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 |
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| Language | English |
| Length | 32–91 minutes |
| Production | |
| Production |
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| Theme music composed by | The White Stripes |
| Opening theme | "We're Going to Be Friends" |
| No. of episodes | 83 including 3 reruns, 6 specials, and 6 bonus (list of episodes) |
| Publication | |
| Original release | November 18, 2018 – present |
| Provider | Earwolf |
| Website | www |
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
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 36 | November 18, 2018 | July 22, 2019 | ||
| Deep Dive | 6 | August 4, 2019 | September 8, 2019 | ||
| 2 | 36 | October 7, 2019 | June 8, 2020 | ||
| Summer S'mores | 7 | June 15, 2020 | July 27, 2020 | ||
| 3 | TBA | August 3, 2020 | TBA | ||
Season 1 (2018–19)
| No. | Title | "I feel ____ about being Conan O'Brien's friend" | Run Time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | "Introducing Conan's new podcast" | No guest | 4:27 | October 4, 2018 |
| 0.5 | "Are you ready to make friends?" | No guest | 5:58 | November 7, 2018 |
| 1 | "Will Ferrell" | "Awkward" | 46:16 | November 18, 2018 |
| 2 | "Kristen Bell" | "Supercharged" | 48:06 | November 25, 2018 |
| 3 | "Bill Burr" | "Great" | 51:17 | December 2, 2018 |
| 4 | "Dax Shepard" | "Very optimistic" | 48:54 | December 9, 2018 |
| 5 | "Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally" | "Ambivalent" and "Really good" | 49:30 | December 16, 2018 |
| 6 | "Wanda Sykes" | "Somewhat trapped" | 47:08 | December 23, 2018 |
| 7 | "Pete Holmes" | "Frustrated but honored" | 47:33 | December 30, 2018 |
| 8 | "Marc Maron" | "Nervous" | 46:36 | January 6, 2019 |
| 9 | "Adam Sandler" | "Stunned" | 50:33 | January 13, 2019 |
| 10 | "Ron Funches" | "Grateful and excited" | 46:15 | January 20, 2019 |
| 11 | "Dana Carvey" | "Masculine" | 55:48 | January 27, 2019[16] |
| 12 | "David Sedaris" | "Apprehensive" | 50:58 | February 3, 2019 |
| 13 | "Stephen Colbert" | "Cool" | 54:51 | February 10, 2019[17] |
| 14 | "Timothy Olyphant" | "Meh" | 1:00:37 | February 17, 2019 |
| 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." | 59:36 | February 24, 2019 |
| 15.5 | "BONUS: Introducing Inside Conan" | No guest | 5:33 | March 1, 2019 |
| 16 | "Lisa Kudrow" | "Tired" | 1:01:55 | March 3, 2019 |
| 16.5 | "Jessie Gaskell and Mike Sweeney" | "Hungry" and "Starving" | 31:39 | March 6, 2019 |
| 17 | "Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz" | "Sizzlin'" and "Curious" | 48:58 | March 10, 2019 |
| 18 | "Michelle Obama" | "Cautiously optimistic" | 56:18 | March 17, 2019[18] |
| 19 | "Ray Romano" | "Good (with an exception)" | 50:10 | March 24, 2019 |
| 20 | "Ben Stiller" | "Excited yet not holding my breath" | 56:32 | March 31, 2019 |
| 21 | "Nicole Byer" | "Excited!" | 51:49 | April 7, 2019 |
| 22 | "Patton Oswalt" | "Anxious" | 1:02:55 | April 14, 2019 |
| 23 | "Tig Notaro" | "Glad" | 1:02:13 | April 21, 2019 |
| 24 | "Robert Caro" | "Cautiously optimistic" | 56:14 | April 28, 2019 |
| 25 | "Jimmy Kimmel" | "Sexually excited" | 58:15 | May 5, 2019 |
| 26 | "Bill Hader" | "Great" | 59:10 | May 12, 2019 |
| 27 | "Howard Stern" | "Badly (about not being Conan O'Brien's friend)" | 1:30:41 | May 19, 2019 |
| 28 | "Bob Newhart" | "Anxious" | 1:02:15 | May 26, 2019 |
| 29 | "Hannah Gadsby" | "Confused" | 49:22 | June 2, 2019 |
| 30 | "Martin Short" | "Ashamed" | 57:42 | June 10, 2019 |
| 31 | "Lin-Manuel Miranda" | "Great" | 1:05:11 | June 16, 2019 |
| 32 | "Billy Eichner" | "Mixed" | 1:02:46 | June 24, 2019 |
| 33 | "Mila Kunis" | "Indifferent" | 1:02:56 | July 1, 2019 |
| 34 | "Andy Richter" | "Just fine" | 58:00 | July 8, 2019 |
| 35 | "Kumail Nanjiani" | "Apologetic" | 1:05:55 | July 15, 2019 |
| 36 | "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" | "A tad hopeful (but not really)" | 1:01:52 | July 22, 2019 |
| 36.5 | "Introducing The Three Questions with Andy Richter" | No guest | 2:11 | July 29, 2019 |
Deep Dive with Dana Carvey (2019)
| No. | Title | Run Time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| DD0 | "Trailer: Deep Dive with Dana Carvey" | 4:30 | July 28, 2019 |
| DD1 | "Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 1" | 26:52 | August 4, 2019 |
| DD2 | "Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 2" | 26:03 | August 11, 2019 |
| DD3 | "Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 3" | 24:29 | August 19, 2019 |
| DD4 | "Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 4" | 22:44 | August 26, 2019 |
| DD5 | "Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 5" | 25:09 | September 1, 2019 |
| DD6 | "Deep Dive with Dana Carvey 6" | 32:30 | September 8, 2019 |
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 Time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | "David Letterman" | "My connection to Conan is endless admiration." | 1:16:50 | October 7, 2019 |
| 41 | "Tina Fey" | "Good" | 50:58 | October 14, 2019 |
| 42 | "John Oliver" | "Cautiously optimistic" | 52:34 | October 21, 2019 |
| 43 | "Zach Galifianakis" | "Cautious" | 59:30 | October 28, 2019 |
| 44 | "Neil Young" | "Good" | 54:04 | November 4, 2019 |
| 45 | "Paul Rudd" | "Excited" | 1:04:40 | November 11, 2019 |
| 46 | "Ellen DeGeneres" | "Honored" | 50:44 | November 18, 2019 |
| 47 | "Eric Idle" | "Moderately aroused" | 53:28 | November 25, 2019 |
| 48 | "Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton" | "Great (but a little apprehensive)" | 58:00 | December 2, 2019 |
| 49 | "Jack Black" | "Shitty" | 1:01:12 | December 9, 2019 |
| 50 | "John Mulaney" | "Falsely modest" | 1:01:51 | December 16, 2019 |
| 51 | "Malcolm Gladwell" | "Pressured" | 54:22 | December 23, 2019 |
| 52 | "Al Franken" | "I'm already a fucking friend of Conan's" | 58:04 | December 30, 2019 |
| 53 | "Charles Barkley" | "Great" | 1:02:21 | January 6, 2020 |
| 54 | "Nikki Glaser" | "Overwhelmed" | 57:53 | January 13, 2020 |
| 55 | "Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara" | "Absolutely delighted, flattered, and honored" | 1:00:48 | January 20, 2020 |
| 56 | "Jesse Eisenberg" | "Desperate" | 54:00 | January 27, 2020 |
| 57 | "Sarah Silverman" | "Grateful" | 56:22 | February 3, 2020 |
| 58 | "Keegan-Michael Key" | "Overwhelmed" | 58:21 | February 10, 2020 |
| 59 | "Judd Apatow" | "Does not feel hopeful" | 1:02:49 | February 17, 2020 |
| 60 | "Jim Gaffigan" | "Like Nikki Glaser felt" | 59:27 | February 24, 2020 |
| 61 | "Ali Wong" | "Very new" | 1:08:20 | March 2, 2020 |
| 62 | "Paul Reubens" | "Fantastic" | 1:07:09 | March 9, 2020 |
| 62.5 | "A Very Special Self-Quarantine Episode featuring Andy Daly" | "Conveniently located" | 1:05:19 | March 13, 2020 |
| 63 | "Will Arnett" | "Pretty put out" | 1:03:28 | March 16, 2020 |
| 64 | "Whitney Cummings" | "Stressed out" | 57:29 | March 23, 2020 |
| 65 | "Steve Coogan" | "Quietly optimistic" | 1:03:44 | March 30, 2020 |
| 66 | "D'Arcy Carden" | "Hopeful" | 1:01:43 | April 6, 2020 |
| 67 | "Kevin Nealon" | "Confused that he's considered" | 1:01:14 | April 13, 2020 |
| 68 | "Ricky Gervais" | "Strangely underwhelmed" | 1:02:47 | April 20, 2020 |
| 69 | "Nick Kroll" | "Incredibly proud" | 1:05:59 | April 27, 2020 |
| 70 | "Ted Danson" | "Oddly comforted" | 1:03:54 | May 4, 2020 |
| 71 | "Mike Myers" | "Prehensile" | 1:02:19 | May 11, 2020 |
| 72 | "J.J. Abrams" | "Exceedingly lucky" | 1:10:41 | May 18, 2020 |
| 73 | "Russell Brand" | "Nervous" | 1:01:41 | May 25, 2020 |
| 74 | "Rob Lowe" | "Optimistic" | 1:03:24 | June 1, 2020 |
| 75 | "Amy Schumer" | "Fully indifferent" | 1:02:00 | June 8, 2020 |
Summer S'mores (& Tom Hanks) (2020)
| No. | Title | "I feel ____ about being Conan O'Brien's friend" | Run Time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76 | "Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 1" | No guest | 30:08 | June 15, 2020 |
| 77 | "Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 2" | No guest | 28:29 | June 22, 2020 |
| 78 | "Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 3" | No guest | 30:54 | June 29, 2020 |
| 79 | "Tom Hanks" | "Grand" | 1:13:07 | July 7, 2020 |
| 80 | "Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 4" | No guest | 28:27 | July 13, 2020 |
| 81 | "Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 5" | No guest | 32:21 | July 20, 2020 |
| 82 | "Summer S'mores with Conan and the Chill Chums 6" | No guest | 30:37 | July 27, 2020 |
Season 3 (2020–present)
| No. | Title | "I feel ____ about being Conan O'Brien's friend" | Run Time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83 | "W. Kamau Bell" | "Cautiously optimistic, but still not great" | 1:08:19 | August 3, 2020 |
| 84 | "Jim Carrey" | "Warm all over" | 54:17 | August 10, 2020 |
References
- Xu, Linda (November 8, 2018). "Team Coco Launches 'Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend' Podcast". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
- Donaghey, River; Schwartz, Drew (November 8, 2018). "Conan O'Brien's New Podcast Has an Insanely Good Guest Lineup". Vice. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- "Mila Kunis, episode #33 of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend on Earwolf". earwolf.com. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- Itzkoff, Dave (21 January 2019). "Can Conan O'Brien Reinvent 'Conan'?". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- Saincome, Matt (28 December 2018). "Best New Comedy Podcasts of 2018". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- Quah, Nicholas (January 10, 2019). "Conan O'Brien Is the Perfect Podcast Host". Vulture. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
- Macht, Joshua (January 16, 2019). "Ideas | Joshua Macht: How the podcast juggernaut took off". The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- "No Planet B and Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend". Podcast Radio Hour. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
- Farrelly, Mark (May 13, 2019). "Conan O'Brien's Podcast Just Keeps Getting Better". The Rewind. Balls.ie. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
- 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.
- "COVER STORY: How Conan O'Brien and other top hosts are driving the podcast revolution". @variety. Twitter. August 20, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
- 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.
- "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: Meet the Maisel Goys". Vulture. January 31, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- "Stephen Colbert, episode #13 of Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend on Earwolf". EarWolf. February 10, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
- 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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