Conan O’Brien Makes His "Tonight Show" Return and Reminisces on His Time Hosting "Late Night"

-That was a great ovation. -Man, that was... Come on! Stop! -That must feel good. That's got to feel... You know, I know you meant well, but I had "The To

night

Show" on for 10 minutes and you ate up my

time

. - We'll give you

time

. -This is all the time I have! Stop! -Standing at this desk, I was almost as tall as you. You are a very tall individual. -Yes, I'm a weirdo. Yes, it's not good. I have a certain height, and a lot of people have said that it would hurt your career if you were that tall.

I'm told that over the years there have been guests who maybe didn't want to appear, especially male actors who are smaller because I would outnumber them. So it's a true story, what I would do for years, and you can see it on the tape, is that I would get up from my desk when he was introducing "it's Bono from U2," whatever, and I would get up and leave. like that, and he would greet them, then he would put them on the chair, and then he would come back. - You would pick them up and place them. -Pick them up... -And put them on the chair.

Pat them on the... -Sometimes a little burp. -That's nice of you. -They just took the bottle. Who can say? But no, I was self-conscious about it. I didn't want to... As you know, if you're the host, you want to make sure everyone is comfortable. And I didn't want to be this big Muppet puppet hanging over everyone. So I was constantly crouching. -Yes, I remember it was... it was intimidating the first time I met you because of your height. But it's also like you: you are larger than life because we know you from television. -Yes, well, the "iconic" words.

Um... -That's the... -How stupid. I didn't read it... Sorry. -What the hell was that? Not seriously. It's something that... Well, I remember very well the first time... I think you came. We had you as a guest. -Yes, you were my first talk

show

and thank you very much for this. I have a photo here. -As if I wasn't going to have... Yes. It's us. -1999. -This is the 19th... Yes. That's us. That's 1954. - I had the honor of being on your

show

, and I'm honored that you're on... But do you know what I remember most? -That? -You were in the program.

Excellent. I go out into the hallway and your parents... Do you remember this? Your parents are in the hallway, which is right here. His parents were in the hallway and said, "How did Jimmy do?" - Oh my God. -And then I said: "That boy is going to go to the end!" -Yeah! -And your parents said: "Conan says he will go to the end!" -Yeah! That's all. -And then I realized... I tell that to everyone. I tell Stu Schmitzel. - No, you were... Who is Stu Schmitzel? -Yes really. I love Stu Schmitzel. -But no, I remember that they were very sweet.

And I remember you were great right away, so everything worked out. -No. Oh my gosh, I can't thank you enough. Even seeing you in the hallway, I thought... It's weird coming back. Is rare. I haven't been in this building in a long time, and I haven't been in this floor in forever. -Yeah. How was the? It was like...? Did flashbacks occur? Maybe you...? -You have strange memories of... I mean, I was here for 16 years doing the show "Late Night" before we went to Los Angeles, and right across the hall, and I just... all these memories came back to me . me.

And the first thing that will hit you and hit you too, because one day you will have this show as long as you want. But when you're 98, you'll move on and someone else... someone else will be in this studio. When someone else is in your studio, it feels weird. So I walked in and said, "Who's in my old studio?" And they said, "Kelly Clarkson." -Yeah. -And I love Kelly Clarkson. Who doesn't love Kelly Clarkson? But still, I felt, "It's not right!" -It should be a museum! -Blasphemy! -That should be a museum! -They should have burned it to the ground.

Then Kelly came out to say hello and I said, "Don't talk to me!" "You disgust me!" -You took it. Wow. I did. I feel terrible, Kelly. I really do. But not. That you remember? Do you remember that you liked doing the program...? -I remember very clearly that I would enter. You go into work and you take the right to go into this, I'm thinking. -Yeah. -I really don't know right or left. It's in my sock. But... -Yes, yes. Yes, I make a right turn. -And I would turn left and enter the study that is on the other side of the hallway. -That was Letterman's studio. -That was Letterman's old studio.

I inherited that. And I remember that my dressing room is there, near the hallway. And for years we had my name on it. Just saying Conan O'Brien. So this was where "Live at Five" was recorded. Then people would come to the "Live at Five" show. They would leave, and I'm talking about 70 or 75 year old actors who now do theater, local theater. -Sure. -They would go out and see Conan O'Brien's dressing room. They were knocking on my dressing room door. He would be there trying to take a nap. -Yeah. -And he opened the door and they told me: "Come on, put me on the program!" -Are they trying to get an appointment for your program?

And then I remember very clearly Frank Gorshin, who was the Riddler on television in the 1960s, knocking on my door and making voices outside the door. "Let me in, you dirty rat," like voices from the 1930s. "Look, boy, you'll let me be on the show." And I thought, "Why is my name on the door?" Anyone can touch my dressing room... And that's how everyone was reprimanded. They just knocked on my dressing room door. -Was that always the door to your dressing room? -It was the door to my dressing room. Yes. -I remember Max's dressing rooms in front of yours.

Max Weinberg. -That's how it is. -And I remember it because in his room he had the Muppet flutes in his dressing room. Do you remember? -Yeah. Jim Henson Muppet Flutes. Jim Henson had an exhibition here in the '60s and he did all these amazing drawings on the pipes, and there was a little hole in the wall where you could see them. I hope they kept it. -Yeah. That's how it was in Max's dressing room. So I would take my parents to the show and say, "Hey, Max?" It's like in his, you know, robe or something.

He says, "Yes?" I say, "Can my parents see the Muppet flutes?" He's like, "Ugh, yeah, come on in, man." -Yes, you're lucky I had the robe on. - Yes. -He always said, "Come in and look at the Muppet flutes," and you would come in... -That's not true! No, no, no, that's not true. -Yeah! -That is not true! No no no. -"Did you see a pipe that you like?" -He, uh... -Oh, come on! -We put it... we put it... we put it behind... That's very funny. But people just walk into your room. -They came in and...

But it was fun. We had... I mean, also crazy memories of things that happened in the '90s that seem surreal now. But we had a show we were getting ready to do and about 45 minutes before the show, or maybe... maybe more than that. But not long before the show, there was a fire somewhere in the building and they said, "We're cleaning everything up." We decided to do the show anyway, so we went down to the skating rink. The guest was Samuel L Jackson. Andy Richter, my partner, and I stumbled upon Sharper Image and bought one of those massage chairs, put it on the side of the rink, and Samuel Jackson was sitting there...

Coolest guy in the world, but no one can. Make one of those chairs cool. -But. Yeah. -And he's sitting there, and I... That's the thing, I don't know about you, but when I travel through Manhattan now in my life, the only thing I remember is that he was, you know, dressed in a loincloth. that corner and... and dip myself in chicken broth. Like stupid, idiotic things. We have flashbacks and any other doctor would say, "Oh, you know, you're mentally ill. You're going crazy." No, no, these are things that I actually did and that you have done, yes. -It's...

Are you passing through the city now? I mean, does New York City feel like...? I know you live in Los Angeles, but does New York City feel like home? Are you passing by? And people must recognize you. -Yeah. People are very kind to me. And one of the things that interests me and that I don't care about is that there are two types of people in our business. There are people who are very happy to take a selfie, and people who are embarrassed, don't really want to do it. I guess you're like me. I always say, "Of course I'll take a selfie." -Yes, why not. -Take a second, it

makes

them happy.

That's why I take a lot of selfies in New York, but my favorite was the one I took to Boston recently. That's where my parents are still in Boston, my family is still in Boston. And I was going to Logan Airport through the TSA line. And I... you know, you go through the line and you take off your belt, you take off your shoes. This very nice young man in a white shirt and baseball cap starts chatting with me and says, "Conan, I love the podcast and I also love the old 'Late Night' clips. I watch them every day." And, you know, I also really like the stuff you did with 'The Simpsons.'" And I'm like, That's so nice.

And I'm like, "Thank you so much." Then we both go through the TSA thing. He goes through, I walk by, pick up all my stuff. You know, the way you're a little distracted. I put on my belt and put on my shoes. I turn around, see the guy, white shirt, hat, and I say, "You know?" that? Let's take a selfie. Come on, come here, let's take a selfie." And the guy says, "Um, okay." And I said, "Come on, selfie! Come on! Come on, idiot!" And I grab him, like in a headlock, and he takes a selfie.

And just as he's taking it, I look. My guy is there. -Who is it? Who is this guy? -This guy he's just a guy who also wears a white shirt and a baseball cap, which is pretty common. So rewind that story now and see it from his point of view. He's waiting for his wife to arrive and says. : "Hey!" "Selfie! Enter here! Come on! Come on!" -Come on! -Come here!" -That's what I mean. -And I told the guy: "I'm sorry, but you can delete it." And he seemed like he wasn't sure about deleting it. It felt terrible, but I love moments like that where I'm... getting back to what you think you've accomplished in life... -Immediately humiliated -...there's a guy who thinks, "I met Conan O." -Brien.

He's just a crazy idiot." -Guys, more with Conan O'Brien when we get back. We will talk about many things.