Conan O’Brien filmed his final version of “The Tonight Show” last night, officially ending the debacle, which has been the last few weeks for NBC.
In the final show, the Brookline native took a few more shots at NBC, particularly in a bit in which he discussed what the future of his studio would be, including using it as a storage facility for apology notes to NBC stockholders and leaving it cold and empty and re-naming it “the world’s largest metaphor for NBC programming.”
O’Brien was later joined by Tom Hanks, who came out with sunglasses on and holding two glasses of what appeared to be bourbon, though O’Brien claimed it was cream soda. Steve Carell also made an appearance, posing as the NBC employee who was conducting his exit interview. Neil Young served as the final musical guest, playing “Long May You Run.”
He ended the show with an emotional speech in which he thanked NBC for the opportunity over 20-years, his crew and most importantly his fans.
While talking about the outpouring of support he has seen since the announcement that he would be leaving the show, O’Brien became visibly emotional and his voice cracked. After taking a moment to gather himself, he continued, “To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life.”
He ended with a plea to his fan base, particularly his younger ones:
“Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record it’s my least favorite quality. It doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and your kind amazing things will happen. I’m telling you amazing things will happen.”
To prove his point, he joined a make shift version of the Lynyrd Skynyrd which featured Will Ferrell doing his best Ronnie Van Zant impression, Beck, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Ben Harper, Max Weinberg and the rest of the “Tonight Show” band in a rendition of “Free Bird.”
O’Brien’s future is still uncertain as his buyout agreement makes him ineligible to host another talk show until September 1 of his year. He joked that next week you would be seeing the “Andy Richter Show” with Conan himself service as the sidekick.
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