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Podcast Episode Summary: Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend - 2024 Memorable Moments: Celebrity Interviews
Episode Overview In this special episode, Conan O'Brien's team compiles memorable moments from celebrity interviews conducted throughout 2024. The episode features highlights with guests such as Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, Carol Burnett, Niecy Nash, Walton Goggins, Ted Danson & Woody Harrelson, and Larry David.
Hosts
- Sona Movsesian
- Matt Gourley
- Guests' Highlights
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Key Moments and Discussions
Introduction
- Conan is not present due to personal reasons; Sona and Matt discuss the atmosphere of the episode, sharing a relaxed vibe with casual chatter.
- The episode features clips from interviews throughout the year, showcasing notable guest interactions.
Featured Guests and Highlights
- Al Pacino
- Discusses his early acting struggles and the disbelief among studios regarding his casting in *The Godfather*.
- Reflects on his process of developing the character Michael Corleone.
- Tom Hanks
- Shares a humorous anecdote about encountering Conan on a bike ride.
- Discusses a historical context regarding a location in L.A. with connections to Nazi sympathizers, showcasing his trademark charm and humor.
- Carol Burnett
- Shares touching memories of her interactions with Lucille Ball, illustrating the camaraderie and respect among iconic female comedians.
- Reflects on how Lucille Ball supported her career during challenging times.
- Niecy Nash
- Talks about her experience with body image in Hollywood and how she embraced her identity by creating a character that reflects her family.
- Shares a funny story about using her friend's physique to sneak into a party with Prince.
- Walton Goggins
- Discusses his unique experiences on the set of *The Righteous Gemstones*.
- Shares humorous behind-the-scenes stories about body doubles.
- Ted Danson & Woody Harrelson
- Harrelson recounts a motorcycle accident and the humorous way Danson helped him manage his injury.
- Reflect on their friendship dynamics and the joy they find in each other’s company.
- Larry David
- Discusses the realities of his curmudgeonly persona and how it reflects in his real-life interactions.
- Offers insights into social dynamics at dinner parties, emphasizing the importance of knowing the guest list.
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Closing Thoughts
- Sona and Matt reflect on their experiences working with Conan and express their admiration for the guests featured.
- They highlight the emotional aspects of the year, especially considering Conan's personal loss during the holiday season.
- The episode closes with well-wishes and a reminder about the connection they share as a team.
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Key Takeaways
- Building Friendships: The podcast serves as a medium for Conan to connect and build friendships with his guests, showcasing a more personal and playful side of celebrity interactions.
- Humor in Vulnerability: Each guest shares personal stories that illuminate their humanity and vulnerability, often with humor.
- Legacy of Comedy: The episode emphasizes the influence and legacy of comedy icons, showcasing how they navigate their careers and personal lives.
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Episode Information
- Release Date: [Insert Date]
- Listen on: [SiriusXM Podcasts+](https://siriusxm.com/conan)
- Team Coco Website: [TeamCoco.com](https://teamcoco.com/)
Contact
- Questions for Conan: Call the voicemail at (669) 587-2847 for potential features in future episodes.
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This markdown summary captures the essence of the podcast episode while providing insights on the key discussions and interactions that make Conan O’Brien's podcast a unique blend of humor and heartfelt moments.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:22Hello, welcome to Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend. And sorry, we just ate and there was a little gurgle there and I really apologize. And if you didn't notice it, now everyone's rewinding so that they can hear it. Why am I talking? Can I start over again? No, I think we nailed it. Hello and welcome to Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend. I'm Sonam Obsessian. And I'm Matt Gourley. And you're Matt Gourley. You pointed at me, but at the same time you took a breath like you were going to speak. That was very confusing. Yes. And then I don't do this usually, but you know, Conan is not here in case anyone has noticed it's me talking.
0:56I'm Sona. I am not Conan. And the reason that I've never done this before, but shut up.
1:06The reason Conan is not here is he's back east with his family. He unfortunately lost both his parents not that long ago. So he's taking some time away. So Matt and I are holding the fort and holding the fort is strong. Yeah, I think opening the fort to invaders. Yes. I really need him to be here just to make this easier and more smooth. But I kind of like the vibe. I do too. It's easy going. There's just the five of us here. Adam's with us and Eduardo and Blay. And we're just eating pizza and we're just hanging out. So last week we did a collection of notable clips from our segments and intros.
1:46It was just you, me, and Conan. Yeah. This week we're doing some notable clips that kind of came to mind from so many wonderful moments this year of the celebrity interviews. And I mean, yeah, we're starting off with a big one. What the listener won't know is that we retook this part. Yeah. And in the first time we did it, you said banger. And since Conan wasn't here, I felt the need to point out your hard G. Yes. And I responded by saying you don't have to. You're right. You don't have to try to fill those gigantic shoes, is what I'm saying. And I think that would be good of me to not do that.
2:27Yeah, and then you made a joke about later on listening to a clip from Walton Jodgens, and that didn't make sense. It does make sense. How does it make sense? I said Bangor, it would be Gawkins. I'm pretending that there's no such thing as a hard G, that everything's a soft G. Okay, so I'm going to channel Conan and be like, it's good that you have to explain what your joke is. we're starting with a banger so you're French and you still got the hard G in there I did banger banger banger banger banger banger banger banger yeah that's pretty good okay here's the clip Al Pacino let's listen
3:12you know it's interesting because you're grabbed by the theater You're this kid, as I said, who you start reading Chekhov. You start reading the classics, and it grabs you. You start seeing some productions. You get into theater. You have so many go-nowhere jobs just to stay alive. I mean, you're delivering papers. You're building superintendent for a while, but not a good one, I don't think. Never, never. The guy came out and started talking about me a few years back. Yeah. saying he was a terrible super or something like that. And I thought, why? Why would he say that? Who's a terrible super?
3:56I'm sure there's a lot around. I mean, you know. No, I saw that. There's a really old man who was like, I remember him. He was a terrible super. And I'm like, okay, take his Oscar back. Fine actor, terrible super. Christopher Walken, bad mechanic. Robert De Niro that's just an awful substitute teacher you know it's like what the fuck what are you talking about these are so you come along you're doing theater and then this thing that people dream about happens which is you get noticed Francis Ford Coppola is going to make The Godfather and he says I want this guy Al Pacino and the studio says fuck you Of course.
4:46We want Robert Redford. We want, you know, we want, you know, we want someone who's been a success. We want someone who looks a certain way. We want someone probably blonde hair, blue eyed, whatever. Sorry. Yeah, exactly. I'm looking at you when I say it. I'm sorry. They wanted me, actually. You know, my grandmother. I was eight at the time. Yeah. My grandmother on my mother's side has blonde hair, blue eyes. So just to note that. Yeah, it's in there. It's in you somewhere. Yeah, it is. But what I'm saying is they don't want you, but I've seen the screen test where they're saying, okay, well, how about Jimmy Kahn as Michael Cole?
5:30How about they're trying everybody. They're throwing everybody in there. But Francis Ford Coppola sticks with you. They start shooting and you can tell, you read it in the book and it's riveting on the set. people are like, I don't know about this guy. I don't know about this guy. I don't know what. And you can feel it. Yeah, well, they were giggling. You heard giggling. Yes. So here's what's amazing to me. These scenes that I've watched and that everyone's watched in this room 100 ,000 times that are now iconic masterclasses in how you play a character, you're doing it and people are going, oh, man, let's hope they get a real actor in here soon.
6:11which is unbelievable to me. Was it that severe Conan?
6:18I was an eight year old kid, but I was there and I had a lot of pull with the studio. I called Paramount and I was like, I don't think he's got it. Who is this? Eight year old Conan O 'Brien. What do you do? It'll be a big deal someday. You'll see. Why aren't you using a real phone? Why are you mining one with your hands?
6:42but uh but no and and the thing is which is to me i look at that performance and as you say in the book your concept which was clearly the right one which is you gotta slowly see michael come to this position and then there's the iconic scene where they're all trying to figure out after veto's been shot what to do and you are sitting there with your broken jaw and you say okay we arrange a meeting and the camera's pushing in i can't watch that and i can't talk about it without tingling because i think it is a beautiful way to tell a story through acting but it takes patience and the studio was saying well they wanted to see something else i guess and uh both francis and i I think felt that way about it.
7:31But we were unable, or at least I was unable to articulate what I was doing. But I was doing that. I thought about it on my long walks in Manhattan. You talk about it. You would take long walks. You'd get the film, but it hasn't started shooting yet. You took long walks. Yeah, I would go all the way from 91st to The Village and back. 91st and Broadway. And I'd just think about the part. Think about it. I still do that with roles. I just think about them. and it's fun. It gets me through the walk. I'm glad to know that in coming up with who Michael Corleone was, you got your steps in. Yeah, there it is.
8:14I managed not to get hit by a car. In those days... They should make a Fitbit that tells you, you have achieved the character. 10 ,000 steps. Stop walking. Stop now. He's nailed Michael Corleone. You've got it. Oh, my God. Did you hear I said wow along with myself in the exact same time? Yeah, you did. Yeah, I think I saw that. And also, I love that it just cussed you just so you could say wow. I know. What a dork. But I don't mind because we're in the room with fucking Al Pacino. I know. Can you believe that we get to do that? Conan's used to this. You and I, we don't. I mean, I guess you got to being his assistant all those years.
8:57Not Al Pacino. And also not in this kind of like atmosphere. And you could, I mean, I can tell just from looking at that clip how I was feeling. And I was like, just don't say anything. I know. Don't move. Don't do anything dumb. It was amazing because he's so nice. I know. And I was obsessed with The Godfather. One of the first movies I saw was The Godfather 2. I begged my mom to watch it at a very young age. Like three? It's one of my earliest memories of movies. Really? Yeah. And it's a three-hour-old movie. I know. I can't believe that was like, you watched it early on. I would never, I don't know, I was watching like Goonies.
9:34What a treat to be in the room with that guy. I know, that was really cool. Sitting across from Michael Corleone. Yeah. Amazing. I know. And then this next guy's no slouch either. Yes. Thanks for going along. You know what? Yeah, Tom Hanks is next. And I was walking by and he was just standing in the hallway and somebody introduced me. I think it was Paula who introduced me to him. And then he said, what's the first car you ever drove and what's the car you're driving now? And it was just such a like, I'm sure that's a question he asks a lot of people just to like. He just had that ready to go?
10:05He had that ready to go. And it was so, it was so cool, but also made me reflect that my first car was like a broken down Jetta. And now I drive a minivan. So it's like my evolution. That's a lateral move. you seem like a jetta girl oh i was i had three jettas before yeah i had i was a jetta girl for sure yeah is that a compliment yeah okay uh let's let's take did you just read the description yes and i think i remember what i say in this so let's let's roll it
10:44You scared the hell out of me. I was on a bike with a friend of mine. That's right. We won't get into the exact, but taking a bike ride with a good friend of mine, Brad, and we're going up this - Yeah. Maybe. And Brad Paisley.
11:03And suddenly this car, like kind of a Jeep SUV thing starts coming. And all of a sudden the window comes down and you lean out the window and start yelling at me. I did it, yelled at you. And you start doing some bit, which was really funny, doing a bit. And then my friend is like, that was Tom Hanks. It happens all the time. But you know what, it was like laughing. Like your head just came out of a - Yeah, yeah. Knock, knock. Or it was like Batman when he was climbing up the side of a building and suddenly a window would open and it's, you know - It's Jerry Lewis. It's Jerry Lewis. It's Tom Hanks.
11:36I thought, I live the most amazing life where a darkened window can come down and a goofy Tom Hanks can pop out and yell at me when I'm on a bike. But think about everybody else, because on that, there's a lot of people that come there to walk that, you know, it's a long line, and they're all kind of like bicycle weenie geeks, you know, guys with$6 ,000 mountain bikes saying, on your left, you know, as they're going up and coming down. But they're going to see you. I mean, you're as tall as Big Bird, for crying out loud. And they're going to say, I believe I saw Conan O 'Brien struggling up the hill.
12:10Have you heard that halfway up that ridge, there's this place that apparently in the late 30s, you probably know about. Absolutely true. In the late 30s, some people who were pro Hitler and pro what the Nazis were doing. So Nazis. Yeah. OK, go ahead. As a lay historian, I'll come in and get the record straight. There were members of the party. There were people who were sympathetic to that cause in the late 30s before America was in the war. And they purchased a piece of land. Am I correct? You are correct, sir. That they thought would be a place that the Fuhrer would like to hang when and if he comes to America, maybe because he conquered it.
12:59I don't know the whole story. Do you know the story? It was owned by the German Bund. And there was a period of time, a German boon, the boon was essentially, hey, we're all Germans, we all live America, let's form a fraternal organizations, like other nationalities do, you know. And I'm going to hope that before they found out just how bad Hitler was, you know. But there, I swear, I have seen photographs of like a Fourth of July in the 1930s up there with the fireworks thing. And they would have, no lie, a picture of the founding fathers and a picture of Adolf Hitler, an American flag and a Nazi flag, the German Nazi flag.
13:43And they were saying our country is coming back, et cetera, et cetera. And I just hope that maybe you can get away with that in 1930, you know, but it continued along. And in fact, it is now a scout camp or it had been for a while. And I have gone there to scout a location. And there was like the main lodge, you know, there's tents and stuff like that. But there is a main lodge that honestly looks like, you know, a German Alpine chalet. that all you have to do is paint it red, put a couple of Hocken Cruisers on there, and you are right back in Naziville, USA. So this is a place that, in our neighborhood, you go up this, there's this big hill, and...
14:25Did I say Jerry Lewis also lived in this neighborhood? And why did you choose to live here, sir? Listen, we have these meetings that are none of your business. No, but this is my story, which is that they, that was something I've always heard, and then occasionally you'll find that it mentioned that this piece of land lives and that maybe, and some people get the story, they get it wrong and they think that Hitler spent time there like in his board shorts looking out at the Pacific. He did come out for pilot season one. And he needed a place to stay. Six pilots, didn't get one of them. Not a one.
15:06It was almost a seventh friend. But anyway, but I'm with my friend once, my same friend, Brad, that you saw. I'm riding, grinding up that hill on our bikes to just try and get to this very steep in parts. We're grinding along. And then we're these two women, like blonde, 22-year-old, I swear to God, wearing like bikini tops. very, and they just looked like they were just come from a sorority party. They flag us down like they were in trouble. And I said, what is it? And they went, do you know where the Hitler camp is? Where's the Hitler camp? And I went, oh, ladies. Well, all right. Like, God, he's still pulling in the trim, that Addy Hitler.
15:53Oh my God. He's still pulling in the trim? I know what? Jesus. Jesus, Matt. Wow. Come on. We are making light of a very, very dark period, without a doubt. Yes. Yeah. I mean, you don't want to say, yeah. Yeah. Come on up. How do you get to Conan's house? Oh, well, if you've gone too far, if you hit the Hitler camp. Right. Make a U-turn at the Hitler camp. When you get to the Mussolini cul-de-sac. Yeah. Yeah. Take a left. Yeah. Right. No. But yeah, that's up there. And yeah. Yeah. I'm going to switch gears here a little bit. Let's see how you do this. And I want to talk about the Japanese and Jerry Lewis and 1944.
16:46One other major thing that happened with Tom Hanks that we have to cover is that he was the second but no less significant A-list celebrity to look diagonally across this table from the chair. I'm sitting in right now and tell Aaron Blair to shut the fuck up. That's right. Blay, what did that feel like? It's, well, I always try to interject. You don't have to shout, Blay. And shut the fuck up. Now there's three A-list celebrities that have done. Can I just say a thing very quickly? It's kind of tough for Eduardo and I because we're back. We're out of the limelight. I've been there a couple times, I know.
17:21Except I am in direct eye contact with every celebrity. Well, they're looking at me, really. Chino. Okay. You just might think they're looking at you. Well, you know what? And they do look at you, but then sometimes they look over at me. They're probably looking at me still. They look at you happily and they look at me like, what's happening over here? So whenever I say anything, it's always they immediately want me to shut up because they want to hear from you. No, I think there's something about you that makes people think that they could just immediately just be not shitty, but like joke around with you.
17:54Like I'm saying this as a I'm not peddling now and I'll take it. I appreciate it. No, I am saying it as a compliment. I don't think they feel comfortable saying shut the fuck up to just anybody. So there's something about. Thank you. I got to stop. I don't know. I'm trying to give them a compliment. But to answer your question, it's incredible that we get to interact with these people at all. So the fact that both Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks told me to shut the fuck up. Amazing. Truly. I mean, life, life moment. But there has to be a third. Life moment. Well, I think there probably will be. And who's it going to be?
18:25We should all take it. Will it happen organically? Will it be someone that is aware of this? That was what I was going to say. We don't think that Tom Hanks was aware. No, it felt real. It felt organic. But it was such a, like, what are the odds that they would use the exact same words? Yes. And the best part about when Tom Hanks did it is we all collectively celebrate. That's why a third one is going to blow the roof off this place. I know what you're saying, though, about being in the eye line. I am in Conan's direct eye line throughout the whole entire interview, And I find the more esteemed the guest, this is a look behind the curtain here, the less he will look at the guest and the more he will talk to me, which makes me so because I have to do that fuel face where I'm fueling him with with energy and admiration and laughs.
19:09And it's not like it's not legitimate. It is. But I'm very conscious of I've got to keep this guy going. Here I go. And it's just a hell of a thing. Now, see, I feel the same way about the celebrity. And I overdid it, I think, with John Mayer, because John Mayer at one point stops and he goes, man, you are really vibing with me right now. And I was like, oh, my God. Oh, no. Like, am I screwed up? Like, you know, because I'm trying to exactly exactly the same thing. It's it's it's like being under a microscope. And so I find myself after these podcasts sometimes drained, exhausted, exhausted. It's kind of like an emotional cheerleader.
19:44Yes. And not that again, your cheeks hurt. I absolutely enjoy being here, but there is it is kind of like a sending vibes or or just like giving somebody back good energy. And yeah, but yeah, yeah, I totally agree. But life moments, they were life highlight moments. I'm anxious to see who's going to be number three. We're going to see. I am too.
20:13this next one was very special to us because carol burnett is an absolute legend and we went to the four seasons hotel yeah and got to talk to her there this is a very special story about another absolute legend lucille ball yeah both of these women were formative in my youth for television and everybody else, I'm sure. But this was an incredible day. I know. This was one of those special days where I was like, I'm going to remember this forever. Just being here talking to her. It's amazing. I just... Oh, boy. We better roll it. Someone's going to need to take a break.
20:54I wanted to ask you about Lucille Ball because obviously growing up, even though the show had long been gone, it was running constantly in reruns. I Love Lucy. And that was the format for the modern sitcom that has endured for 50, 60 years. And I know that she was very kind to you. She saw you as, hey, this kid has something. I like her. How did she reach out to you? Or how'd you meet her? I was doing the off-Broadway show called Once Upon a Mattress. and we had just opened the night before and the second night there was a lot of buzz I could hear in the audience and Lucy was in the audience the second night I remember I peeked through the curtain I saw this big shock of red hair and there she was I was more nervous that night than I was opening night the night before because she was in the office yeah anyway it went okay and I had this funky little dressing room off Broadway.
21:54She knocked on the door after the show and came in. And I had this couch and it had a spring coming up. She was going to say, I said, look out. She said, I see it. Is it my first rodeo? Anyway, we visited for about a half hour and she said, she called me kid because she was 22 years older. she said if you ever need me for anything give me a call so about four or five years later I was doing I did a few things and then CBS was going to give me a special one hour variety thing if I could get a major guest star so the producer said call Lucy and I said oh I don't want to bother her he said all she can do is say I'd love to but I can't I'm busy got her on the phone called her office.
22:49She came up. Hey, kids, you're doing great. What's happening? I was just, I said, oh, Lucy, I'm doing, I know you're busy. She said, when do you want me? And she did, we did the show together. So then when I got my variety show, and then I did several guest appearances on her later shows. Yes. The Lucille Ball show. And when she played Lucy Carmichael. That's right. With Gail Gordon. Right. Right. And then when I got my show, she came on. So we kind of traded on and off. And so, oh, wow. This one time, she's on my show, and we have a dinner break before the orchestra rehearsal. So she and I went over to the farmer's market to have a little – so we were in the Chinese restaurant there.
23:42And she's knocking back a couple of whiskey sours. You know? Please tell me it's the morning. It was a nighttime show. Okay, okay. So at that time, of course, my husband, Joe Hamilton, was executive of producing our show. And so she now was not with Desi. She said, you know, kid, it's great that you got Joe, you know, to handle a lot of stuff for you because when I was married to the Cuban. Like he's a cigar.
24:20He did everything. Desi did everything. He took care of the scripts. He took care of the lighting, the camera work. He's the one who invented the three cameras. Yeah. Genius. Yeah. Yeah. And she said, when I came into the Monday morning, you know, the table read, everything was perfect because he had seen to it. And all I had to do is be crazy Lucy, you know, fine. So then we got a divorce. Now I'm going to do the Lucy Karma, whatever it was. And I came in, no Desi, and we read the script, and she said, it was awful. Kid, it stank. And she said, and I thought, oh, God, what am I going to do? Desi's not here.
25:06She called for lunch, and she went back to her office. She said, I've got to be strong. I've got to be I've got to confront this the way Desi would she says so I knew what I had to do went back to the table read and I told them in no uncertain terms how I felt about the script how we had to fix it she said kid and she took an and that's when they put the S on the end of my last name laughter laughter laughter
25:45Now she sent you, I think, flowers every day on your birthday. On my birthday. And this one birthday, I got up in the morning and turned on the Today Show and she had passed away. On my birthday. And that afternoon, I got flowers that said, happy birthday, kid. Oh, boy. Yeah. So we had a great bond. Legend. That's amazing. Do you remember she came into that room and she, there was probably 15 people in that room. She shook everyone's hand, asked for their name. And then after the interview was over, said goodbye to everybody pretty much by name. Like a total pro. And also there are moments when everybody's on their best behavior.
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26:31Yeah. You know, like we're all like dressed a little nicer. We're all not goofing off. Usually a president of some kind. Yes. And yeah, we had the same amount of gravitas towards her as we would a president, a first lady. All right. This next one is Misi Nash with a very funny story.
26:54I've always heard it was your idea to put on the prosthetic fake booty. Is that true? That's a fact. Because you know why? Because the women in my family, I did not see them on TV. You know what I mean? Now you could buy a butt on every corner. You know what I mean? You can buy one on every corner. But then it wasn't popular to have all of the, you know what I mean? And I went to so many booty fittings, like you don't even understand. and they couldn't get it right because they were building it straight back. So I went to my girlfriend and I brought her up there who had, you know, the natural slamma jamma.
27:36And I'm like, you see, you got to start from the hips and wrap it around. So I got the booty right. It was really. I love that you brought your friend in. What was your friend's name? I don't know if I should say it. Okay. You just mean it's a compliment. what I love saying to your friend hey come on over here I need your ass I need your ass get your ass over here literally get your ass over here literally and you know let me tell you something that friend of mine true story her butt and my and my up top was how we got uh to look prince right in the face we didn't have tickets to this grammy party he was at and I so we went around the side and there was a security guard.
28:24I said, girl, you know what to do. She started walking backwards. I started walking forwards. I was like, come on. And we walked over there. So he let us in the back door. So we get in the party and then we lied and said that I'm always lying to get a job, right? We lied and said she was Prince's cousin. So we go. The purple one was behind this door. So we knock, we walk up to security like, yeah, we need to get in there. She's like, I'm his cousin. I'm like, yeah, she's his cousin. And he looked at us up and down. He said, one minute. He closes the door and goes.
29:05The door opens. It is Prince. He looked at us. And before we could take a breath, he said, nice try. And closed the door in our face. I said, but we got to see him. He said, nice try to us. Ah! Yeah. That is so cool. And I don't even know what that had to do with the booty, but the point is, it was that same girl's butt. She walked backwards to get in. She walked backwards to get in. The power. But her butt. That's how she got everything in life. But she walked backwards. We deny this card. Oh yeah? Check this out. The card works! Conan's so jealous right now. Okay, let's talk about this. I have famously, I have no ass.
29:44There's just nothing back there. It's a straight drop. and I'm thinking I should get a prosthetic. Is there something they make for men now? Make sure it's done right. You should bring a friend in who has the right butt and then have them do it. I don't know. I don't know what the right butt looks like. You want me to call my friend? Yeah, exactly. You should come. And I should say, I want this. But the point I was making is that that butt wasn't popular back then. That body type, not even the butt, just the body type, you know? And I wanted to be somebody that my aunties could look at and see themselves.
30:21And so I was like, I want to look like the women in my family. And I have to tell you, so many men met me in life after and were so disappointed that I didn't have the thing on. They were like, you lost weight. I'm like, no. I can go get it. It's in the back of the car. Yeah, basically. Just keep it with me at all. You could borrow hers. Well, I don't, don't they make something for men? No, I'm just saying you could borrow the one she uses for Reno 911. All right, maybe I can, do you have a name for it? You nicknamed it? I did not. But you know, my prosthetic one, like I have one that I would wear under the uniform, but the prosthetic one that I wore with the thong bathing suit, that one, somebody stole it.
31:11You bet they did. It was in a temperature control locker somewhere. If I knew where that was, I'd grab it. I'd take it on vacation. What are you gonna do with it? I don't wanna talk about what I'm gonna do to it. That's my business. You're evading my privacy right now. I buy two airline tickets and the prosthetic ass is in the other one. And we both have a glass of champagne.
31:43Oh my God. Can I tell you, I love Niecy Nash and I love Reno 911. And I had no idea that was a fake butt until that conversation. And between that and Conan's story about Prince, which he's told a few times on the show right before he went on stage. The more I hear about that little guy. That little guy? He's very little. He is, I know. He's just a mischief maker. Someone just told me a story that he was at a huge gala party just as a guest. stood up on a table and hopped from table to table to table to the exit as if it was just all happening spontaneously. But then if you did any further looking down, you saw all of his people were prepared with their hands clasped together to be his little bridge from table to table to table.
32:27So he talked about it before. With them. This had been planned, but it was all made to seem spontaneous. That's insane. This is also coming like third, fourth degree. Who knows if it's true, but you print the legend. Oh, man, that's awesome. I loved when Niecy Nash was here because I've always loved, loved Reno 911. Me too. And just, she was just like, she had that energy the whole time. You really missed out. It was so much fun. I know. You really, really missed out. Do you ever? Yes. Like, I hate missing recordings. I do too. I missed Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart, because I had to go back and see my family.
33:03And you just, you know, you curse your family. Do you? I really don't have much going on besides this. So I just, I really don't miss very many, but I have missed a couple and I always have big time FOMO. There was one, I remember. I was just like, I wish I was here for that. Yeah, you're almost always here. I don't have a ton of FOMO in my life. If anything, I have a fear of not missing out. Of not? A fear of being included. Oh, a Fobj? Yes, that's the one. Fobby, where did the J come from? It's a soft cheat. So, well, I did not miss this next one, which I am very glad for because this was a really funny guest and a really funny story.
33:47I have to say, when we find out who gets booked on this show, there's an email sent to all of us just being like, this person got booked on this day. And it's very rare for me to respond and just be like, I'm really excited, even though I am. But this one, I replied to everybody on the email, including, I think, probably SiriusXM employees. And like a lot of other executives who don't care about my opinion. The guest himself. And I was just like, I cannot wait for this episode. I think you said something like little baby Billy. No, that wasn't me. I forgot what I said. I can't remember, but I feel like you said little baby Billy.
34:26I don't know. Yeah. But then everybody else started responding. It's like every single person was excited about this. You responded. When I saw this booking, I gasped. That's right. That's right. That's what I said. So this is Walton Goggins. Anticlimactic.
34:45You've played so many great characters, but in The Righteous Gemstones, I feel like the minute I started watching that show and then you showed up. And I remember not knowing you were going to be in the show for some reason. And the minute you show up, I thought, you can't do The Righteous Gemstones without Walton Goggins. You have to have him. Did I tell you this story about the, about the, David Gordon Green was directing that episode. And the very first time you meet baby Billy, he's in a, he's in a bathtub. Oh, I know this. He's in a, he's in a hot tub. Yeah. Yeah. Hot tub, bathtub outside, looking out at his land, looking out over his empire.
35:22Yeah. And, and at some point in the scene, he stands up and, you know, he's, he's fully naked. And the viewer sees. viewer sees everything and uh and then he turns around he gets puts on his bathrobe and then steps out of the bathtub well they called in a body double to do that yeah who was 76 78 years old something like that to be in the in the tub right and they flew him in from chicago and i'm like how did you what's the audition process you couldn't find him in south carolina really you had to go to Chicago. So he comes in and I meet him. He had to go to Chicago to find a dick? Yeah. This guy's top of his game.
36:05Yeah. You have to understand. Top of his game. The toxic guy. And I met him on that day and he was dressed like me, kind of looked like me. And I'm thinking like, who are you? He said, I'm you. I'm your body dub. I'm standing in for you. And it's like, okay. Cut to the show comes out. There it is. And I get a phone call from this friend of mine who says, oh my God, baby Billy Freeman. I just, I can't stand it. I love it so much. And can I just say how good your body looks? And I said, what the fuck are you talking about? He's 76. 76 years old. You think that's my fucking body?
36:48True story. I did wonder, because the penis is right there. Penis is right there. In high definition. Yeah, that's right. Beautifully lit. I mean, it's a nice penis. But it's definitely a Chicago penis. Yeah, you can tell. And you know what? South side. Deep dish. That's a south side penis. Deep dish. Deep dish, south side. That's a White Sox penis. That's not a Cubs penis. Does not have a southern accent. Yeah. Oh, very, very Yankee. What's going on here? What are we doing here down south? Penis, shut up. You're ruining it. I just got out of a hot tub. Yeah. Gotta get a sausage.
37:32Oh, I love him. Did you watch Vice Principals? Yes, definitely. Can I just say a thing where I, like you, Sono, I love Walton Goggins. He's one of my favorite people. And sometimes when celebrities get here, I get to just say a few words to them as they come up the stairs. And I had to tell Walton Goggins this. He comes up. He's very nice. I shake his hand. And we're talking for a second. And I go, you know, I have to say, you have a gin, right? He goes, well, yes, I do. And I was like, my old boss and I, Dan Ferguson, got very drunk one night on your gin. And it was delicious. And he put his hand on my chest and goes, well, then may I just say, you are welcome for your inebriation.
38:11Oh, my God. It's like a blessing. You've been baptized in the spirits of Orton Goggins. The most charming man ever. Just dripping with charm. Just dripping. I love him I think I love every single role he's in and if I hear he's in something I will watch it he's one of those actors that's why I watched Fallout even though I never knew anything about the video game and he's very serious in that right he has like barely a face yeah he's not totally serious but he's the villain but if you haven't watched it you should it's really good Yeah.
38:57Well, next up are two of the most lovable people that you'll have on this show. I think Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson. Yeah. In a very special circumstance. I think it gets explained in the clip probably. But what a way to kick off this episode. I know. we were all waiting for Woody to get here and he explains it and this clip, right? I mean, that's what the clip is. But I think anybody, even Woody probably would say it's probably not uncommon to sit and wait around for Woody Harrelson because he lives on a different clock time zone planet or whatever. But this was a very special reason. Yeah.
39:33Let's, let's watch.
39:39I think we should address the elephant in the room. Woody, We started a little bit later than we thought because you had a bit of a tumble. Is it fair to call it a tumble? I think a tumble is a fair term. Yeah. Did go over my handlebars. You went over the handlebars. Yeah, I was honestly and embarrassingly, I was passing this Tesla on the left that I felt was moving a little slow, but I didn't realize he was moving slow because he's taking a left. Yes, and you were on a motorcycle. On a motorcycle. Yes. And is that your primary way of getting around a motorcycle? Well, I always feel like the shortest distance between two lines, between two points in L.A.
40:22is a motorcycle. So I do tend to take it. But today it proved not to be so very fast in terms of transporting. We lost some time while people were figuring out, are you alive? Your soul had to reenter your body. Yeah. Did you think for a second when you were going over the hood of the Tesla, this is going to be a huge problem, or the whole time were you thinking, I'm all right? No, I always thought I'd be okay. I just felt like there was some pain involved. I felt the pain, but I never thought I'd be, you know, killed or anything. Okay. Or maimed. Your hand is wrapped up like someone in a cartoon.
41:00That's because I wrapped it. He did a great job. Is this true? I wrapped it, and I thought it looked funnier that way.
41:09So let me get this straight. All of your first aid training is helping people in a way that will look funny. Yeah. It's not going to help him not get infected or anything like that. Yeah. You didn't set the bones in the proper way. You set them in the funny way. Funny way. Okay. And we're in the bathroom, and I'm like, you played a doctor, right? And he says, yeah, I also played a lawyer so we can sue the guy. I said, well, I think it's going to have to be a lawyer for the defense. I'm not as good with that. Sorry. So this is fascinating just to be behind the scenes and know that you guys are both icons.
41:47You're on the way to do the podcast with your friend Ted Danson. You wipe out on the motorcycle. You hit a Tesla. You get it together. You come here. You need medical attention. So Ted Danson is the one that helps clean the wound and wrap you? Yes. Why haven't we called a real doctor at any point? I'd take Ted Danson over a real doctor. Thank you. Thank you very much. By the way, his confidence, his demeanor, everything about the way he does it is you feel like, yes, I'm in the best hands. Never doubt it. I did kind of have that. I was choking back tears, but I was efficient. First of all, I'm very happy that you're okay.
42:28Me too. It was weird when he asked me to disrobe, but I'm going to... For hygienic purposes. It's for hygienic and also tax purposes. Thank you. So, do you wear... What kind of protection do you wear when you ride? Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no, no. We're not doing that protection, the other protection. Are you armored in any way? Are you wearing a helmet? I did. I was wearing a helmet. Okay. Yes. And so, it actually did help me because I did hit my head, but... Okay. The helmet. So no problem. Okay, good. What do you have? This makes me sad, buddy. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Don't be sad. Damn, I'm sad. Oh, thank you.
43:08Sad and why sad? Well, he could have been hurt badly. Badly. It makes me sad. Does it inform what you might do in the future? Might you? No, that's out of the question, I'm sure. It should. It certainly should. Yeah. But this is how you are, right? You live a life on the edge? Yeah, maybe. maybe yeah right in other words maybe i should just slow down in life and just take it a little hey you're doing great you skinned your hand man up sorry i'm switched i'm switched you just switched i had my sorry literally 15 seconds ago you said i'm so sad i'm so sad i'm over it and i'm so sad and then you're telling him to shut the fuck up right yeah my sadness didn't play in the room.
43:55I thought about me going slower. My sadness didn't play in the room. That is such a sick thing to say. Such a sick thing to say. Oh, wow. We're here in the ward with the terminally ill children. Hope you guys feel better soon. Tough break. Hey, that didn't play so well. Let me try something else. Hey, Timmy, how long you got? Jesus Christ, Ted. I know what you mean, though, Woody. there's something about ted every time i've talked to him see him out in the world i'm immediately i just get this calm you have a very calming presence and i don't yes is some of it maybe related to the fact that you are so ubiquitous and no well well known yes but do other people say that you just you'd be like an amazing therapist you know i'm doing these uh moderate to severe plaque psoriasis commercials, which I think tells you all you need to know that under this, I am, by the way.
44:57Yeah. You can calm other people, but there's no calmness in the interior. Yeah, no calming me. Now, do you suffer from this malady or is they just, the money is too much to turn down? I live on the edge of fear, basically. Really? Yes, I remember you sitting me down once during Cheers and I think I was about to get divorced or something. He said, Teddy, why are you so fearful? stuck in my head all the time. And that's what I find amazing. You may have fear and all of that, but you take such big chunks out of life. And I love that. And yourself, apparently. I lost a chunk today. I'm Larchmont. Is this on camera, by the way?
45:36I think we're going to see this. It's comical. That's the thing one of the Three Stooges would put on their head. They had a headache. Does anyone have an ice pack? I haven't seen an ice pack like that in 50 years. It's not a bad idea, though. Does it look cool? Oh, yeah. It looks really cool.
45:57What you can't see is, didn't he also have his leg propped up? And listeners can go to the Team Coco YouTube channel and see these clips, because often the clips themselves are longer as well than what you're hearing today. But this one, because also they're drinking large glasses of watermelon juice. Yes. Or like strawberry agua fresca or something. It's just quite a sight. It's watermelon juice. They get it for every recording they do of their podcast. So that, you know, they do a podcast here where everybody knows your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson. Sometimes is the title. And yeah, they get these watermelon juices.
46:27But they both like watermelon juice? I think that's adorable. One of them turned the other one on to it. And then they get it. I bet Woody turned Ted on. I think that's right. But I will say that they have this like odd couple dynamic that is really special. And there's just like, they just love each other like brothers. And it's a good plug for the other podcast. because if you like them together, and I can't imagine anyone doesn't, the other podcast is really, really great. Do you ever, after we leave, are you like, I want to be friends with you so bad. Oh, yeah. I feel every once in a while, someone will come in and they'll leave and I'll be like, we could be, we could have such a good friendship together.
47:03I thought about that with Mila Kunis. I've thought about that with a few other people, but Mila Kunis jumps out because I feel like we really bonded when she came on here. But with them, I really just, like would love to just go to dinner parties with them and just be friends. You know, Woody invited our team. A handful of us went to his to his dispensary when the show launched. Oh, really? Oh, my God. And he was there. Go. One of my favorite memories of that night was apparently Woody really loves magic. And so he had magician bartenders. So you'd order a drink and they'd be like, and then it would like appear or whatever.
47:40And it was really cool, except as the night goes on and an open bar, you kind of just want your drink. And so you're like, cool, that's great. And you flip in the bottle around and then fire. And oh, my God. And you're like, cool. That's oh, man. OK. Oh, great. Oh, that's so cool. Oh, man. OK, cool. Thank you for the drink. Yeah. So we ended up ordering like several at once just so you could kind of. So he's not doing those Now You See Me movies for a paycheck. It's out of love. I honestly, I feel like it's a passion. It was one of the coolest nights. And that dispensary is, it's got a whole big garden in the back.
48:13It's beautiful. We should do a field trip. Really fun. We should. We should move our studio to that dispensary and just start recording there. I would love to. All right, well, we're going to close this out with the Larry David clip that, man, this whole interview is one of the funniest we've had. Yeah. And this moment is a very Curb Your Enthusiasm Larry David moment. Very much. You're just like, Like this would be a plot point in Curb.
48:44You know, people ask me all the time, they say to me, Conan, you know, everyone in the business. And I say, thank you. And then they say, Larry David, is he exactly like he is on Curb Your Enthusiasm? And I say, yes, he is. You are exactly like that guy. You would claim that you're not quite that guy. but the times I've hung out with you at parties, I feel there might as well be a camera recording this for HBO. You are the same guy. You know, I take that as a tremendous compliment. Yes, you should. Because I got to tell you something. I love that guy.
49:21That guy. Oh my God. I am so in love with that guy. Yeah, really. He's my hero. Yeah. He should be. Yeah. It must be nice, though, because you've carved that out for yourself. And then if people encounter you in real life, you don't have to in any way contort yourself to please them. Yes. You can tell them, I don't feel like taking a selfie. It's not really what I want to do right now. And they they're they love they must love and they laugh and they laugh. Except a couple of weeks ago, I got invited to a dinner party. and you know five, ten years ago I would have gone, okay, yeah, okay sounds good, what's the address?
50:12And now this time I said, who's coming? Oh! Yeah. Did not go over well. The person was offended? The person seemed to have been a little offended. And And I wound up not going. So there you go. So there you go. So I did. I tried to be Larry and it didn't work. But by the way, as long as we're on the subject, is it such a terrible question to ask who's going to? Why is it such a secret? Why is that a secret? I don't understand. I don't understand the big secret. You can't say who's going. Why? I don't get it. Yes. I think that's, I think you're right. I think you are within your rights to ask who's coming.
51:05Thank you. Thank you. Because you want to find out also, I'm imagining you have enemies.
51:14And you know, you want to make sure you're not walking into a party. I just made four more as I walked into the building. But you know, you want to make sure you want to know. Yeah. Yeah. I want to know. It's like a mobster who's going to a restaurant wants to know how many ways are there in, You know, if there's if I'm attacked, is there a way out? You've got to know. Exactly. Because a lot of times, honestly, you'll be invited to these dinner parties and you find yourself sitting next to some insurance salesman. And, you know, you're there the whole two and a half hours sitting next to him or her or whatever.
51:48Yeah, it's not comfortable. Let me ask you a question. And you I want you to be honest. Yeah. You came to my house not long ago. You didn't know who was going to be there. Were you pleased? Were you not pleased? And you can tell me. Well. Were there enough celebrities to make you comfortable? Were there two, you know, did you feel that it was a good environment, a good ecosystem for you? I need like three comedians and I'm fine. Right. Do I count as a comedian? Oh, Conan. Conan. Conan. Poor Conan. Oh, Conan. You're poor. It's just sad. It's just sad. Don't do this to him. Come on. Yes, Conor. Thank you.
52:31Well, I wasn't sure. You know, you seemed happy. You seemed pleased. You know, comedians, comedy writers, you know, either one, whatever. But at one point, I noticed that you had retreated to a separate area and you were just observing. You were eating your food and you were just observing other people as if you were, you know, looking at birds. You were doing little sketches. And I wondered if that's normal behavior for you. I'll tell you what. I don't like sitting with a plate on my lap. Right. OK. Right. And I saw there was a counter. There were stools in front of the counter. And I thought this this would be a good spot to plant myself.
53:10Yeah. And so I planted and it turned out to be a great spot because when people come over, this is what I do at parties, by the way. I always sit. You can't be in the middle of a room making small talk and then you're going, your brain is racing, you know. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm out. I can't. I got nothing. I got nothing. I got nothing. What? The bathroom? Do I have to go to the bathroom? Do I have to get a drink? Or I know I'll do TV Larry. I'll do TV Larry. All right. Well, it's been nice talking to you. Yeah. And then and then you move on. Right. I think people know now that you can't have interminable conversations.
54:05They can't go on forever. There's got to be an out. There's got to be an out. You know what? You're on a podcast right now. How long is this going to go? This is our special five hour salute. No, but it's not. It's a special five hour salute to Larry David. But I think I have an idea for parties. I have an idea for parties. You have a party sheriff, okay? And he sits.
54:36He's in a chair above the party. He's overseeing the party. Like a lifeguard. Like a lifeguard. Or he's in another room on video. And he's got cameras on everybody. Like a pit boss. Yeah, like a pit boss. And he's seeing the conversations. He's looking at them. He's seeing how it's going. He's looking at the body language. He's timing conversations. And then he sees that somebody's in trouble. And he goes, okay, all right, I got to go. He goes down. He takes the person by the arm. He goes, excuse me, this is over. This is brilliant. This is brilliant. I have to have this. I have to have this. I mean, this is a great idea.
55:18It's brilliant. It's fantastic. Thank you. I love that idea. I think we've all been there. He doesn't even pretend to take, hey, I need to talk to you about. No, no, no, no. Everybody's aware. Also, does he flash a badge? Yeah. Does he put up a badge and say, this is over? This is over. Everybody's aware there's a sheriff. There's somebody overseeing the party. By the way, I think I'd be a good one. You'd be great. I'd like to volunteer. I could do that job. We need a podcast sheriff. You could do that. I definitely could do that job. A party sheriff, for sure.
55:55I have to say, I happened to be at a party with Larry David last week. Doesn't happen often at all. Maybe never has never happened, really. And I did talk to him. And I basically just went up to him and said, you know, how much fun we all had when he was here. And he was very, very kind and said that, like, this was his favorite. I don't know if he said favorite podcast or favorite talk show he's ever done, which I believe when he says because I don't think he would you know just say that to be kind but the whole time in the back of my mind I was conscious of making sure I didn't talk too long and just being like I'm just gonna say hi and then be done because I don't want the party sheriff to get me I mean what happens when you go too long with the actual party who sheriff's the party sheriff that's a great question I think he would have just said like great talking to you thank you and then like time to go well the podcast sheriff has said it's time for us to wrap this up.
56:50Yep. Yep. And we'll be back next time with Conan, right? That's right. We'll be back with a regular episode next week. And like I said, you can go to the Team Coco YouTube channel to see all these clips in their full lengths. And this has been a fun diversion. We're sorry for the circumstances and sending love to our boss. Yes, we are. Sending a lot of love to all the O 'Briens. Yeah. And the Reardins on the East Coast. It's all of Conan's whole family is out there. And yeah, it's a really hard time. But also they lived very long, very beautiful lives, made a huge impact on everybody and made a huge impact in their fields.
57:27And they're going to be missed. And I mean, this is the end of the year, too, really, isn't it? I know. It's the holidays. And everybody, take it easy out there and enjoy yourselves. And we'll start fresh next year with good attitudes. Okay. Good attitudes. because we usually have bad attitudes or I don't know why are you questioning I'm sorry I was just it was an odd thing to say but yeah 2025 here we come happy holidays Matt happy holidays Sona you know you're like my sister you know what I you feel I feel like we have a brother sister relationship now yeah we've been doing this for a while and you're you're my favorite part of this podcast Oh, same here.
58:11You know what? Just like sitting across and looking at you whenever Conan says something silly. Which is every three seconds. Which is all the time. Yeah. We're just like two kids in church just like making each other giggle. I don't know what I would do without you. I wouldn't have made it this far without you. You would have been fine. No way. No way. You would have been okay. You're my rock. Oh, well, that's nice. I'm quitting next week. Okay. So am I then. All right. And thank you to Adam, Eduardo, and Blay. I know. You guys make this happen. Literally, Adam, you make this happen. Yeah. We have a good team.
58:41Yeah, we do. Why do we need that other guy? We do. Yeah, that's true. I don't want to sit in this chair again. No, it's weird. There's something about this chair that makes me uneasy. I like being over in the corner, just like not saying anything. That's right. Okay. Happy New Year, everybody. New Year. Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend. With Conan O 'Brien, Sonam Avsessian, and Matt Gorley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao Theme song by The White Stripes Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino Take it away, Jimmy
59:23Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair And our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns Additional production support by Mars Melnick Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, and you might find your review read on a future episode. Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at SiriusXM.com slash Conan. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.
1:00:08Thank you.
From the publisher
Sona, Matt, and the rest of Conan’s team close out 2024 with a compilation of some of their favorite segments from Conan’s interviews over the last year featuring guests Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, Carol Burnett, Niecy Nash, Walton Goggins, Ted Danson & Woody Harrelson, and Larry David.
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