Conan O’Brien Says During Tonight Show Return: ‘Weird to Come Back’

Conan O’Brien made his Tonight Show return on Tuesday, and he and host Jimmy Fallon reminisced about O’Brien’s time with NBC’s late-night shows.

The comedian hosted Late Night for 16 seasons, from 1993 to 2009 before his short tenure with The Tonight Show from 2009 to 2010.

“It’s weird to come back,” O’Brien told Fallon during his latest appearance. “I haven’t been in this building for such a long time, and I haven’t been on this floor in forever.”

He added, “I was here for 16 years doing the Late Night show before we went out to L.A. and right across the hall — all these memories came flooding back to me.” O’Brien later joked that it was strange seeing other sets built in what used to be his show’s studio.

Earlier during their conversation, Fallon also noted that O’Brien was his first-ever talk show appearance. The host proceeded to show a photo of himself as a guest on Late Night with O’Brien in 1999, adding, “I was honored to be on your show.”

O’Brien’s abrupt departure from NBC’s The Tonight Show remains one of the most unforgettable late-night exits. Though Jay Leno has already passed the Tonight torch over to O’Brien, the network began making plans for a new show with Leno in the same time slot. When O’Brien left after just seven months at the helm, Leno then came back to host until 2014 when Fallon took over.

During his memorable final time hosting Tonight in 2019, he noted that the NBC show fulfilled his lifelong dream. He also added during his monologue at the time, “I just want to say to the kids out there watching: You can do anything you want in life. Unless Jay Leno wants to do it, too.”

During O’Brien’s latest Tonight Show appearance, he also promoted his upcoming travel series Conan O’Brien Must Go, which hits Max on April 18.