Last night Conan O'Brien bid his final farewell to The Tonight Show, with some help from guests Tom Hanks, Steve Carell and Neil Young. We laughed, we cried, then we were treated to an All-Star performance of "Free Bird" as performed by Will Ferrell, his wife Viveca Paulin, Billy Gibbons, Beck, Max Weinberg & the Tonight Show Band, Ben Harper, and Conan himself!
Before picking up his axe, Conan took a moment to take the high road during the final episode, saying: "Tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: Between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over 20 years. Yes, we have our differences right now and, yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible." And here's where the host became a little emotional, saying, "Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second."
Now we won't see Conan for seven months, as part of his departure deal states that he isn't allowed back on the air until September 1st — and in the interim, is allegedly not even allowed to appear for interviews. This gives him some time to work out his next move, however — think it'll be back to New York?
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You might want to fix the video link. It has been pulled for copyright by NBC Universal on Youtube.
NannyState
Does Fox even have a large enough studio in NYC?
asg749d
They will build it for him...Fox has been interested in him for many years...
babyhitler
RIP masturbating bear. Neil young should have done the fresh prince of belair song. Since Radiohead was Conan's first musical guest they should have closed it out with the super appropriate "talk show host". That would have been amazing.
yomama
"I'll be waiting... with a gun and a pack of sandwiches"
Was watching that premiere of Late Night. Can't believe it was so long ago.
AJ
That jam was awesome! Can't wait for Conan to come back to NYC. He's not an LA kinda guy! We've got open arms Conan!
mellow_fellow
That's Ben Harper who, by the way, also played lap guitar on a couple of talk shows recently with Ringo Starr.
mellow_fellow
D'OH! I intended the above comment to be a reply to comment #4 by drthil.
John Del Signore
The Neil Young T-shirt's a nice touch.
drthil
no respect for robert randolph huh?
zincink
The sloth blew my mind lol! Come back home!
valeriob
What an awesome awesome way to end the show- he was tearig that shit up with everything he had!
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