Last Night On
Fansided

Conan O’Brien’s 10 best remote pieces of all time

By Matt Moore

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 14: Conan O'Brien speaks onstage at the TBS / TNT Upfront 2014 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 14, 2014 in New York City. 24674_002_1225.JPG (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Turner)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 14: Conan O'Brien speaks onstage at the TBS / TNT Upfront 2014 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 14, 2014 in New York City. 24674_002_1225.JPG (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Turner) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 11
Next

7. Famous Helping People (1994)

Part Spinal Tap, part The Office, “Famous Helping People” is a Conan classic. Coming just a year after getting the Late Night gig, it is one of the best in terms of concepts, production, and delivery.

We don’t get the goofy, out-of-touch Conan O’Brien like we saw in the driver’s ed piece. Instead it is a hyper-egotistical Conan who, despite still being a relative unknown in 1994, thinks he has enough clout to pull together a celebrity-packed charity song and also sing lead vocals on it.

The supporting cast of Andy Richter, Max Weinberg, and Sting help elevate the bit to all-time status. A special shout out also goes to Oldy Olson. He may have only hit .271 in softball but he knocks it out of the park behind the microphone.

There is surely a parallel between the struggle to get talent to join the recording and the challenges Conan O’Brien faced with booking talent in the early days of Late Night. Nobody knew who O’Brien was or what kind of show he was trying to make. In much the same way Sting shows up for “Famous Helping People” to add some legitimacy, David Letterman’s visit to Late Night with Conan O’Brien did the same.

Home/Conan