Like we said: Conan O’Brien did Hot Ones the best. Anyone familiar with O’Brien’s work couldn’t have been surprised by his utter and complete commitment to the bit. (Though he said himself in the episode it’s no bit: “What’s the point of even being alive if we can’t do this!” he declared while drowning himself in hot sauce.) But if you weren’t familiar with O’Brien’s work, you’re in luck, because Conan clips are everywhere right now.
Following Hot Ones, Twitter/X flooded with fans sharing their favorite clips from Conan O’Brien’s long television career, from Ginger the Homicidal Dog to Pierre Bernard’s Recliner of Rage. The love was prompted not only by widespread agreement with O’Brien’s comedy philosophy, which he outlined while profusely sweating through the pain on Hot Ones, but also by the cultural hole left behind in the late night space, where O’Brien was never afraid to try something different or strange in the name of a laugh. The level of admiration and celebration of his talk show run reached levels usually reserved for when after a beloved performer passes away—such that at least a few fans mistakenly thought O’Brien actually died.
Thankfully, O’Brien is still with us to experience this spike in praise—though his enthusiastic consumption of hot sauce did severe damage. “I had a complete breakdown—physically, emotionally, spiritually,” he said in conversation with Jake Tapper after the Hot Ones episode aired. (via The Wrap). “If I think something’s funny, I will do it and suffer later. And that’s exactly what happened.” O’Brien went on to admit that “When I got home, my hand was burning. I realized that the sauce got underneath my wedding ring and was burning through my skin. Because it’s an acid, you idiot!”
The streaming service now known as Max—“They used to call it HBO, but people found that too popular,” O’Brien snarked on Hot Ones—couldn’t have asked for better promotion for the comic’s new travelogue, Conan O’Brien Must Go, which airs on April 18. (That happens to be O’Brien’s birthday, but the timing is just a coincidence, he clarified while suffering through the hot wings.) In her B review for The A.V. Club, Meredith Hobbs Coons writes that the travel series is “freewheeling foolishness courtesy of Conan” (with narration from Warner Herzog): “There will be obligatory food-tasting, dress-up sight gags galore, and, all the while, our hero will wield the full instrument of his pale, long-limbed form as only he can, to draw laughter or disgust from all who behold him, ‘the defiler’ of ‘the astounding grandeur of this planet,’ as Herzog calls him. For his fans, at home and on screen, this brings clear delight.”
Based on the Internet’s response this past weekend, O’Brien obviously has plenty of fans delighting in his presence. Over the course of a nearly 30-year late-night talk show career, he’s spawned innumerable beloved bits—a scroll through Twitter right now is basically a crash course in comedy. Feel free to share your own favorite moments in the comments!