
Conan O' Brien officially ended his talk show Conan after nearly 11 years.
Prior to Conan, he hosted The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009 to 2010) and Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993 to 2009). In total, Conan had been in the late-night talk show game for 28 years.
The 58-year-old comedian-host is set to devote his time to a new weekly variety series for HBO Max.
However, Conan will carry on doing his popular travel special, Conan Without Borders.
As expected, the last episode was bittersweet, with Conan pulling all stops to make the show's last hurrah as entertaining as possible given the circumstances.
Here are some of the highlights from Conan's finale.
Photo by: TBS (Screen grab)
Appearing via satellite in Boston, Will Ferrell took time to play a part in the show's last episode.
Will was a constant fixture in every Conan final episode. He was there when Conan's late night program bid adieu and again during the host's short stint on The Tonight Show.
With that said, it's only fitting that the comedian makes another appearance for another send-off.
Will joked that the tradition was “f***ing exhausting” and suggested doing a series of “pre-taped” goodbyes to be used “whenever your next several shows flameout.”
He then went on to deliver a string of goodbyes including for Conan's upcoming HBO Max show, a late-night talk show for Al Jazeera, a reality show titled "Videos of People Dry-Humping in Trucks" for MTV3, an in-flight talk show named "Wheels Up With Conan O' Brien," a YouTube channel for unboxing videos, and a reality competition called "Celebrity Room Temperature Oyster Eating Contest."
Photo by: TBS (Screen grab)
Jack Black appeared in the studio with a cane. He allegedly injured his ankle while pre-taping a segment for the episode.
“We wanted it to be extra special. So we came up with this big musical number that was going to involve a lot of physicalities, and I was going to fake an injury… The paramedics were going to come in and take me out on a gurney, into the ambulance… and I was going to run back,” the comedian said.
He performed a rock n' roll version of Frank Sinatra's “My Way” retitled to “Conan's Way.”
Photo by: TBS (Screen grab)
Conan used to work as a writer for The Simpsons. The show opened with Conan being reunited with Homer Simpson who conducted an exit interview.
The back-and-forth between Conan and Homer was funny, with the latter even referencing a Simpson episode written by the talk show host back in the day.
“What a stupid idea that was!” Homer bitterly said.
In the end, Conan thanked the team behind The Simpsons for the effort in putting up the animated sketch.
Photo by: TBS (Screen grab)
Conan capped off the finale by thanking the people who played a significant part in his success in the industry.
He made special mention of Saturday Night Live boss Lorne Michaels, actress Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame for pushing him to pursue a career as a talk show host, and his wife Liza Powel O'Brien.
“I have devoted all of my adult life -- all of it -- to pursuing this strange, phantom intersection between smart and stupid. There are a lot of people that believe the two cannot coexist -- but God, I will tell you, it is something I believe religiously.
“When smart and stupid come together -- it's very difficult, but when you can make it happen -- I think it's the most beautiful thing in the world,” Conan said in his final address.
“I am so grateful to all my staff and all my fans, in this country and around the world, who have joined me in this crazy, and really, seemingly pointless pursuit, to do things that are kind of stupid but have something smart in them somewhere.
“And then there's a flicker… a kind of magic. That's what I believe. So my advice to anyone watching right now -- and it's not easy to do: Try and do what you love, with people you love. And if you can manage that, it's the definition of heaven on Earth. I swear to God, it really is.”