Conan O'Brien returns to The Tonight Show for the FIRST time since 2010 firing: ... trends now
Conan O'Brien returned to The Tonight Show for the first time since his abrupt departure as host from NBC's long-running late-night talk show in 2010.
While appearing on Tuesday's episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the comedian, 60, reflected on coming back to his old stomping grounds and time working in the iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza in the heart of Manhattan.
'It's weird to come back. It's weird. I haven't been in this building for such a long time, and I haven't been on this floor in forever,' said the Massachusetts native, who hosted Late Night with Conan O'Brien from from 1993 to 2009 in the building.
As he walked back through the doors, the father-of-two revealed 'all these memories came flooding back' to him.
Conan O'Brien returned to The Tonight Show for the first time since his abrupt departure as host from NBC's long-running late-night talk show on Tuesday
While appearing on Tuesday's episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the comedian, 60, reflected on coming back to his old stomping grounds and time working in the iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza in the heart of Manhattan
The former talk show host proceeded to warn Fallon, 49, how emotional it is seeing someone else in your former studio.
'The first thing that will hit you, and it will hit you, too, because one day -- you'll have this show as long as you want it, but when you're 98, you'll move on, and someone else will be in this studio. When someone else is in your studio, it feels weird,' he admitted.
After asking who took over his old studio, O'Brien learned the space has become the set of Kelly Clarkson's Emmy-winning talk show.
'I love Kelly Clarkson. Who doesn't love Kelly Clarkson? But still I felt like, 'It's not right!'' he joked of his reaction. 'It's blasphemy! They should have burned it to the ground!'
While on the program, O’Brien promoted his upcoming Max series Conan O’Brien Must Go.
He previously had a brief stint as The Tonight Show's host from June 2009 to January 2010.
His firing, prompted by NBC's move to replace him with Jay Leno despite Leno's earlier handover of the Tonight Show reins to O'Brien, remains one of the most striking turns in late-night television history.
Following his tenure on The Tonight Show, O'Brien embarked on an 11-season journey as the host of the TBS late-night program Conan, culminating in its finale in 2021, thus concluding his 28-year stint as a late-night talk show host.
'It's weird to come back. It's weird. I haven't been in this building for such a long time, and I haven't been on this floor in forever,' said the Massachusetts native, who hosted Late Night with Conan O'Brien from from 1993 to 2009 in the building
As he walked back through the doors, the father-of-two revealed 'all these memories came flooding back' to him.
In a 2022 interview on Bill Maher's "Club Random podcast, Leno addressed the Tonight Show drama, refuting any allegations of intentionally undermining O'Brien's opportunity on the show.
'That doesn't work,' Leno explained. 'It doesn't work that way. You try and do the best you can and it didn't work.'
In May
