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Conan O'Brien on '60 Minutes': How did Leno get screwed again?
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Conan O'Brien says he's "mostly very happy" and is having a great time on his current live tour, but it's also pretty clear he hasn't quite gotten over his rough dismissal from NBC earlier this year.O'Brien gave his first televised post-"Tonight Show" interview on Sunday's (May 2) "60 Minutes" -- a day after the embargo on him appearing on TV, part of his exit from NBC, expired. He tells correspondent Steve Kroft that "I went through some stuff" after leaving "The Tonight Show."
"I got very depressed at times," O'Brien says. "It was like a marriage breaking up suddenly ... I was just trying to figure out what happened. When we started putting this tour together, I started to feel better almost immediately. ... There is no better antidote to what I've just been through than to do this every night."
He also laughs heartily at the idea that Jay Leno -- whose low-rated prime-time show started the NBC late-night dominos falling and is now back at "The Tonight Show" -- also "got screwed" in the deal, which is something Leno has said in the past.
"How did he get screwed again?" O'Brien asks, again laughing. "Explain that part to me. I'm sorry -- Jay's got 'The Tonight Show.' I have a beard and an inflatable bat [a prop on the tour]. ... Who can say who won and who lost? I'm laughing because crying would be sad."
The piece was hardly the toughest "60 Minutes" interview you'll ever see, but Kroft did get one hard question in, asking O'Brien if he thinks Leno "acted honorably" in going back to "Tonight" after handing the job over. The question gets a big sigh from O'Brien, who then says, "I don't think I can answer that. I just can tell you maybe how I would have handled it. And I would have done it differently."
O'Brien also says he gets that cutting him loose probably cost NBC a lot less than dumping Leno, and he insists he doesn't bear much ill will toward the NBC executives who made the decision. "The only thing I take exception to," he says, "is that after the fact, people [grumbled about] 'Conan's losing money -- and oh, he was murdering cats.'"
"It's crucial to me that ... if anyone watching takes anything away from this, it's that I'm fine, I'm doing great, and I hope people still find me comedically absurd and ridiculous -- and I don't regret anything."
You can watch the full "60 Minutes" piece below. What did you think of the interview?
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Conan needs to get over himself. He's not all that. He has no one to blame but himself for not beeing funny. He whines too damn much, I have no sympathy for him, he's just a spoiled brat!
Leno has and Always will suck and never be funny! Long live Conan!!!!!
I think it's time to act like a man Conan! People lose their jobs everyday, many people, it's part of life.Not fun, no one enjoys it so please stop the whining,buck up and get on with life.
Conan I have missed you SO MUCH!! Great interview, but it left me wanting more. Way too short considering how long we have waited to hear from him. Conan's wife is beautiful and it was wonderful seeing how she supports him. Conan has always been a class act, so as much as I wanted to see him rip into Leno, I understood why he took the high road. I have missed Conan and now I must wait till November:( Hope he keeps the beard.
leno is awesome and conan sucks
CONAN IS THE MAN. I caught his show in Vegas the other day. It was awesome. This man deserves better than he got. TBS got lucky when they signed him.
Like you said Theresa, way too short. I was hoping for the whole hour, but I knew that was not going to happen. This is 60 Minutes. Anyways, I enjoyed the interview. Yes, people do lose their jobs on a daily basis, but how many have the added stress and humiliation of going through it publicly. I did not get the impression that he was whining. If I want to watch somebody whine, I just need to turn to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Haven't watched that show since Conan's last episode. Conan has my full admiration and support. It was a delight seening him on my screen again.
TEAM COCO!!!! YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Conan, you will be fine. You're brilliant, you're funny, and now you've proven to the world that you are ethical. Knock 'em dead.
Conan wasn't right for the spot. He was just fine for the time slot he was in but he was not Tonight Show Talent.
His type of humor appeals to a certain segment of society that is not that large. His type of humor also did not lend itself to the style that people have come to expect from decades of the Tonight Show.
Plane and simple, he just isn't that funny most of the time.