Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend is a weekly podcast hosted by American comedian and talk show host Conan O'Brien. It is co-hosted by O'Brien's assistant, Sona Movsesian, and producer, Matt Gourley.[1] The podcast debuted in November 2018 and features O'Brien discussing friendship with comedians and actors in the industry, including Jeff Goldblum, Adam Sandler, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman, Will Ferrell, Kristen Bell, Bill Burr, Tom Hanks, and Tina Fey; along with his real friends, such as Lisa Kudrow and Timothy Olyphant;[2] as well as people he admires, such as Michelle Obama, Neil Young, and Robert Caro.[3]

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
Presentation
Hosted by
Genre
LanguageEnglish
Length32–91 minutes
Production
Production
Theme music composed byThe White Stripes
Opening theme"We're Going to Be Friends"
No. of episodes96 including 3 reruns, 6 specials, and 6 bonus (list of episodes)
Publication
Original releaseNovember 18, 2018 (2018-11-18) – present
ProviderEarwolf
Websitewww.earwolf.com/show/conan-obrien/

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend has received positive reviews from critics and is one of the top podcasts on iTunes.[4]

The first 36 episodes of the podcast were packaged together as one season.[5] A second season consisting of another 36 episodes premiered on October 7, 2019 after a run of six special episodes titled Deep Dive with Dana Carvey.[6] A third season premiered on August 3, 2020.

Background

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend premiered November 18, 2018, when O'Brien's talk show was on hiatus and being retooled from an hour-long format into a half-hour format.[7] O'Brien announced, "After 25 years of extensive market research, we have learned that people want to hear my voice without seeing my face. So rejoice, America." The title refers to the podcast's premise that O'Brien is only friends with people who work for him, and the friendly conversations he has with celebrities on his talk show rarely translate to lasting friendships, an issue he is looking to fix.[2][8]

Format

The podcast episodes opens with the guests stating their names and saying, "I feel _____ about being Conan O'Brien's friend" in which they state their feelings about their respective friendships with Conan, intercut with guitar music by Jimmy Vivino. This is followed by the show's theme music, "We're Going to Be Friends" by The White Stripes. The majority of the podcast is then a casual interview between O'Brien and the guest.

Sona Movsesian, O'Brien's long-time personal assistant, and Matt Gourley, the podcast's producer, serve as sidekicks. Many of the episodes feature O'Brien periodically reading ads, sometimes introduced as a segment called "Conan O'Brien Pays Off the Mortgage on His Beach House". To close out the podcast, conversations largely unrelated to the preceding interview are featured, with O'Brien, Movsesian, and Gourley discussing topics including minor workplace squabbles, the success of the podcast, O'Brien's idiosyncrasies, or listeners' messages.

Reception

Critical reception

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend has received strong reviews. Writing for Rolling Stone, Matt Saincome listed it among the best new podcasts of 2018: "Instead of the heavily choreographed late-night talk show conversations, listeners are treated to a much more vulnerable, behind the scenes vibe from O'Brien. The dynamic between him and his assistant Sona Movsesian helps with this. The relationship is endearing and serves as a springboard for the listener to get to know Conan better, by hearing how those around him see him." Saincome listed the podcasts with Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard as highlights among the first few episodes, writing, "All episodes of this podcast are worth a listen so far, but the one-two punch of Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard stood out for the genuine warmth and discussion of Conan's personal life."[8]

In his review for Vulture, Nicholas Quah praised O'Brien as a stellar podcast host in a very crowded field, writing, "His weirdness translates well to the casual intimacy that's come to define the podcast as a platform for performance, and his default stance of efficient self-deprecation makes the show feel accessible in ways that other comedy podcasts, fronted by needier ids, may not." Quah also praised the dynamic among O'Brien and his sidekicks on the show, Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley: "It also helps that O'Brien is great at the performance of longer-form interviews, effectively balancing the impulse of filling the room with being genuinely curious, and there's also a lot of charm to be found in the podcast, particularly in the core O'Brien-Movsesian-Gourley workplace dynamic, which goes a long way to providing listeners with a sheen of habitual comfort."[9]

In an article for The Boston Globe, Joshua Macht noted that O'Brien establishing a weekly podcast confirmed that podcasting is no longer on the fringes of the digital audio market. Macht writes, "The arrival of heavy hitters such as Conan O'Brien may not signal the end of podcasting—or even the peak—but it will usher in a new phase for the medium."[10]

In a review for BBC Radio 4's Podcast Radio Hour, Jake Yapp celebrated the "sincerity and openness" of the show, despite its strong humor content. Yapp also praised the parity between guest and host, despite the many outstanding comedians on the podcast, and noted that there was a sincere lack of one-upmanship common among comedians.[11]

According to Irish writer Mark Farrelly, who called the podcast an "auditory delight", the podcast has been developing a "cult following" in the British Isles. Farrelly also praised the unexpected humor in the "Conan O'Brien Pays Off the Mortgage on His Beach House" segments, with O'Brien "showing his genius by turning live reads into top notch comedy material."[12]

O'Brien's success as a podcast host was the cover story of the August 20, 2019, issue of Variety magazine, in which he was dubbed "the darling of the podcasting world."[13][14] That day, Marc Maron appeared on Conan with the issue, jokingly taking offense that O'Brien had been dubbed a pioneer of the medium after approximately 30 episodes, whereas Maron had done more than 1,000 at that point.[15]

Downloads

Matt Gourley stated in the May 12, 2019 episode featuring Bill Hader, that each episode receives one million downloads in its first cycle, shortly after release,[5] which Variety referred to as "blockbuster numbers for a podcast."[13]

Episodes

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
136November 18, 2018 (2018-11-18)July 22, 2019 (2019-07-22)
Deep Dive6August 4, 2019 (2019-08-04)September 8, 2019 (2019-09-08)
236October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)June 8, 2020 (2020-06-08)
Summer S'mores7June 15, 2020 (2020-06-15)July 27, 2020 (2020-07-27)
3TBAAugust 3, 2020 (2020-08-03)TBA

Season 1 (2018–19)

No.Title"I feel ____ about being Conan O'Brien's friend"Run TimeOriginal release date
0"Introducing Conan's new podcast"No guest4:27October 4, 2018 (2018-10-04)
0.5"Are you ready to make friends?"No guest5:58November 7, 2018 (2018-11-07)
1"Will Ferrell""Awkward"46:16November 18, 2018 (2018-11-18)
2"Kristen Bell""Supercharged"48:06November 25, 2018 (2018-11-25)
3"Bill Burr""Great"51:17December 2, 2018 (2018-12-02)
4"Dax Shepard""Very optimistic"48:54December 9, 2018 (2018-12-09)
5"Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally""Ambivalent" and "Really good"49:30December 16, 2018 (2018-12-16)
6"Wanda Sykes""Somewhat trapped"47:08December 23, 2018 (2018-12-23)
7"Pete Holmes""Frustrated but honored"47:33December 30, 2018 (2018-12-30)
8"Marc Maron""Nervous"46:36January 6, 2019 (2019-01-06)
9"Adam Sandler""Stunned"50:33January 13, 2019 (2019-01-13)
10"Ron Funches""Grateful and excited"46:15January 20, 2019 (2019-01-20)
11"Dana Carvey""Masculine"55:48January 27, 2019 (2019-01-27)[16]
12"David Sedaris""Apprehensive"50:58February 3, 2019 (2019-02-03)
13"Stephen Colbert""Cool"54:51February 10, 2019 (2019-02-10)[17]
14"Timothy Olyphant""Meh"1:00:37February 17, 2019 (2019-02-17)
15"Jeff Goldblum""'blank' about being Conan O'Brien's friend. Well, I feel, let me be, uh, truthful, and I feel, well, to the extent that we're friends, I feel we have a deep connection, but I wish we'd spend more time together. I'm available for your friendship however time-consuming, or, uh, any-any aspect of it. We've been friends in the sense that we have, in the way that we have on these shows and seeing each other here and there. You've, of course, I've enrolled you in, I-I finagled you into being part of that show, that movie, little movie that I did and you were so sweet to do that and then, what else? Oh we did a, we did a, we were there at the voi-, at some voice over we were doing. It was one of your things, yes, yes, yes. So, and then, I think we- did I have a date with you, or just ran into you at the Soho House? That was lovely. And I've always said, yes, let's- and we've exchanged information, but we've never availed ourselves of it. I've always said let's come over to my house and let's do many things. I do all, all manner of things, so I-I, I-I love being your friend however it does or doesn't pan out. But I tell you again, I'm available for the deepest, closest, and most time-consuming kind of friendship."59:36February 24, 2019 (2019-02-24)
15.5"BONUS: Introducing Inside Conan"No guest5:33March 1, 2019 (2019-03-01)
16"Lisa Kudrow""Tired"1:01:55March 3, 2019 (2019-03-03)
16.5"Jessie Gaskell and Mike Sweeney""Hungry" and "Starving"31:39March 6, 2019 (2019-03-06)
17"Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz""Sizzlin'" and "Curious"48:58March 10, 2019 (2019-03-10)
18"Michelle Obama""Cautiously optimistic"56:18March 17, 2019 (2019-03-17)[18]
19"Ray Romano""Good (with an exception)"50:10March 24, 2019 (2019-03-24)
20"Ben Stiller""Excited yet not holding my breath"56:32March 31, 2019 (2019-03-31)
21"Nicole Byer""Excited!"51:49April 7, 2019 (2019-04-07)
22"Patton Oswalt""Anxious"1:02:55April 14, 2019 (2019-04-14)
23"Tig Notaro""Glad"1:02:13April 21, 2019 (2019-04-21)
24"Robert Caro""Cautiously optimistic"56:14April 28, 2019 (2019-04-28)
25"Jimmy Kimmel""Sexually excited"58:15May 5, 2019 (2019-05-05)
26"Bill Hader""Great"59:10May 12, 2019 (2019-05-12)
27"Howard Stern""Badly (about not being Conan O'Brien's friend)"1:30:41May 19, 2019 (2019-05-19)
28"Bob Newhart""Anxious"1:02:15May 26, 2019 (2019-05-26)
29"Hannah Gadsby""Confused"49:22June 2, 2019 (2019-06-02)
30"Martin Short""Ashamed"57:42June 10, 2019 (2019-06-10)
31"Lin-Manuel Miranda""Great"1:05:11June 16, 2019 (2019-06-16)
32"Billy Eichner""Mixed"1:02:46June 24, 2019 (2019-06-24)
33"Mila Kunis""Indifferent"1:02:56July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)
34"Andy Richter""Just fine"58:00July 8, 2019 (2019-07-08)
35"Kumail Nanjiani""Apologetic"1:05:55July 15, 2019 (2019-07-15)
36"Julia Louis-Dreyfus""A tad hopeful (but not really)"1:01:52July 22, 2019 (2019-07-22)
36.5"Introducing The Three Questions with Andy Richter"No guest2:11July 29, 2019 (2019-07-29)

Deep Dive with Dana Carvey (2019)

No.TitleRun TimeOriginal release date
DD0"Trailer: Deep Dive with Dana Carvey"4:30July 28, 2019 (2019-07-28)
DD1"Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 1"26:52August 4, 2019 (2019-08-04)
DD2"Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 2"26:03August 11, 2019 (2019-08-11)
DD3"Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 3"24:29August 19, 2019 (2019-08-19)
DD4"Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 4"22:44August 26, 2019 (2019-08-26)
DD5"Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 5"25:09September 1, 2019 (2019-09-01)
DD6"Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 6"32:30September 8, 2019 (2019-09-08)

Season 2 (2019–2020)

Episodes 37, 38, and 39 were rereleases of the Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Obama, and Bob Newhart episodes respectively.

No.Title"I feel ____ about being Conan O'Brien's friend"Run TimeOriginal release date
40"David Letterman""My connection to Conan is endless admiration."1:16:50October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)
41"Tina Fey""Good"50:58October 14, 2019 (2019-10-14)
42"John Oliver""Cautiously optimistic"52:34October 21, 2019 (2019-10-21)
43"Zach Galifianakis""Cautious"59:30October 28, 2019 (2019-10-28)
44"Neil Young""Good"54:04November 4, 2019 (2019-11-04)
45"Paul Rudd""Excited"1:04:40November 11, 2019 (2019-11-11)
46"Ellen DeGeneres""Honored"50:44November 18, 2019 (2019-11-18)
47"Eric Idle""Moderately aroused"53:28November 25, 2019 (2019-11-25)
48"Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton""Great (but a little apprehensive)"58:00December 2, 2019 (2019-12-02)
49"Jack Black""Shitty"1:01:12December 9, 2019 (2019-12-09)
50"John Mulaney""Falsely modest"1:01:51December 16, 2019 (2019-12-16)
51"Malcolm Gladwell""Pressured"54:22December 23, 2019 (2019-12-23)
52"Al Franken""I'm already a fucking friend of Conan's"58:04December 30, 2019 (2019-12-30)
53"Charles Barkley""Great"1:02:21January 6, 2020 (2020-01-06)
54"Nikki Glaser""Overwhelmed"57:53January 13, 2020 (2020-01-13)
55"Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara""Absolutely delighted"
"Flattered and honored (that you would consider me your friend)"
1:00:48January 20, 2020 (2020-01-20)
56"Jesse Eisenberg""Desperate"54:00January 27, 2020 (2020-01-27)
57"Sarah Silverman""Grateful"56:22February 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
58"Keegan-Michael Key""Overwhelmed"58:21February 10, 2020 (2020-02-10)
59"Judd Apatow""Does not feel hopeful"1:02:49February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17)
60"Jim Gaffigan""Like Nikki Glaser felt"59:27February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)
61"Ali Wong""Very new"1:08:20March 2, 2020 (2020-03-02)
62"Paul Reubens""Fantastic"1:07:09March 9, 2020 (2020-03-09)
62.5"A Very Special Self-Quarantine Episode featuring Andy Daly""Conveniently located"1:05:19March 13, 2020 (2020-03-13)
63"Will Arnett""Pretty put out"1:03:28March 16, 2020 (2020-03-16)
64"Whitney Cummings""Stressed out"57:29March 23, 2020 (2020-03-23)
65"Steve Coogan""Quietly optimistic"1:03:44March 30, 2020 (2020-03-30)
66"D'Arcy Carden""Hopeful"1:01:43April 6, 2020 (2020-04-06)
67"Kevin Nealon""Confused that he's considered"1:01:14April 13, 2020 (2020-04-13)
68"Ricky Gervais""Strangely underwhelmed"1:02:47April 20, 2020 (2020-04-20)
69"Nick Kroll""Incredibly proud"1:05:59April 27, 2020 (2020-04-27)
70"Ted Danson""Oddly comforted"1:03:54May 4, 2020 (2020-05-04)
71"Mike Myers""Prehensile"1:02:19May 11, 2020 (2020-05-11)
72"J.J. Abrams""Exceedingly lucky"1:10:41May 18, 2020 (2020-05-18)
73"Russell Brand""Nervous"1:01:41May 25, 2020 (2020-05-25)
74"Rob Lowe""Optimistic"1:03:24June 1, 2020 (2020-06-01)
75"Amy Schumer""Fully indifferent"1:02:00June 8, 2020 (2020-06-08)

Summer S'mores (& Tom Hanks) (2020)

No.Title"I feel ____ about being Conan O'Brien's friend"Run TimeOriginal release date
76"Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 1"No guest30:08June 15, 2020 (2020-06-15)
77"Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 2"No guest28:29June 22, 2020 (2020-06-22)
78"Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 3"No guest30:54June 29, 2020 (2020-06-29)
79"Tom Hanks""Grand"1:13:07July 7, 2020 (2020-07-07)
80"Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 4"No guest28:27July 13, 2020 (2020-07-13)
81"Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 5"No guest32:21July 20, 2020 (2020-07-20)
82"Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 6"No guest30:37July 27, 2020 (2020-07-27)

Season 3 (2020–present)

No.Title"I feel ____ about being Conan O'Brien's friend"Run TimeOriginal release date
83"W. Kamau Bell""Cautiously optimistic, but still not great"1:08:19August 3, 2020 (2020-08-03)
84"Jim Carrey""Warm all over"54:17August 10, 2020 (2020-08-10)
85"Maya Rudolph""Pretty terrific"1:06:14August 17, 2020 (2020-08-17)
86"Michael Che""Honored"1:06:20August 24, 2020 (2020-08-24)
87"Jameela Jamil""Better about my hair"1:07:09August 31, 2020 (2020-08-31)
88"Deon Cole""Wonderful everytime [he's] with Conan O'Brien"1:03:37September 7, 2020 (2020-09-07)
89"Sean Hayes""Indifferent"59:38September 14, 2020 (2020-09-14)
90"Keith Urban""Incredibly confused"53:05September 21, 2020 (2020-09-21)
91"Rory Scovel""Grateful about being Conan O’Brien’s best friend"1:00:30September 28, 2020 (2020-09-28)
92"Michelle Obama Returns""Very, very hopeful"49:06September 30, 2020 (2020-09-30)
93"Colin Quinn""Euphoric"1:04:28October 5, 2020 (2020-10-05)
94"Willie Nelson""Great"1:00:38October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
95"Hillary Clinton Returns""Enthusiastic"59:43October 14, 2020 (2020-10-14)
96"Rashida Jones""Fine"1:11:11October 19, 2020 (2020-10-19)
97"Bruce Springsteen""Ecstatic"56:02October 26, 2020 (2020-10-26)
98"Jim Parsons""Okay (about people saying that me and Conan O'Brien are friends)"55:09November 2, 2020 (2020-11-02)
99"Sam Richardson""Honored and obligated"55:30November 9, 2020 (2020-11-09)
100"John Leguizamo""Great"1:02:03November 16, 2020 (2020-11-16)
101"Kevin Hart""Extremely blessed"1:04:18November 23, 2020 (2020-11-23)
102"Kristin Chenoweth""Petite about...peeing?"50:47November 30, 2020 (2020-11-30)
103"John Cleese""Morally imperative"53:20December 7, 2020 (2020-12-07)
104"Kaley Cuoco""Giddy"1:00:30December 14, 2020 (2020-12-14)
105"Amy Sedaris""Bullied (into being Conan's friend)"1:00:59December 21, 2020 (2020-12-21)
106"Matthew Rhys""Blank"1:02:27December 28, 2020 (2020-12-28)
107"JB Smoove""As though Conan is taking advantage of me and he's putting pressure on people to be his friend"1:01:06January 4, 2021 (2021-01-04)
107.5"Ron Reagan"53:46January 7, 2021 (2021-01-07)
108"Fred Armisen""Productive"56:36January 11, 2021 (2021-01-11)
109"Anthony Anderson""Bloated, hungover, and constipated"59:28January 18, 2021 (2021-01-18)
110"Mike Birbiglia""Terrified"1:01:05January 25, 2021 (2021-01-25)
111"Bryan Cranston""Very lucky about being happily paid"56:34February 1, 2021 (2021-02-01)
112"David Spade""sort of excited"57:07February 8, 2021 (2021-02-08)

References

  1. Xu, Linda (November 8, 2018). "Team Coco Launches 'Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend' Podcast". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  2. Donaghey, River; Schwartz, Drew (November 8, 2018). "Conan O'Brien's New Podcast Has an Insanely Good Guest Lineup". Vice. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  3. Koblin, John (April 17, 2019). "A Fan's Love, Requited at Last: Conan O'Brien Lands Robert Caro". The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  4. Doyle, Patrick (January 21, 2019). "The Last Word: Conan O'Brien on Catholicism, 'The Simpsons' and Life As Late Night's Elder Statesman". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  5. Conan O'Brien (May 12, 2019). "Bill Hader, episode #26 of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend on Earwolf". Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend (Podcast). Earwolf. Event occurs at 57:30. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  6. "Mila Kunis, episode #33 of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend on Earwolf". earwolf.com. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  7. Itzkoff, Dave (21 January 2019). "Can Conan O'Brien Reinvent 'Conan'?". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  8. Saincome, Matt (28 December 2018). "Best New Comedy Podcasts of 2018". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  9. Quah, Nicholas (January 10, 2019). "Conan O'Brien Is the Perfect Podcast Host". Vulture. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  10. Macht, Joshua (January 16, 2019). "Ideas | Joshua Macht: How the podcast juggernaut took off". The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  11. "No Planet B and Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend". Podcast Radio Hour. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  12. Farrelly, Mark (May 13, 2019). "Conan O'Brien's Podcast Just Keeps Getting Better". The Rewind. Balls.ie. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  13. Lang, Brent; Spangler, Todd (August 20, 2019). "How Conan O'Brien and Other Top Hosts Are Tapping Into the Podcast Revolution". Variety. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  14. "COVER STORY: How Conan O'Brien and other top hosts are driving the podcast revolution". @variety. Twitter. August 20, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  15. Perkins, Dennis (August 21, 2019). "Marc Maron has some thoughts about newbie Conan O'Brien being named a podcasting pioneer". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  16. "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: Meet the Maisel Goys". Vulture. January 31, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  17. "Stephen Colbert, episode #13 of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend on Earwolf". EarWolf. February 10, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  18. Cohen, Jess (March 18, 2019). "Michelle Obama Gets Candid About Raising Kids in the White House". E!. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
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