Despite the fact that a writer’s strike has put a stop to all late-night talk shows, they are very much in the news right now. A profile of the workplace culture on the set of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon recently suggested the show isn’t the best place to work, laying the blame on Jimmy Fallon himself. While the Tonight Show host has apologized and promised to improve things, some have suggested that Conan O’Brien should get the show back. This lead to an old clip resurfacing and going viral.
The clip shows Conan speaking with a little girl who apparently loves to dance, but when she’s too nervous about dancing for him, he dances for her, much to the joy of all involved. Except for the girl, who gives him a pretty harsh review, but O’Brien takes it all in stride. Check it out.
Since people are talking about Conan in the wake of the Jimmy Fallon situation, here's one of my fave moments:In a bit where he was supposed to converse with a young girl, he picked up that she was clearly nervous. So he immediately turns it around to make her laugh. pic.twitter.com/3Owt52alYLSeptember 8, 2023
As the post points out, O’Brien was able to quickly pivot when he realized this kid was nervous, which is just something you might not expect every late-night host to notice, or be able to handle with the smoothness that he does here. He makes the kid feel better and is still able to make entertaining television for the people watching.
30 years ago yesterday was the anniversary of the first episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien. And that, combined with people suggesting that Conan was never given a fair shake as Tonight Show host and should be given another shot if he were so inclined, has made Conan one of the most talked about people on social media right now. While Fallon is dealing with something of a PR nightmare regarding alleged questionable behavior behind the scenes of his show, it seems nobody has anything bad to say about Conan.
Of course, actually seeing Conan host the Tonight Show would seem to be the longest of shots. He ended his TBS talk show, Conan, in 2021, and while the show may have been a casualty of the pandemic rather than ending on his own terms, O’Brien has moved on to other projects, so he’s certainly not looking for work.
But it’s hard to argue that Conan O’Brien wasn’t great. He certainly had a unique take on the late-night format, but one that resonated with many people. And by all accounts, he really was a great guy to work for, which is just lovely to hear. And the Tonight Show situation, where he got pushed out after finally being given the gig, just kinda sucked.
Some of Jimmy Fallon's coworkers have defended the host, but Fallon has promised to do better himself, and when the show eventually returns to production after the writer’s strike comes to an end, there will likely be many eyes on him to be sure that actually happens.
