Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend


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Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend is a weekly podcast hosted by American comedian and retired talk show host Conan O'Brien.[1] It is co-hosted by O'Brien's assistant, Sona Movsesian, and producer, Matt Gourley. The podcast debuted in November 2018 and features O'Brien talking with comedians and actors in the industry, including Jeff Goldblum, Adam Sandler, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman, Bill Burr, Tom Hanks, and Tina Fey, along with personal friends, such as Lisa Kudrow, Joel McHale and Timothy Olyphant,[2] people he admires such as Carol Burnett, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, John Cleese, and Robert Caro, and political figures, such as Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.[3][4]

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
Presentation
Hosted by
Genre
LanguageEnglish
Length32–91 minutes
Production
Production
Theme music composed byThe White Stripes
Opening theme"We're Going to Be Friends"
No. of episodes234 including 3 reruns, 6 specials, 6 bonus, and 105 fan extra episodes
Publication
Original releaseNovember 19, 2018 –
present
ProviderTeam Coco & Earwolf

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend has received positive reviews from critics and is one of the top comedy podcasts on iTunes.[5]

In April 2024, a four-episode international travel series titled Conan O'Brien Must Go was released on Max. The series features O'Brien meeting various fans in person whom he had previously featured via video calls in the Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan popular sub-series of the podcast.

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend premiered November 18, 2018, when O'Brien's talk show was on hiatus and being retooled from an hour-long format into a half-hour format.[6] O'Brien announced, "After 25 years of extensive market research, we have learned that people want to hear my voice without seeing my face. So rejoice, America." The title refers to the podcast's premise that O'Brien is only friends with people who work for him, and the friendly conversations he has with celebrities on his talk show rarely translate to lasting friendships, an issue he is looking to fix.[2][7]

The first 36 episodes of the podcast were packaged together as one season.[8] A second season consisting of another 36 episodes premiered on October 7, 2019, after a run of six special episodes titled Deep Dive with Dana Carvey.[9] A third season premiered on August 3, 2020.

In April 2021, O'Brien launched a companion podcast titled Conan O'Brien Needs A Fan, in which he, Movsesian, and Gourley will take questions from fans all around the world via Zoom.[10]

In July 2021, it was announced that David Hopping would replace Movsesian during her maternity leave. Movsesian returned on the episode released October 10, 2021, the same podcast where Gourley announced he would be taking a month-long paternity leave.[11]

In November 2021, O'Brien, Movsesian, and Gourley performed a live version of the podcast at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles.[12]

In May 2022, the podcast, as well as the entire digital media business Team Coco, was sold to SiriusXM for $150 million. The show was announced to continue to be distributed everywhere it had previously been available.[13]

On May 17, 2023, it was announced that a four-episode international travel series titled Conan O'Brien Must Go was in production, to be released on Max. The series will feature O'Brien meeting various fans in person whom he had previously featured via video calls in the Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan series.[14]

On December 15, 2023, O'Brien recorded an episode with President of the United States Joe Biden at the White House.

The core series of the podcast opens with the guests stating their names and saying, "I feel _____ about being Conan O'Brien's friend" in which they state their feelings about their respective friendships with Conan, intercut with guitar music by Jimmy Vivino. This is followed by the show's theme music, "We're Going to Be Friends" by The White Stripes. The majority of the podcast is then a casual interview between O'Brien and the guest.[citation needed]

Sona Movsesian, O'Brien's long-time personal assistant, and Matt Gourley, the podcast's producer, serve as sidekicks. Many of the episodes feature O'Brien periodically reading ads, sometimes introduced as a segment called "Conan O'Brien Pays Off the Mortgage on His Beach House". To close out the podcast, conversations largely unrelated to the preceding interview are featured, with O'Brien, Movsesian, and Gourley discussing topics including minor workplace squabbles, the success of the podcast, O'Brien's idiosyncrasies, or listeners' messages.[citation needed]

Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan

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The subseries Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan involves fans being interviewed by O'Brien. The series became part of the premise behind Conan O'Brien Must Go, a travel show in which he visited several of the fans he had talked to on the podcast.[15][16]

In July 2019, after the success of Dana Carvey's earlier appearance on the main podcast, O'Brien and Carvey hosted Deep Dive with Dana. The miniseries was composed of six episodes.[17][18]

In May 2023, a four part series titled The Lost Hans and Franz Movie was released, based on the characters Hans and Franz as portrayed by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon. Starting in the early 1990s, a Hans and Franz film was in development, with the working title Hans and Franz Go to Hollywood, with Arnold Schwarzenegger slated to star and produce.[19] In a 2010 interview on Conan, Nealon and host O'Brien discussed being holed up in a Santa Monica hotel room for a month with Carvey and Robert Smigel working on the script for what was then intended to be a musical. Carvey discussed the script under the title Hans and Franz: The Girlyman Dilemma during a 2016 interview with Howard Stern. According to Stern, the movie fell apart because Schwarzenegger withdrew, and that he was rumored to do so because of the poor reception of his self-parodying vehicle Last Action Hero.[20] Scenes from the script were acted out on the podcast, with Carvey, Nealon, and Smigel voicing the various roles.[21][22]

Occasionally, live showings have been held at the Beacon Theater and SiriusXM Garage with special guests. This has included Stephen Colbert, Tracy Morgan and Ed Sheeran, among others. Before interviewing, Conan would interact with fans and hold a live Q&A.[23]

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend has received strong reviews. Writing for Rolling Stone, Matt Saincome listed it among the best new podcasts of 2018: "Instead of the heavily choreographed late-night talk show conversations, listeners are treated to a much more vulnerable, behind the scenes vibe from O'Brien. The dynamic between him and his assistant Sona Movsesian helps with this. The relationship is endearing and serves as a springboard for the listener to get to know Conan better, by hearing how those around him see him." Saincome listed the podcasts with Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard as highlights among the first few episodes, writing, "All episodes of this podcast are worth a listen so far, but the one-two punch of Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard stood out for the genuine warmth and discussion of Conan's personal life."[7]

In his review for Vulture, Nicholas Quah praised O'Brien as a stellar podcast host in a very crowded field, writing, "His weirdness translates well to the casual intimacy that's come to define the podcast as a platform for performance, and his default stance of efficient self-deprecation makes the show feel accessible in ways that other comedy podcasts, fronted by needier ids, may not." Quah also praised the dynamic among O'Brien and his sidekicks on the show, Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley: "It also helps that O'Brien is great at the performance of longer-form interviews, effectively balancing the impulse of filling the room with being genuinely curious, and there's also a lot of charm to be found in the podcast, particularly in the core O'Brien-Movsesian-Gourley workplace dynamic, which goes a long way to providing listeners with a sheen of habitual comfort."[24]

In an article for The Boston Globe, Joshua Macht noted that O'Brien establishing a weekly podcast confirmed that podcasting is no longer on the fringes of the digital audio market. Macht writes, "The arrival of heavy hitters such as Conan O'Brien may not signal the end of podcasting—or even the peak—but it will usher in a new phase for the medium."[25]

In a review for BBC Radio 4's Podcast Radio Hour, Jake Yapp celebrated the "sincerity and openness" of the show, despite its strong humor content. Yapp also praised the parity between guest and host, despite the many outstanding comedians on the podcast, and noted that there was a sincere lack of one-upmanship common among comedians.[26]

According to Irish writer Mark Farrelly, who called the podcast an "auditory delight", the podcast has been developing a "cult following" in Europe. Farrelly also praised the unexpected humor in the "Conan O'Brien Pays Off the Mortgage on His Beach House" segments, with O'Brien "showing his genius by turning live reads into top notch comedy material."[27]

O'Brien's success as a podcast host was the cover story of the August 20, 2019, issue of Variety magazine, in which he was dubbed "the darling of the podcasting world."[28][29] That day, Marc Maron appeared on Conan with the issue, jokingly taking offense that O'Brien had been dubbed a pioneer of the medium after approximately 30 episodes, whereas Maron had done more than 1,000 at that point.[30]

The show won the 2021 Ambies Award for "Best Comedy Podcast".[31]

Matt Gourley stated in the May 12, 2019, episode featuring Bill Hader, that each episode receives one million downloads in its first cycle, shortly after release,[8] which Variety referred to as "blockbuster numbers for a podcast."[28] In August 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported the podcast had reached over 250 million downloads and averaged more than nine million downloads per month.[12] In March 2024, Variety reported that the podcast had reached 427 million downloads.[32]

Deep Dive with Dana Carvey (2019)

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Season 2 (2019–2020)

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Episodes 37, 38, and 39 were rereleases of the Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Obama, and Bob Newhart episodes respectively.

Summer S'mores season 1 (& Tom Hanks) (2020)

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Needs a Friend (2020–present)

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After Season 1 and Season 2, the show abandoned the concept of seasons for podcasts.

Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan (2021–present)

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Summer S'mores season 2 (2022)

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The Lost Hans and Franz Movie (2023)

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Summer S'mores season 3 (2023)

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Summer S'mores season 4 (2024)

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  1. ^ Xu, Linda (November 8, 2018). "Team Coco Launches 'Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend' Podcast". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Donaghey, River; Schwartz, Drew (November 8, 2018). "Conan O'Brien's New Podcast Has an Insanely Good Guest Lineup". Vice. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  3. ^ Koblin, John (April 17, 2019). "A Fan's Love, Requited at Last: Conan O'Brien Lands Robert Caro". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  4. ^ "Biden tapes podcast interview with former late-night host Conan O'Brien". AP News. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  5. ^ Doyle, Patrick (January 21, 2019). "The Last Word: Conan O'Brien on Catholicism, 'The Simpsons' and Life As Late Night's Elder Statesman". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  6. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (January 21, 2019). "Can Conan O'Brien Reinvent 'Conan'?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Saincome, Matt (December 28, 2018). "Best New Comedy Podcasts of 2018". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Conan O'Brien (May 12, 2019). "Bill Hader, episode #26 of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend on Earwolf". Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend (Podcast). Earwolf. Event occurs at 57:30. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  9. ^ "Mila Kunis, episode #33 of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend on Earwolf". earwolf.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  10. ^ White, Peter (April 13, 2021). "Conan O'Brien Launches Fan Call-In Podcast". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  11. ^ "Jake Gyllenhaal, episode #147 of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend on Earwolf". www.earwolf.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  12. ^ a b Petski, Denise (August 16, 2021). "'Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend' Podcast Sets Live Recording At L.A.'s Wiltern Theater". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  13. ^ Weprin, Alex (May 23, 2022). "Conan O'Brien Sells Podcast Business to SiriusXM for $150M". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  14. ^ Schneider, Michael (May 17, 2023). "Conan O'Brien Must Go' International Travel Series Ordered by Max". Variety.com. Variety. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  15. ^ Bissada, Mason (17 May 2023). "Conan O'Brien Sets New Travel Series 'Conan O'Brien Must Go' at Max (Video)". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  16. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (17 May 2023). "Conan O'Brien Sets Travel Series at Max". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  17. ^ Squires, Bethy (7 June 2019). "Dana Carvey and Conan O'Brien Are Making a Podcast Miniseries". Vulture. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  18. ^ Colburn, Randall (7 June 2019). "Conan O'Brien and Dana Carvey dropping new podcast series this summer". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  19. ^ Fishman, Laurel (April 1993). "Nealon Update". Vegetarian Times. p. 64.
  20. ^ "For the week of 10/31/2016 to 11/04/2016". MarksFriggin.
  21. ^ White, Peter (1 May 2023). "'SNL's Lost Hans & Franz Movie Turned Into Podcast By Conan O'Brien, Dana Carvey & Kevin Nealon". Deadline.
  22. ^ May 17, Jessica Wang (17 May 2023). "Hear Dana Carvey, Kevin Nealon read from their scrapped Hans and Franz movie". EW.com. Retrieved 7 June 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "Tracy Morgan Live at the Beacon Theater". www.teamcoco.com. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  24. ^ Quah, Nicholas (January 10, 2019). "Conan O'Brien Is the Perfect Podcast Host". Vulture. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  25. ^ Macht, Joshua (January 16, 2019). "Ideas | Joshua Macht: How the podcast juggernaut took off". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  26. ^ "No Planet B and Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend". Podcast Radio Hour. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  27. ^ Farrelly, Mark (May 13, 2019). "Conan O'Brien's Podcast Just Keeps Getting Better". The Rewind. Balls.ie. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  28. ^ a b Lang, Brent; Spangler, Todd (August 20, 2019). "How Conan O'Brien and Other Top Hosts Are Tapping Into the Podcast Revolution". Variety. Archived from the original on December 2, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  29. ^ "COVER STORY: How Conan O'Brien and other top hosts are driving the podcast revolution". @variety. Twitter. August 20, 2019. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  30. ^ Perkins, Dennis (August 21, 2019). "Marc Maron has some thoughts about newbie Conan O'Brien being named a podcasting pioneer". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  31. ^ "The Ambies: 2021 Winners". Ambies. 2021. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  32. ^ Schneider, Michael (9 March 2024). "'Conan O'Brien Must Go,' the Host's Return to TV, Gets a Max Premiere Date". Variety. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  33. ^ Cohen, Jess (March 18, 2019). "Michelle Obama Gets Candid About Raising Kids in the White House". E!. Archived from the original on March 19, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.