Conan O’Brien Must Go: Season 3 Roundtable Discussion Part I

Conan sits down with the creative team behind Conan O’Brien Must Go (Mike Sweeney, Jessie Gaskell, Jose Arroyo) for a behind-the-scenes look at season three, discussing everything from setting up sting operations for phone-thieving monkeys in India to learning how to model in the Netherlands and much, much more. Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: teamcoco.com/apply

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Conan O'Brien?

  Owning a car or home comes with responsibilities. Sure, it's fun, but sometimes it makes you wonder why you ever longed for adulthood in the first place. I do that all the time. I'm like, oh, these bills, these bills. What am I gonna do?

• 0:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:15Conan O'Brien?

  You know, when you own a house, you gotta fix it yourself. Sona,

• 0:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:17Conan O'Brien?

  you, you see this to be true, right?

• 0:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, your garage door breaks and you're like, well, I have to fix it.

• 0:22Conan O'Brien?

  Probably at first you said, hey, I'll get the super to fix it. It's your house, dude.

• 0:26Speaker 01

  It's mine, dude!

• 0:27Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money. In fact, they work overtime to tailor your insurance policy around what you actually need. The only thing they can't do is get that liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty jingle out of your head.

• 0:39Speaker 01

  Liberty, liberty, liberty.

• 0:41Conan O'Brien?

  It's in my head all the time.

• 0:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, me too.

• 0:43Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Start your quote at libertymutual.com.

• 0:49Conan O'Brien?

  With the US Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card, you earn an unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase. Huh, it's a good deal.

• 0:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:57Conan O'Brien?

  No quarterly activations, no categories to track, just unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase. Sona, just the other day, I bought you this antique wig stand.

• 1:07Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:08Conan O'Brien?

  And I didn't get cash back and I regret it now.

• 1:11Speaker 01

  Oh, okay. Well, that's a very thoughtful gift.

• 1:14Conan O'Brien?

  Do you wear a wig or is that your hair?

• 1:15Speaker 01

  Absolutely not. It's definitely my hair. And so it's kind of, it's kind of insulting you would buy that gift for me.

• 1:21Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I'll just return it anyway, but I do wish I got cash back.

• 1:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:25Conan O'Brien?

  Visit usbank.com/smartlycard to learn more. The creditor and issuer of this card is US Bank National Association pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc. Some restrictions may apply.

• 1:39Speaker 01

  Conan O'Brien needs a fan. Wanna talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com/callconan. Okay, let's get started.

• 1:49Conan O'Brien?

  Hello, Conan O'Brien here, and this is a very special episode that we're doing, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, because I am sitting here with the creative masterminds behind my travel show, Conan O'Brien Must Go. By the time this drops, all four episodes will finally be out. India, Netherlands, Morocco, Philippines. I'm very proud of these shows. I think this might have been our best season yet. Uh, I think there's a lot of funny and even some heartwarming stuff in those episodes. And I'm thrilled to be here with the team that's been with me on all of my travel shows, going back to the very beginning. Uh, and I'm talking about Mike Sweeney. Hello, Mike.

• 2:34Speaker 02

  Hello, Conan.

• 2:36Conan O'Brien?

  Well, and now we're losing...

• 2:39Conan O'Brien?

  We are, we are, we are dropping fans by the...

• 2:43Speaker 02

  Ratings drop off right there.

• 2:44Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 2:45Speaker 02

  Hello.

• 2:47Conan O'Brien?

  Jesse Gaskell, hi, Jesse.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  Hi, Conan.

• 2:50Conan O'Brien?

  And that was a little more sincere and then, uh, you know him as Doctor Arroyo. I know him as Jose Arroyo. He's an actual human being, sort of. Jose, how are you?

• 3:00Speaker 03

  Hi, hi, Conan.

• 3:01Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, and, um, guys, we have been working together on travel shows going back years and years and years.

• 3:09Speaker 01

  Eighties.

• 3:10Conan O'Brien?

  The eighties, that's right. That's the 1980s. When we traveled to, uh, the Berlin Wall was still up.

• 3:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was us.

• 3:16Conan O'Brien?

  We actually caused the Berlin Wall to fall. I was doing a bit with Jordan and we slammed into it. And then Putin, everyone was like, ah, what the fuck, let it go. I almost said Putin, but that's historically inaccurate. It would have been Yeltsin. Conan, stop it. Anyway, uh, let's talk about these shows. And I made this statement that this might be my favorite season. You guys can weigh in, and I'm not just saying that in the, I think this is our best yet, kind of shtick. I was very proud of these.

• 3:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:47Conan O'Brien?

  They're all quite different. Um, a bunch of these are countries that we always wanted to go to and it never quite worked out.

• 3:54Speaker 01

  It's really the furthest-flung season, I think. We've traveled far to get to these places.

• 4:00Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, yes. And if you go by just mileage alone, these are our best shows. Uh, and it all starts with, I'm gonna start us off on India, because that was the, uh, first episode that dropped. And Mike, maybe you can speak to this, but, uh, India was on our wish list for a long time. I, I think there were some bureaucratic difficulties, if I'm, if I'm correct.

• 4:29Speaker 01

  Self-inflicted.

• 4:30Conan O'Brien?

  Probably self-inflicted. Uh, but Mike, why don't you lay the table a little bit for, uh, our long journey, starting years ago, to go to India?

• 4:39Speaker 02

  It started in, uh, 2017. Uh, we were putting India together and there is a lot of red tape, a lot of bureaucracy to shoot in India. I'm sure, if you wanted to start a petrochemical plant, it's a smooth sailing. But to shoot a TV show, it's rough.

• 4:59Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 5:00Speaker 02

  And, and so, and then it turned out, um, we shot something in 2004 without any permits. And that someone dug that up and dinged us for that. So on the eve of going, we pulled the plug, because we still didn't have an answer. And instead, in two weeks, we planned you going to Italy with Jordan.

• 5:21Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I remember that. So we were gonna, we were gonna go to Italy, but because of a kind of weird rogue remote, um, that we did years and years earlier.

• 5:32Speaker 01

  With Andy Blitz.

• 5:34Conan O'Brien?

  Andy Blitz, very funny writer, had a very funny idea, which is he's having problems with his computer. And, uh, he's talking to someone at the call center, which of course is in India. And he's having, uh, difficulty, so he wraps his computer up, puts it under his arm, gets on a plane and takes it to India, which is a very funny idea. Uh, of course, we meant no offense to anybody, but

• 5:57Speaker 02

  None.

• 5:58Conan O'Brien?

  what we didn't, because we're all wet behind the ears and Andy Blitz, and I can say this, I don't think this is legally actionable, uh, he's a fool.

• 6:08Conan O'Brien?

  Andy Blitz, no one got any, uh, permissions or anything. It was just sort of shot, uh, guerrilla style. And, um, that caused us to be put on some list, but it all worked out. And our huge thanks to, uh, the, the government and, uh, everyone involved in letting us come to India. We had a wonderful time. Uh, it is one of my favorite places to visit. It's spectacular.

• 6:36Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 6:36Conan O'Brien?

  India is a spectacular place. I cannot say enough good things about our experience there. And I loved, there's one fan that really, he's one of my all-time favorite fans, and that's Rusty.

• 6:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:51Speaker 02

  Yeah. Unbelievable.

• 6:52Speaker 01

  Just special guy. I mean, from the first 10 seconds of you meeting him.

• 6:56Conan O'Brien?

  I met him as, is the, as the, the way these shows work is it, it always starts kind of with a random fan calling into us and I talk to them on the podcast. And, well, you speak to this, Jesse. He was just electric right away. He came in really hot and funny, doing a million bits.

• 7:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:14Conan O'Brien?

  And, um, then we, uh...

• 7:16Speaker 01

  Which could go either way sometimes. I mean, some, sometimes people try that and it's like, ah, this didn't, this didn't work.

• 7:22Conan O'Brien?

  They're trying too hard or it comes off awkward. He just, he owned it. He owned it. He was, you know, he's that great quality of, he was hilarious and also sweet. And then you add to that, that, uh, you know, he's, uh, you know, been, been dealing with, uh, an ailment, uh, since birth. Um, he's been dealing with this, uh, and he's confined to a wheelchair. And he is the most sunny, optimistic, hilarious, uh, forward-thinking, live-in-the-moment guy.

• 7:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's inspiring.

• 7:58Conan O'Brien?

  He's really inspiring. And so, uh, going and visiting him and meeting his parents, it's one of my favorite, because any, if you watch this episode, and I hope you do, everything that happened in Rusty's house with his family, you can't invent any of that.

• 8:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:19Conan O'Brien?

  It is uninventable. You cannot script that. It was just a happening. Uh, Jose, why don't you weigh in?

• 8:27Speaker 03

  I agree.

• 8:28Conan O'Brien?

  But keep it much shorter than everyone else.

• 8:32Speaker 03

  First of all, everything you said is true. We couldn't have planned the, well, Rusty is his own character. Very dynamic, very funny. His father is off the charts, uh, you know, incredible as well. He, he's, uh, almost as tall as you, very outspoken, has kind of a, uh, kind of a military bearing and...

• 8:53Speaker 01

  No filter.

• 8:54Speaker 03

  And no filter.

• 8:55Conan O'Brien?

  And at one point, he...

• 8:56Speaker 02

  And brought his own sound effects.

• 8:58Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. And then at one point, the dad leaves the room to go get something and comes back carrying a giant shotgun.

• 9:05Speaker 03

  Yes!

• 9:06Conan O'Brien?

  And I think it's loaded and I think it's pointing at me one time.

• 9:09Speaker 01

  That was one of those, like, we don't have a safe word and we probably should for when you're in these situations.

• 9:15Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah. And so, uh, that was intense, of course. His mom was fantastic and, and sweet. And also, her eyes were just, you could see she's lived a thousand lives with these two characters.

• 9:27Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 9:28Conan O'Brien?

  Um, and it was...

• 9:29Speaker 01

  We heard from Rusty after they watched the show and apparently his mom was grateful that we left some certain things out from the conversation. His dad was mad that we hadn't gone further.

• 9:39Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, was that true?

• 9:40Speaker 01

  With the edit. Yeah. He, well, he wanted us to keep the whole thing in.

• 9:43Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, oh, he wanted, oh, he wanted it to be a nine-hour special about him.

• 9:47Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 9:48Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, yeah, one of my favorite things, you know, India is this massive place, as you can, as you know. It's one of the most, you know, populous, uh, nations on the globe. And one of my favorite things is we shot the thing with Rusty and his, his mom and his dad. And his dad was this crazy character. And I think the next day, we're out shooting in this really crowded area. And all of a sudden, I hear, hello, Conan! And it's him, walking by. It's Rusty's dad! How can you run into a person twice in, I know literally like two people or three people now in India. And I'm out in a crowded area, far from Rusty's home, and this guy goes rushing through and he's like, hello, Conan, I'm on business! I think he had his gun with him.

• 10:34Speaker 02

  It's a, a city of 20 million people.

• 10:36Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. And, um, and of course, let's talk about the other fans.

• 10:42Speaker 03

  There was Nikhil, who wanted to be a talk show host and you gave him lessons on how to be a talk show host.

• 10:48Conan O'Brien?

  But this was a fun moment, because we go to see Nikhil. Nikhil was someone who was interested in, in maybe having a talk show in, in India. And I said, well, I'll give you some pointers and we thought that'll be a good segment. We go to Nikhil's house. And he had talked to us about his colorful roommates.

• 11:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, one of them was a huge fan of yours.

• 11:07Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  He was sort of arranging for you to come surprise him.

• 11:10Conan O'Brien?

  But we knock on the, and he wanted me to say hi to his roommate, who's a huge fan. Knock on the door and Nikhil's there, but his roommate is not. Who we were gonna surprise. And so this all plays out in real time. Where I said, well, where is he? Oh, he's at the gym. Where's the gym? Oh, it's like a five minute drive from here. Let's go. And we all run into a van.

• 11:36Conan O'Brien?

  And that became my favorite thing about these shows. I love the set pieces, obviously, where we've prepared. But when we are not prepared and you just have to go with something, sometimes you slip into these magic currents.

• 11:49Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 11:50Conan O'Brien?

  And you feel like, I don't know what's happening here. We are not in control, but this is really fun. And it, and I think, I don't, I don't know how it happens, but somehow that stardust does come through. When you look at it later on in the edit.

• 12:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:09Conan O'Brien?

  You're like, you can tell.

• 12:10Speaker 01

  God works for HBO.

• 12:12Conan O'Brien?

  Yes. Yeah. He did work for Showtime for a little bit, but he was underpaid. And he didn't think they had the same reach.

• 12:21Conan O'Brien?

  Then, so, and then I have to say, you guys did a brilliant job. We obviously wanted to do our homage to Bollywood. And Mike, maybe you can talk a little bit about how that came about. We did, we did our Bollywood number with the assistance of all these incredible actors, dancers, you know, producers, you know, camera people, sound people. I mean, on this.

• 12:54Speaker 02

  Directors, assistant directors. They, we gave them the script and the items, elements we wanted in it, like the dancing. And they hired a team that was expert in Bollywood productions and fast. I think inherent in Bollywood is also being able to quickly produce something. And they did a masterful job. It was incredible.

• 13:20Conan O'Brien?

  I was floored. I was floored. First of all, I mean, the dancers, men and women, are just gorgeous, beautiful, and so talented and funny. And, you know, the minute they saw me, they're like, okay, we get it. Yeah.

• 13:39Speaker 01

  We'll do our best.

• 13:40Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, we'll do our best to help this idiot. And then we also got the assistance of these two actors who are incredible.

• 13:49Speaker 02

  Ali and Recha, they're, they're married.

• 13:52Conan O'Brien?

  They're married.

• 13:53Speaker 02

  Ali Fazal and Recha Shadra.

• 13:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. And they.

• 13:57Speaker 02

  They're big Bollywood stars.

• 13:58Conan O'Brien?

  They are big Bollywood stars. And I just love.

• 14:01Speaker 01

  Fans of yours, apparently.

• 14:05Conan O'Brien?

  I think they said anything. They're like, sure, sure, we're fans. They were just lovely. They were really funny and they played along. And again, one of my, I like to go inflict myself on another country. And then what we've found time and time again is that these people from a completely different culture are so smart and they're so funny. They're so good at, at playing along and also giving me a dig when I need one. And trust me, I'm a big pinata that needs to be whacked regularly.

• 14:44Speaker 02

  And we're like, please wait till we start rolling.

• 14:46Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 14:57Conan O'Brien?

  Did you know that one in four Americans targeted by scams end up falling for them? You fell for one.

• 15:02Speaker 01

  I fell for a scam.

• 15:03Conan O'Brien?

  Now, you didn't lose too much money, but you did lose.

• 15:06Speaker 01

  I did lose and it was very inconvenient. And now they put protections on my account like I'm dumb.

• 15:11Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. I don't know where they got that impression. Criminals are now using AI to make scams look more realistic than ever. In 2025, AI fraud spiked 1,210% and cost Americans $893 million. That's incredible. Well, with AI, it can get so smart now.

• 15:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:32Conan O'Brien?

  Do you know what I mean?

• 15:33Speaker 01

  Maybe I should start scamming.

• 15:34Conan O'Brien?

  No, that's not the point.

• 15:35Speaker 01

  That's not the point of this.

• 15:36Conan O'Brien?

  That's not the point. One accidental click, Sona, can expose your information, putting you at risk of identity theft. Luckily, this is the point. Not that you should start scamming, but that everyone should get LifeLock.

• 15:47Speaker 01

  Right, right, right, right.

• 15:48Conan O'Brien?

  LifeLock has live US-based restoration specialists who will be with you every step of the way to fix your identity theft from first alert to full restoration. This is fantastic. How do you not have this? If you have expenses or money stolen due to identity theft, you're backed by the million dollar protection package with up to $3 million coverage in some plans. Join now and save up to 30% off your first year. Go to lifelock.com/conan. That's lifelock.com/conan to save 30%. Terms apply.

• 16:20Conan O'Brien?

  We all have those pieces in our closet we can count on. Sona, I imagine for you, it's that leather jacket I got you.

• 16:25Speaker 01

  Are you gonna do a bit?

• 16:26Conan O'Brien?

  No, no, it's a really nice leather jacket I got you once.

• 16:28Speaker 01

  I had that and then I replaced it and yes, I use it all the time.

• 16:32Conan O'Brien?

  We all have that versatile jacket, the perfect T-shirt, and those are the pieces that make getting dressed easy. And you know what I was thinking about this morning?

• 16:41Speaker 01

  What?

• 16:41Conan O'Brien?

  Quince. They do it best. They really do. I was really thinking about this.

• 16:45Speaker 01

  What a coincidence that we're doing an ad for them.

• 16:47Conan O'Brien?

  No, a co-coincidence.

• 16:49Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 16:51Conan O'Brien?

  That's why I get the big money.

• 16:52Speaker 01

  I gotta go.

• 16:53Conan O'Brien?

  Cut to very small amount of money. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials and designs that are timeless, thoughtful, crafted, and made to be worn again and again. And when the temperature starts to drop, Quince makes it easy to build on those everyday staples with versatile layers. Layer up. That's the key. Now, Blay, you're using some Quince.

• 17:13Speaker 03

  That's right. I'm spending a lot of time back east in Michigan. It's getting a little colder, so I got a featherless quilted jacket, an Atlas Navy, and I just feel like a different guy. I feel classy.

• 17:23Conan O'Brien?

  You look like a different guy because you're well dressed.

• 17:25Speaker 03

  That's right.

• 17:26Conan O'Brien?

  No, I'm serious. He looks like a hobo half the time.

• 17:28Speaker 03

  That's true. He's right. That's true.

• 17:29Conan O'Brien?

  No, they really do great stuff. Find your next fall favorites at Quince. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK as well.

• 17:43Speaker 01

  All right.

• 17:43Conan O'Brien?

  And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Please do that. Say, by the way, I heard about this on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Oh, I didn't really ask. I just want you to know.

• 17:57Conan O'Brien?

  It's the best way to support the show.

• 18:01Speaker 04

  Hey, it's me, Teddy Swims. You hear that? That's life. So go grab it. Grab your old friends, grab new friends, grab a White Claw. Grab flavor for everyone in your crew. Grab music, laughter, and moments you'll never forget. You'll never regret it. Oh, hey, man. Grab new friends, grab old friends, grab life by the glow. White Claw. Please drink responsibly. White Claw Celta Works, Chicago, Illinois.

• 18:30Speaker 05

  This is the story of the one. As a shipping manager, he's running the dock, stocking supplies, and making sure every order goes out on time. And Granger helps him stay prepared. From shipping supplies to PPE to hand tools, he counts on Granger to keep products moving and trucks rolling. So his operation runs smoothly, no matter the shift. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Granger.com, or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done.

• 19:05Conan O'Brien?

  That show also features one of my favorite set pieces that we went in with, which went in with, which you guys worked really hard on. And I don't know when I've been happier to show up at a shoot.

• 19:20Speaker 02

  I know what you're talking about. You're talking about the monkey episode.

• 19:23Conan O'Brien?

  Yes.

• 19:24Speaker 02

  Which, by the way, was your idea. You talked about.

• 19:26Conan O'Brien?

  That's why I loved it so much.

• 19:29Speaker 02

  I guess there's a problem with monkeys stealing cell phones.

• 19:32Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, it's a big problem. Yeah, and from tourists. Yeah.

• 19:35Speaker 02

  And you said, well, why don't we have a little mini AT&T store and we lure the monkeys in and we do a sting operation?

• 19:41Conan O'Brien?

  And so I was so.

• 19:43Speaker 01

  It's such an outrageous premise.

• 19:44Conan O'Brien?

  I was such an outrageous, my favorite thing is a completely outrageous premise that you commit to 100%. So sure enough, and a huge thanks again to Chalemi and everyone involved to, sure enough, they built a to.

• 20:00Speaker 01

  Working.

• 20:00Conan O'Brien?

  A to scale. Well, I was gonna start with, they built an AT&T store.

• 20:06Speaker 01

  Well, yes.

• 20:07Conan O'Brien?

  It's monkey size.

• 20:08Speaker 01

  Right.

• 20:08Conan O'Brien?

  And then.

• 20:09Speaker 02

  Monkey scaled.

• 20:10Conan O'Brien?

  Monkey scaled. And then they built, you know, to lure the monkeys, a robot monkey.

• 20:18Conan O'Brien?

  And I guess if you haven't seen the India episode, if this doesn't intrigue you enough to get HBO or steal HBO, or go hang out, or break into a home that has HBO and watch it.

• 20:32Speaker 03

  Borrow a monkey's phone and watch it on there.

• 20:36Conan O'Brien?

  But I remember we were in the van and I do get very tired sometimes on these. You know, you're jet lagged and there's a long, a lot of traffic. And which were we in? Where were we? What city were we in for this one?

• 20:50Speaker 03

  It was in Bangalore.

• 20:51Speaker 01

  I was out of Bangalore.

• 20:52Conan O'Brien?

  Bangalore, that's right.

• 20:53Speaker 02

  North of Bangalore.

• 20:54Conan O'Brien?

  North of Bangalore. Long drive, we get there and usually I have to, we're getting closer and closer and I'm thinking, okay, which one is this now? And someone said, this is the monkey sting operation. And I flew out of that van. And I was electrified. And I saw a monkey robot in a monkey scaled AT&T store and real monkeys up in the trees. And I just felt like all of my career has been leading to this moment. Everything else is in service of this moment. So that was...

• 21:29Speaker 01

  In some ways, that was our sting operation, which we set up.

• 21:33Speaker 03

  To make you happy.

• 21:34Speaker 01

  A monkey remote.

• 21:36Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, at the end, the monkey robot said, God, that guy's desperate. Well, that's India in a nutshell. It doesn't, our discussion doesn't even scratch the surface. That it is one of my all time favorite travel shows. And that's really saying something because these shows mean so much to me. And you guys did such an amazing job. And top to bottom, the people, the cuisine, just the whole vibe. India is one of the most different places that you can go on the planet Earth. And I, I just, the whole time was alive with,

• 22:20Conan O'Brien?

  you know, everything was heightened because of the colors, the fabrics, that, yeah.

• 22:26Speaker 01

  It's a feast for the senses.

• 22:27Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, yeah, it's incredible. And it's everything. It's all the things, all at once. It was amazing. And I'm going to move us on now to the next travel show that drops in the order, which is out now, which is, I mean, they're all out now. But the second one was the Netherlands. And this, the highlight for me, you can probably guess, was, well, we'll talk about that in a little bit. Let's talk about the fans first. Um, yeah, the fans.

• 22:57Speaker 01

  They're great fans.

• 22:58Speaker 03

  Micah, the model, who you wanted to, you wanted to get modeling lessons from an actual professional model?

• 23:04Conan O'Brien?

  Micah is this absolutely beautiful woman, model. But she's also, she is brutally funny.

• 23:15Speaker 01

  She's a sharpshooter.

• 23:16Conan O'Brien?

  She is a sharpshooter. She's so smart and funny. And the minute, I, I mean, you could, and we could sense that in the discussion with Micah when we talk on the podcast. But then when I showed up and she, I, I'm waiting for her in front of her studio. And then she pulls up on a bicycle and she walks up to me and I knew immediately, uh, this woman is going to tear me to shreds.

• 23:40Speaker 03

  Very selfless.

• 23:41Speaker 01

  You're gonna love it.

• 23:42Conan O'Brien?

  And I'm going to love every second of it. She was so funny.

• 23:47Speaker 01

  She was hilarious.

• 23:47Conan O'Brien?

  She's lovely. So she was giving me modeling lessons. I've since, when I look at our segment now, she asked me, well, what are the things you're not happy about with yourself? And I go on this long list of the parts of my face.

• 24:02Speaker 01

  You had no problem.

• 24:03Conan O'Brien?

  I had no problem rattling off my long list of things that I don't like about my face. And at no point does she jump in and go, oh, come on, Conan. At no point does she say, no, Conan, what are you talking about? She's nodding as I'm shredding my own face in front of her. Like, yeah, yeah, no, I know what you mean. I know what you mean. So.

• 24:25Speaker 03

  Keep going, keep going.

• 24:26Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, keep going. Oh, you're forgetting some.

• 24:28Speaker 02

  Right, right, right.

• 24:29Conan O'Brien?

  So, uh, but, um, she gave me lessons. She's just, I love that segment. Such a funny segment.

• 24:37Speaker 03

  Yes, yes. You learn how to, how to walk on a runway. There was a, there was a Conan sort of lookalike model who was much more handsome than you. They stand next to.

• 24:47Speaker 01

  Younger, I guess.

• 24:48Speaker 03

  Well, younger. No, let's not say better looking. Yeah, no.

• 24:51Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, me back in the day.

• 24:53Speaker 03

  No, you would have.

• 24:54Conan O'Brien?

  Would have been, all my flaws were still there, but they weren't as egregious. Um, no, they were, that was a really fun segment. Uh, we showed up in, in Amsterdam on King's Day. And that was just kind of a happy accident. We, the way the schedules work, you have to slot these things in and you have to make sure you accommodate, oh, we're doing the Oscars, so we got to make sure we accommodate that. This is when I could go and it had us showing up on this day and we realized it's King's Day when everyone puts out every piece of junk they own on the street. And people party and they wear orange.

• 25:31Speaker 03

  It's the one day they can sell things without having to pay a tax or anything. So everybody does a flea market. It's a giant flea market.

• 25:37Conan O'Brien?

  So I'm walking around the flea market. That's a happening because you can't script that. You guys had a really funny idea, which is there's a big problem with confiscated bicycles. People park their bicycles illegally around Amsterdam. So you guys said, hey, it'd be really funny if we went to the graveyard where all the confiscated bikes are. The Boneyard.

• 25:57Speaker 03

  Yes, the Boneyard.

• 25:58Conan O'Brien?

  So, uh, and Sweenes, uh, that's what I call Mike and you should have done that by now. Uh, Sweenes, what am I, let's make sure I'm not forgetting, uh, anything else about Netherlands. Oh, there's a great fan.

• 26:11Speaker 02

  Van Gogh, I think was.

• 26:13Conan O'Brien?

  That was my highlight.

• 26:14Speaker 02

  Okay, well, we'll say that. Oh, the other fan, Lucas. Do you want to talk about the other Van Lucas?

• 26:19Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, Lucas, uh, basketball player.

• 26:21Speaker 03

  Basketball player who wanted you to teach him how to trash talk.

• 26:24Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 26:25Speaker 01

  He was super light.

• 26:26Speaker 03

  You came armed with a series of insults that you taught him. They were, some of them were horrible, some of them were funny. And the one he loved the most was Van Gogh fuck yourself.

• 26:38Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, Van Gogh fuck yourself. Yes. Netherlands greatest contribution. They're all Netherlands sort of based insults. But what I also loved about that segment is, um, I like obviously to go in, uh, go in with massive amounts. My favorite thing is massive amounts of attitude with no talent to back it up. So should I be playing basketball at all? Probably not. Should I be playing basketball with a professional? Absolutely not. But then, um, he brought one of his friends out who is much bigger than me.

• 27:14Speaker 01

  It makes you look slight. It makes you look shrimpy.

• 27:17Conan O'Brien?

  How tall is he, do you think?

• 27:18Speaker 02

  He was around 6'8" or 6'9".

• 27:21Conan O'Brien?

  He's about 5 inches on me.

• 27:22Speaker 02

  That's one of my favorite things because while we're shooting the first part, I'm like, how are we going to end this segment? How are we going to end this segment? And then we look over at his teammates. Dave, who's 6'9". And we're just like, I think.

• 27:38Speaker 03

  Built like a truck.

• 27:38Speaker 02

  Yeah. I think Dave will be the ending.

• 27:42Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. And sure enough, I then go up and I start insulting Dave.

• 27:47Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 27:47Conan O'Brien?

  And acting like it will be no problem for me to trash you. He, of course, immediately starts to, uh, kick my ass. And so I start karate chopping. Oh, but of course, my personal highlight was, um, dressing like Van Gogh.

• 28:06Speaker 01

  Oh, that was such a good costume.

• 28:08Conan O'Brien?

  And, um.

• 28:09Speaker 01

  Shout out to Scott Chronic for that costume.

• 28:11Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, Scott Chronic, great costume. And also I love that, uh, you know, Van Gogh was, I think, a redhead. So there's some similar colorings there. And also I'm, uh, a very tortured artist, who's, uh, my, my nation's greatest contribution. Uh, and so, um, that was really fun. And.

• 28:32Speaker 02

  I love the excitement of it because we were shooting something down by the train station. And we all just got back, kind of on, later than we wanted to, back to the hotel. And you were like, let's do the Van Gogh because we were right across from the Van Gogh museum. But we had to, the rush to get you dressed and get that beard on, we had to do it all in like 10 minutes because the museum was going to close.

• 28:57Speaker 03

  Yes, we were racing the clock.

• 28:59Conan O'Brien?

  So I'm, I'm, I quickly throw the stuff on and then I'm running to get to the museum. And the whole idea is I want to get kicked out of the museum. These are things you want to happen, but you have no control over it. So what if I had showed up and the guards were all laughing and said, oh, Conan, come on in? Well, that's no fun. Boy, did they do us a favor. They were not amused. They were not amused. They, they.

• 29:26Speaker 03

  They asked you to clear the exit area.

• 29:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. And the minute you, I meet opposition like that, I'm so happy. But anyway, that was a thrill. Netherlands, really fun. Um.

• 29:39Speaker 01

  With a lot of these shows, we, we kind of think of the facial hair first and then plan. The segments around that.

• 29:47Conan O'Brien?

  Yes.

• 29:47Speaker 01

  Like, what, what kind of beard or mustache could you put on?

• 29:50Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, last year, when we were in Vienna for the travel show, I, I, I was Freud. And the minute I'm put in costume and any kind of makeup or fake facial hair, and I get to have a stupid accent, I'm, I'm just a pig in shit. I'm so happy. And then I start to, I, I just free associate. I go into some other space. I go into a trance.

• 30:14Speaker 01

  Tantric character work.

• 30:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, and so we got to do that with, with Van Gogh. I got to become Van Gogh. And I have a gripe, which is that I died in obscurity. And then all my works, which I got nothing for in my lifetime, are now being sold for hundreds of millions of dollars, the most prized artworks in the world. And I'm bitter about it, so I want to go and get a piece of the merch.

• 30:39Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 30:40Conan O'Brien?

  And the, the tourists I encounter were really fun. The whole thing was just, was just spectacular. And here's what I think we're gonna do. I think it's gonna be a two parter. Because we've had so much fun talking about these first two episodes. These are all available now on HBO. And it's called Conan O'Brien Must Go. And I, I really do, these are a labor of love.

• 31:06Conan O'Brien?

  There's, that's pretty much all I can say. I absolutely love doing it, and I love doing it with this team. You guys are spectacular. And, no, it is. It's just, it's, it's something that means so much to me. And I'm so proud of these ones. They're out. This is just part one. We'll be back next week to talk about the other two episodes, which are out now, all of them. They've been coming out once a week. They're all out now. And you can see them. This is the third season. I really love the other two seasons, too, if you want to check those out. But let's sign off for now, unless you have anything to add on Netherlands.

• 31:46Speaker 03

  The Netherlands? Oh, just that you were hauled into the International Criminal Court.

• 31:50Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, which is in the, which the.

• 31:51Speaker 03

  The Hague?

• 31:51Conan O'Brien?

  The Hague is in the Netherlands. And that's where, that's where people are tried for international crimes. And I was, I was arrested and taken to the Hague for my various comedy crimes.

• 32:03Speaker 01

  Against humanity.

• 32:04Conan O'Brien?

  Against humanity.

• 32:05Speaker 03

  Comedy crimes against humanity.

• 32:06Conan O'Brien?

  And you've never seen judges at the Hague more unified.

• 32:11Conan O'Brien?

  I'm apparently the one thing everyone can agree on.

• 32:14Speaker 03

  That was a really funny segment.

• 32:15Speaker 01

  They reinstated the death penalty.

• 32:17Conan O'Brien?

  Okay.

• 32:20Conan O'Brien?

  Which they wanted to, they wanted sentence carried out immediately. Using just heavy staplers.

• 32:28Conan O'Brien?

  So India, Netherlands. And next week, we will talk about the other two shows, Morocco, Philippines. This is all behind the scenes gold. And we'll see you then.

• 32:39Speaker 04

  Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan with Conan O'Brien, Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross and Nick Liao. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy.

• 32:56Speaker 04

  Supervising producer, Aaron Blair. Associate talent producer, Jennifer Samples. Associate producers, Sean Dougherty and Lisa Berman. Engineering by Eduardo Perez. Get three free months of Sirius XM when you sign up at siriusxm.com/conan. Please rate, review and subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan wherever fine podcasts are down.

• 33:26Conan O'Brien?

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• 33:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're right.

• 33:35Conan O'Brien?

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• 33:39Speaker 01

  That's good.

• 33:40Conan O'Brien?

  Did we use a salary guide with you, Sona?

• 33:42Speaker 01

  Uh, no, but maybe.

• 33:43Conan O'Brien?

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• 33:45Speaker 01

  I know, yeah, I remember that. That was not good.

• 33:48Conan O'Brien?

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• 34:08Speaker 06

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