Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien talk past, present, and future of late night

Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien reflected on their careers and the world of late night on the latest Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast.

Late night has changed a lot over the past 25 years. Nobody knows this better than Conan O’Brien who has had one of the more interesting careers in all of television. His experiences inspired an entertaining conversation with Jimmy Kimmel on this week’s “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast.

Late night hosts visiting each other’s shows has become very common these days. We’ve seen Jimmy Kimmel on The Late Late Show with James Corden and Conan O’Brien on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

However, a podcast is a much different platform that doesn’t have the same time restrictions or prep that goes into a televised interview. “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” has been a fantastic way for fans to get a different side of O’Brien as well as a chance for him to showcase his interviewing skills.

The latest episode with Kimmel as guest is a must-listen for any fan of either comedian. But it is an especially worthwhile listen for anyone interested in the history of late night television and how it all plays out behind the scenes.

Both men touch on how long they think they can stay in late night. Kimmel is in the final year of his contract at ABC but the network stated it wants to keep Kimmel around for as long as possible. O’Brien will be at TBS at least through 2022 and seems to be reinvigorated with the launch of his podcast, revamped show, and plans for more specials.

Millions of fans would certainly be disappointed if Kimmel or O’Brien ever stepped away from late night. But listening to this podcast, it is understandable for both me to have such thoughts though for slightly different reasons.

We also found out that neither O’Brien nor Kimmel are bothered by the number of late night shows. We’re a long way from the days of just Jay Leno, David Letterman, and O’Brien as the big three. Things aren’t slowing down either, with both David Spade and Lilly Singh preparing to launch new shows. It’s clear that the animosity that may have existed between Letterman and Leno is something of the past. Kimmel, O’Brien, Colbert and the other late night hosts seem to have a healthy admiration for one another.

When it comes to Conan O’Brien’s late night career, you can’t gloss over the debacle with NBC, Leno, and The Tonight Show. O’Brien opened up a bit more about the reverence he had for late night and The Tonight Show specifically. Kimmel was quick to suggest the mythology of late night television was exaggerated, a conclusion O’Brien himself has now reached.

Fans also got a little more information about Kimmel’s role in O’Brien’s career. While they didn’t tell O’Brien, ABC apparently informed Kimmel that the network was interested in replacing him with O’Brien. Things would certainly be a lot different if that offer was ever formally made and accepted by the then Late Night host.

The story also reminds us of how Kimmel inserted himself in to the Tonight Show “scandal.” As an avid Letterman fan, it was no surprise that Kimmel was on O’Brien’s side and critical of Jay Leno during the ordeal.

Maybe Leno was right and Kimmel’s time in radio led him to build up a feud with the former Tonight Show host. Kimmel did tell O’Brien how cutthroat that industry was compared to his time in television. But Kimmel seems to have mellowed out now that Leno is out of the picture and things are much more friendly among hosts.

Hopefully Jimmy Kimmel isn’t the last late night host to stop by “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.” Stephen Colbert has already been a guest and lucky for Conan O’Brien, there is no shortage of late night hosts to chose from for his next episode.