After almost three decades of making millions of people laugh every night, Conan O’Brien officially said goodbye to late-night TV last night with the final episode of Conan, his long-running show on TBS, and the third late-night show of his iconic career.
Conan made a name for himself in the crowded world of late-night with his off-kilter sense of humor and his perfect balance of high brow and low brow comedic sensibilities. As his 28-year career in late-night began to wind down, fans took to social media to celebrate Conan and many shared some of their favorite moments from Conan, The Tonight Show, and Late Night.
Lights, Camera, Pod declared Paul Rudd’s Mac and Me prank on Conan as “the greatest running gag in television history” and shared a compilation of all the time the actor has done it on Conan’s show, including him sneaking his way into an interview with Bill Hader to prank Conan one final time.
The greatest running gag in television history, Paul Rudd showing a 'Mac and Me' clip on Conan O'Brien, has come to an end after 20 years. pic.twitter.com/VcCZ8JXS8Q
— Lights, Camera, Pod (@LightsCameraPod) June 22, 2021
Jeff D. Lowe also commemorated another one of Conan’s funniest long-running bits: when he would show insane clips from Walker, Texas Ranger out of context.
This was one of the single funniest things I ever saw on television. Conan’s setup, the clip, the reaction. It was perfect. pic.twitter.com/uP8cw5v1vv
— Jeff D (MovieRankings.net) (@JeffDLowe) June 24, 2021
Former Late Night writer Brian Stack shared Conan’s Old Timey Baseball sketch from 2004, calling it “one of the funniest things that’s ever been on TV.”
In my humble opinion, this is still one of the funniest things that's ever been on TV. @TeamCoco @ConanOBrien https://t.co/7NkNJrVvXQ
— Brian Stack (@BrianStack153) June 24, 2021
Andrew Woods, host of the Weezer Bracket podcast, shared a thread of his favorite Conan moments, including “Hanks’ Secrets” and the time he “accidentally” booked Slipnuts instead of SlipKnot.
Sorry. I’m not done posting Conan bits I love. pic.twitter.com/yYiZp8BmJ0
— andrew woods (@JimJarmuschHair) June 24, 2021
Another fan posted a hilarious early segment of him interviewing people at a Houston Bus Terminal at 3 AM, saying it “immediately turned me into a Conan fan.”
I remember watching this segment when it aired, and it immediately turned me into a Conan fan. Sad to see him leave late-night pic.twitter.com/VtJtbV0lto
— Bad Luck Bootsy (@ReallyBLBootsy) June 24, 2021
Saturday Night Live writer Steven Castillo shared Conan’s Tonight Show farewell monologue and declared Conan “the best to ever do it.”
A lot of people been sharing their favorite Conan late night memory so I’ll do mine. Conan’s Tonight Show farewell speech. It’s something I think about at least once a year. Thank you Conan for giving me and so many others the greatest advice in comedy. The best to ever do it. pic.twitter.com/eZtIIVQMod
— Steven Castillo (@STEEEZUSCHRIST) June 24, 2021
Writer Vikram Murthi showed a clip that perfectly showed off Conan’s wit and insight, as he discusses an extremely dark ad for fans.
During an Actual Items segment, Conan casually throws out a dark observation about depression that a) catches him off guard and b) only he finds funny. My kind of throwaway bit. pic.twitter.com/M5m2yzslri
— Vikram Murthi (@fauxbeatpoet) June 25, 2021
Conan was also a fantastic interviewer and Mike Beauvais shared a clip of his legendary chemistry with comedian Norm Macdonald.
As Conan O’Brien wraps up his show after 28 years tonight, I still think Norm Macdonald completely hijacking Courtney Thorne-Smith’s 1997 appearance to promote a movie with Carrot Top is one of the funniest segments ever in late-night TV. pic.twitter.com/WnUBlmhFDi
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) June 24, 2021
Even Conan’s own TeamCoco account couldn’t resist sharing some highlights from his career, as they posted a video of some of his best comedy sketches.
And his best interviews as well.
