, you're not there anymore. It's over, it's over.
You're safe, you're with me.
And we get a cold cloth and we.
It was so long.
And so, but what I remember about that moment is you,
a lot of other people would have bailed
and you clearly were like, no, I made my bed
and I'm seeing this through to the end.
And I think at the end you say something like,
and that is why.
People can look it up now, which is the beauty, but.
No. No.
Because after the show,
I remember talking to Andy backstage and being like,
how could I have thought that was something?
That was not, and we begged you guys not to air it.
And I think the reaction was like,
oh, please, can we?
Oh no, of course we're not gonna air that.
So I don't think it aired.
It exists somewhere and I've got to find it.
Did you help them out at all
or were you just standing, sitting there just watching?
No, you did.
I think I tried.
I do have the reputation of trying to help.
I know, that's why I'm asking.
But at a certain point, I saw nine sharks chomping away
at Adam Scott and blood and gore filling the water.
And I decided to get back on the boat.
That sounds like you.
I removed my foot from the water and got into the boat.
And then, because I saw, like, he's lost too much,
it's over, you know?
I had no legs.
Like, what are you gonna do?
I can't swim with you to the boat.
At the end of the episode, we did cut it out,
but at the end of the episode,
you went from telling a good story to just being a head.
That's right, just floating like, where are you going?
A head sitting on a chair. I still haven't done Roy Orbison.
We never did get to Roy Orbison.
Yeah.
Well, you know why it's funny now?
Because it's funny now because you're just,
you could not, things could not be going better for you.
And you're in this show where you get to,
in every way, show the power you have
and the range you have.
And yes, they could have found someone else to do it.
And I think I could have done it.
That much is clear.
I think that's, if you take one thing from this episode
is I know how to have my face change a little bit
in an elevator, I've done it before.
And they wouldn't need special effects.
I can just do it.
Right, right.
And that saves $600.
No, we don't use special effects, but fine.
Yes.
No, you can do it.
Oh, I know you guys do something.
No, I just, I couldn't be happier for you
because you're just a great guy and you deserve all this.
Well, it means so much, so thank you very much.
You have incredible taste, obviously,
and that just means everything.
Well, no, clearly, look around you.
Yeah.
I mean, look at these people.
Gorgeous and hilarious.
I know you're a busy guy and thank you so much
for being here.
Thank you.
Let's break bread someday soon.
Absolutely.
And we'll get, you know what I want?
I want to get Bill Burr involved.
Yes.
And then you and I both go at him about chips.
Yes.
Okay.
I promise you he hasn't seen it since 1987.
There's no way.
He's just saying he loves chips.
All right, take care. All right, thanks, everybody.
Do you guys remember back in the early days of this podcast, we did a few drawing contests?
I do.
The ones where I won.
What? I won. What?
I won.
Did you win both?
We did at least two.
No, I really lost both of them.
Did you?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did.
Okay, well, I went back and I found,
you guys might remember this from your childhoods,
I think especially you, Will.
Do you remember these advertisements
for drawing contests? Yes.
Yes.
They were on the back of,
I think they were on the back of matchbooks.
Yeah, and comic books.
And they were also, I think, TV commercials.
And basically you would draw one of these, send it in,
and they would assess if you had any talent,
and then you could take their trade school.
It was all a scam, basically.
Was it a scam?
I think it was.
I think it was like the Barbizon modeling schools.
They'll take anybody just to get the money out of them.
There used to be these ads,
speaking of scams, on the back of comic books,
that would say things akin to,
if you clip this out and you include $1.50,
we'll send you a hovercraft to your home.
Definitely.
Or there was one that was a submarine,
a working submarine.
So send us $1.50.
And I always was curious,
do you get something in the mail?
That's a good question.
And what is it?
And how could it be anything close to a submarine?
I mean, I would love someone out there to find out,
what did you actually get in the late 60s and early 70s,
if you cut out the coupon that said you get a submarine.
Wasn't it a kit though?
I thought it was like, they send you a fan with a motor
and then you have to build like an inner tube around it
or something.
Maybe, but still, I remember the price being absurdly low.
And the drawing was very deceptive.
It showed like basically a German U-boat
prowling the North Atlantic.
So I would love to know what did you get?
I'm sure it would be very disappointing,
but the fact that you got anything that might approximate the foundation of a submarine
for $1.50.
Our guys are on it.
Let's do this drawing contest
and maybe by the end we'll have an answer.
All right, what's the plan here?
Okay, so you get to choose one
and I'm gonna give you guys five minutes in real time.
It'll be edited down by the time we listen.
Do we each choose a different character?
I guess you should choose separately.
There's Tippy who looks to be a tortoise in a turtleneck.
Well, that makes sense.
Turtleneck sweater.
Oh, that's cute.
It's just a neck sweater to him.
Exactly. He just calls it, this is my sweater.
Yeah.
This is my Mii sweater, my Mii neck,
as opposed to a V neck.
And then there's a pirate, clearly.
No idea why pirates always have an eye patch.
That'll get worked out later on.
I can tell you.
Oh yeah, what's that?
They always say it's because, oh, they lost an eye,
but it's because they'd be below deck
and they have to, when they're above deck in the sun
and they have to go below deck,
they don't need time to adjust their sight
so they open their eye patch and they can see it.
Very good, very nice.
That's good to know.
And then there's Tiny who is either,
now this is a little confusing, could be a little kitten.
I think it's a mouse.
It's a mouse, you're right, it's a mouse
because of the ears.
And he's wearing a party hat.
They have both eyes.
What? What?
The pirates have both eyes and they're both functioning.
Yeah. Yes.
That is crazy.
Yeah, they wear the eye patch so that they can-
Why are you saying this like you knew it this whole time?
And also, I don't even know if that's true.
I'm telling you, I heard it from a guy.
I heard it from a guy and not too long ago.
Okay. All right.
Somebody pick a number between one and 10, Conan.
Oh my God, why does everything have to be complicated?
Five. Sona.
Six.
The number was four, so Conan, you get to pick first.
Okay, well, I guess there's no getting around it.
I'm gonna be the pirate.
Okay, Sona, what would you like?
I'll do Tippy, the turtle.
Okay, all right.
Mine's gonna be awful.
Let's get to it.
Okay, all right, let's do it.
Ready? One, two, three, go.
Five minutes.
We'll make it three minutes.
You have three minutes.
Okay.
Oh my god. That's an abomination.
Shut your stupid mouth!
I can tell you're concentrating because your lips are moving.
One minute has lapsed. You have two minutes left.
And you're actually done. So I don't know if I got the time right on this.
It's so bad. You're not giving us a lot of time for this.
Well that's the point, it's the pressure. How much time do I have left? You got plenty of time.
Oh good because I need more time. We're gonna we're gonna knock a minute off you've got 30
seconds. No no don't do that don't do that don't you. I'm almost done. That's not I want it to be
somewhat. Oh yeah this has got to be above board not, I want it to be somewhat. Oh yeah, this has gotta be above board.
No, I want it to be somewhat decent.
I take some pride in my drawing.
I don't.
I'm okay with it being done now.
But keep in mind, it's not just technical ability.
It's that certain aspect of life.
The je ne sais quoi.
It's the je ne sais quoi.
So Sona, you could take it on just having more life.
You know, Jackson Pollock, he did his paintings, it was about the experience, not the result.
Yeah, he died in a drunk driving crash.
Look at, Tippi's head is real flash.
Matt, why aren't you drawing?
I just didn't, I assumed it was down to them.
All right, I'll get in there.
No, no, no.
Well, it's too late.
Yeah, we're not waiting for that shit.
These aren't the pens I like using.
It's the pens fault, huh?
I'll sign mine.
I'm an obsession.
She's done.
Why is everything a she?
Just give me the money.
I'm giving you a jacket.
You don't deserve any more than that.
Can't believe that jacket went up.
I can't believe the fire didn't recoil
when I saw the fire.
The fire would recoil.
Nah, let's get out of here, guys.
That thing's ugly.
Three, two, I'll get one.
Ugh.
Alright, what do we do? We show our-
Yeah, put them in the center here.
And then Adam, Eduardo, Blay, get to judicating.
I think you guys should give some points for speed.
Because I did mine really fast. Well, I'll just say I did mine in like a quarter
of the time of anybody else.
If we're doing speed.
You go and you illustrate with your mom.
Give me your passes.
Mine's also the biggest.
Now is this American Idol style
where we each go through and say what we thought of each one?
Or do we just give it?
Yeah, but make it brief cause we don't have a lot of time.
Make it brief, okay, great.
Adam, you wanna start?
I think the pirate is fantastic, actually.
It's really accurate, nose is maybe a bit off,
but otherwise it's really pretty good.
I like to improve people as I go.
Pirate looks like Randy Macho Man Savage.
Yeah.
It does.
That's why I was drawing.
Little small for my liking, ratio to the page here,
but otherwise very well.
I like that, you're a firm judge.
I think this is fantastic.
I think the earring is a little too prominent here,
but otherwise great.
It evokes the same emotion I feel
when I look at the original drawing of the pirate.
And isn't that what art's all about?
Yeah.
The turtle, Sona, that's you.
I actually, I love the scale.
Things went awry with the eye area.
Um, but I actually liked it.
I think you, it was, it's more interpretive,
which I like.
Yeah.
You're not just trying to do, you know,
a perfect facsimile.
It's a nice interpretation and I like it.
I think it's fun.
Yeah, I think my true, I'm like a forger.
I'm trying to pass this off as a forgery.
I really like this one here.
I feel like I wanna color it in.
Okay.
So I really appreciate, yeah.
I would be proud to put this on a refrigerator.
So yeah, it's going your way.
I know.
I agree, simple, clean lines, excellent execution.
I think it's fantastic.
Also, I don't know, was the pirate signed?
Was there a signature on that one?
No, I didn't.
No signature, although signature here,
so the artist clearly stands behind their work.
Shows pride.
Yeah.
The artist stands behind their work.
Well, also I was copying something else.
I didn't want to get the reputation of someone who steals,
so I didn't want to do it.
The original artist, whoever they are,
it's really their work and I give it up for them.
This is Mippy, my turtle.
He's different than Tippy.
I think you've got Tipsy, the turtle.
All right, and then the mouse.
I would say, Matt, you get credit
because you were handicapped with time.
You rushed it, and considering the rush,
it's really, really nice.
It looks a little stretched, I would say.
It's kind of horizontally stretched.
Yeah, it looks like it was put on a projector
at a different angle.
It's true.
This tiny has a really large brain.
Right.
But really, really good, especially considering how quickly you did it.
I mean, I don't know, they're all very different.
I don't know how you choose a winner.
Who's the winner?
He's already angling for defeat, you know?
No, no, no, not, not.
I mean, I know who the winner should be.
I'm just impressed with how quickly you did this.
This was like 60 seconds worth of try.
Just a mouse in the hat.
Yeah, I like it.
It's like it crazy. Can you tries. Just a mouse with a hat. Yeah, I like it. It's like it crazy.
Can you believe he rendered a mouse with a hat in 60 seconds?
Honestly.
Never in the annals of man.
Less time.
Well, wait a minute.
Effortless lines, looks, has a little kind of spin on it.
So he gets points for forgetting to do the assignments.
Well, I didn't think I was gonna do it.
I was just giving it to you guys.
All right, well, I don't think that should factor in.
If I enter a marathon late, you know what I mean,
and manage to get a mile in,
I don't think you guys would be, whoa!
But he finished!
He showed up late in a cab!
He finished, but now I will say,
it does look a little squashed, but yeah,
a lot of personality there.
There's not a detail missed.
Lot of personality.
Well, who's the...
So now we have to vote.
Can we just leave it up to the fans to vote?
I guess the fans will vote.
Let's put it on social media.
Why don't we put it on Instagram?
Social media.
Go to Team Coco podcasts on Instagram.
And are we still on the vast hellscape of TwitterX?
Let's just send people to Instagram.
Let's do that.
Yeah, that's good.
All right, we'll see what happens.
This is pretty exciting.
It wouldn't be a drawing contest without abject hatred for the game.
Oh, I did find the submarine just for...
Oh, good, good, good. Let's see it.
I want to see this. Look at that.
Six ninety-eight.
Six dollars and ninety-eight cents.
And it says, fires, rockets, and torpedoes over seven feet long,
big enough for two kids.
What?
Now that's what they're showing.
Now when I was a kid, I lost my shit over this thing.
I was like, wait a minute, this is incredible.
And I wanna know, what was the company,
did anyone in America purchase this thing,
and what did you in fact get?
Cause down on the side, they're showing people
inside the cockpit of this thing.
And it says over seven feet long seats, two kids,
controls that work.
Oh wait, I think I remember what it is.
Real periscope, firing periscope.
Same with the hovercraft, it's a manual on how to build it.
If I'm not mistaken.
And there's somewhere in the-
You know what, we need to find out. We need to find out because this is,
this haunted my childhood.
This is up there with the Uncle Sam Halloween mask.
I must find out, someone please out there,
the Polaris nuclear sub for $6.98.
Plus 75 cents shipping charges.
Yeah.
Ha ha!
Yeah, we gotta find out more about this.
Okay, to be continued. All right. Yeah. Yeah, we gotta find out more about this.
Okay, to be continued.
All right.
Conan O'Brien needs a friend.
With Conan O'Brien, Sonam O'Sessian, and Matt Gourley.
Produced by me, Matt Gourley.
Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Leow.
Theme song by The White Stripes.
Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino.
Take it away, Jimmy.
Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair,
and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples.
Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns.
Additional production support by Mars Melnik.
Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Battista, and Brit Kahn.
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