"I Was Curious How I Would Feel": Conan O'Brien Reacts To Returning To The Tonight Show 14 Years After Exit

Summary Conan O'Brien felt at home returning to The Tonight Show, reminiscing about his time on the sixth floor studio.

His experience with The Tonight Show includes a brief tenure as host before pivoting to create Conan.

Despite a rocky exit, O'Brien's successful career includes winning Emmys and now hosting a travel show.

Conan O’Brien reacts to his return to The Tonight Show. O’Brien is best known as a talk show host for the series Late Night with Conan O’Brien, which ran from 1993–2009, and later Conan, which ran from 2010–2021. On April 9, O’Brien made an appearance on the series The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, promoting his travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go.

Speaking on the Team Coco Podcast, O’Brien speaks on his experience returning to The Tonight Show. O’Brien admitted that he was “curious how [he] would feel seeing that sixth floor again.” When he got there, he was met with kindness from The Tonight Show staff, who he said “could not have been nicer.” Furthermore, the former Conan star said that he “immediately felt at home and happy to be there,” reminiscing fondly on his time working on The Late Show just across the hallway from Jimmy Fallon’s current studio. Check out the full quote from O’Brien below:

“I was curious how I would feel seeing that sixth floor again, because that was such a big part of my life when I did the Late Night show for 16 years. And hadn’t been there in so long. And Jimmy’s studio is 6B, mine was 6A, that’s where Letterman’s show took place, that’s where we did our show for 16 years, and Jimmy’s across the hall in 6B. And so, it was just going right back home again. And I just liked being there. I enjoyed it. And, it felt good. I didn’t, I was a little, I was thinking, am I going to get in my head about going back to this place that has so many strong memories? And I just immediately felt at home and happy to be there. And the Tonight Show staff could not have been nicer. And it was really a good time.”

Conan O’Brien’s History on The Tonight Show Explained

Though O’Brien mostly talks about The Late Show in this quote, this is not the only experience that the talk show host has with the sixth floor studio. From June 2009 to January 2010, O’Brien was briefly the host of the very show on which he was appearing, The Tonight Show. He had taken over for former Tonight Show host Jay Leno. Less than a year into his Tonight Show tenure, however, O’Brien decided he wanted to pivot to make the show that became Conan. In turn, Leno ended up taking back host duties.

On his Tonight Show appearance this month, O’Brien mentioned his Tonight Show appearance only briefly. Upon entering Fallon’s stage, O’Brien received a standing ovation, and uttered the joke: “I know you meant well, but I had The Tonight Show for ten minutes and you ate into my time.” Overall, however, he went through his Tonight Show appearance mainly focusing on the purpose of his appearance, which was to promote his travel show. His recent recount of the appearance follows a similar trend, as he neglects to mention his Tonight Show time.

Related Every Simpsons Episode Conan O’Brien Wrote Before he was a late night television host, Conan O'Brien wrote several episodes of the classic animated show, including a few of its best.

All four episodes of Conan O'Brien Must Go are available to watch on Max.

Apart from his rocky exit from The Tonight Show, O’Brien has gone on to have a largely successful career. He won three Emmys for Conan over the course of its run, and was nominated for many more. Now, the talent is able to continue his individual creative pursuits through his travel series Conan O’Brien Must Go. Even with his tough history with The Tonight Show, it was good to see O’Brien welcomed back to the series, and great to know that he was magnanimously welcomed as well.

Source: Team Coco / YouTube