Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert Had Fun Discussing Late Night’s Death

The end, it is a comin’! Gone will be the desks, bands, and movie clips. Say goodbye to party games played by celebrities to get laughs: Bon voyage, opening monologues about the day’s events. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Late-night talk shows are on their way to the old studio stage in the sky, but that wouldn’t have happened if the folks hosting those shows had listened to ole Conan O’Brien!

That was the tone struck by the former late-night host as he joined his friend Stephen Colbert. O’Brien stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which is set to end in May, because Colbert has a point of view that the current presidential administration doesn’t approve of. That’s what’s happening. Conan, who hasn’t been on television in four years, couldn’t help but address Colbert’s cancellation.

“Stephen, how’s late night?” Conan asked as soon as he sat down. “I’ve been out of it for a little bit. Catch me up on what’s happening.” O’Brien delivers these jokes with his signature, manic energy, delighting in asking a question he already knows the answer to. Colbert then tells his friend that he’ll send him the “obituary.” Conan’s show ending certainly felt like part of the beginning of the end, but seeing him in this context years later strengthens that.

O’Brien is not a political comedian in the slightest. He does not suffer fools, but he shies away from political comedy. “Just as I was leaving my late-night show, I took you and all the other late-night hosts out,” the former Simpsons writer joked. “Remember this? I took you to a wonderful Sizzler restaurant, and we all had our trays, and I told you guys, ‘Take care of late night. If you take care of late night, late night will take care of you.’ I said, ‘Don’t do anything to ruffle any feathers.’ Remember? I said that. And I said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t speak truth to power.’ I said, ‘Cowardice is the way.’”

While the two had plenty of fun jabbing at Colbert’s situation, it would end up being a very sweet interview. The longtime friends discuss Conan’s upcoming turn as a dramatic actor (that’s actually how he’s introduced). They talk about Conan’s recently deceased parents and how much his meeting with the Pope would have thrilled them. He also heaps much-deserved praise onto Colbert.

It’s wonderful and joyous, and a reminder that no one works a late-night stage like Conan O’Brien does.