Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Listener Questions (Feat. David Hopping)

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

Mike and Jessie answer some of our listeners' most burning questions about the origins of classic Late Night comedy bits like In The Year 2000 and Jeremy and Ira-Two Guys From Another Dimension. Then David Hopping drops into the studio to discuss stepping in as Conan's successor and reveal a few details about the most mysterious Team Coco employee, Erica Brown. Got a question for Inside Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone] or e-mail us at [e-mail].

And now, it's time for Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Welcome back to Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. I'm Jessi Gaskell. This is Mike Sweeney. Hi, how are you? I'm fine. I guess writers for Conan. Yeah, we're striking writers.

We're striking writers. We're on strike. Anything that is covered under Writers Guild contract, we cannot work. We're not working. I can't. I'd love to be able We're not working. I can't. I'd love to be able to,

but I just simply can't. We are forbidden from working. I'd love to get back to work too, but once this is all sorted out, this happens from time to time. We will. Yeah, we were in the middle of filming a new Conan travel series.

Right. Which we hope to get back to. We did two episodes. We came back on a Saturday and Tuesday, following Tuesday, we're on strike and everything shut down. Yeah. So we have a lot of footage that we have to look through once we go back. I know. If it still exists.

It's just been sitting. I know. It's covered in cobwebs. I know. if it's just been sitting i know it's covered in cobwebs i know i i'm worried about all the time going by between uh shooting it and then sitting down and watching it i know i already have no memory as soon as we land back on u.s soil i have no memory of what we did i know i'll be like why did we go to that market or we'll be dazzled by what we shot yeah this is great i'd watch this we'll have a clear eye that'll that'll that's true for clear eyes and full hearts right whether it's good or bad uh you know i was driving the other day and our our show was on serious oh my

god i i always immediately change i can't hear my voice, but I heard the opening theme. Yeah. And it's terrible. I can't believe I've never heard it. I remember we recorded it. So long ago, I know. Yeah. And just, it's you and I talking at the same time.

Yeah. There's echo added to it. And then the song sounds like it was recorded in a dungeon or something on a Mellotron or some awful circus instrument. Yeah. Yes. But not a good, like a Casio that you give to two-year-olds that play like old McDonald's and stuff. Yeah. Well, yeah.

Wow. I wish you'd brought this up before our second to last episode of the season. Of our fourth season. I do too. Well, someone should have pointed it out. Yeah. I mean, I guess we should have listened

to the podcast at some point. I know. I know. Maybe it's great. Maybe it's great. It's Yeah. I mean, I guess we should have listened to the podcast at some point. I know. I know. Maybe it's great. Maybe it's great. It's fine. I don't know. At least it's over quickly.

That's a good thing. I mean, and it's not like we could get Jack White to record our podcast intro. You know, Taylor Swift's re-recording all her albums. Maybe she'll come in and re-record her opening. I bet she would. I think that's a reasonable request. She's got time. She's got a lot of time.

Well, yeah. Well, maybe we can look into a better intro if we do more episodes. Okay. Yes. We'll really jazz it up. Or we can squat on this one and just... Let's double down on this one. I mean, maybe we don't deserve

better than that. Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway. Well, I just got a text this morning I wanted to tell you about because it made me laugh. It was a woman that I haven't spoken to in a long time, but we used to be neighbors, and

she works in documentaries. Okay. and she texted me because she had a conan related question and she said that she was hoping hoping you might be able to point me to the right person i'm needing to license some footage from the show for a netflix documentary my archival person has the following contact info, but she said she's reached out many times and hasn't gotten a response. And then it's Jordan Schlansky's email. Get out of here. Yes.

So we have definitive proof that he does nothing. And it's the correct email? It's the correct email. Oh my goodness. I know. Hmm. And she hasn't correct email? It's the correct email. Oh my goodness. I know. And she hasn't heard anything back. No. Maybe it's like a true crime.

Maybe there's footage that indicts Conan in a murder. So Jordan is like, under strict orders not to reply. Maybe. I mean, you think otherwise Jordan would be on top of that? Sadly, Jordan is very good about returning an email. Okay.

Well, that's unfortunate. I was really hoping he just hadn't opened his laptop for weeks. Maybe. Maybe he's away.

We can look into this though. Let's look into it what's a documentary about i don't know i'll i'll have to get some more i'll do some digging okay you know what i have something to correct yeah i know it's not a correction i have something to add i was um also in my car i heard con Conan talking to Harrison Ford. Yeah. He just interviewed Harrison Ford. Yeah. He was on the podcast.

And they were talking about the time Harrison Ford destroyed, speaking to Jordan Schlansky, destroyed his Millennium Falcon Lego model. Right. Hilarious moment. Yeah. It's a very popular clip on YouTube and Harrison Ford kind of

spilled the beans and said oh well you know listen it wasn't really Jordan's Millennium Falcon it was someone in a prop house

you know you had someone in props build it and present it so why did he ruin it? he ruined it he ruined it he gave it away so well now that the cat's out of the

bag i feel the full disclosure it's only fair to to say that that one even falcon belonged to writer andre dubachet right and he really was a beloved possession of somebody. It was. Just one of Jordan's. Yes, it had pride of place in his office behind his desk. Yeah. And it was an impressive piece of work. And it took him quite a while, obviously, to put it together. And he generously volunteered it for that. For sacrifice. Yes.

And I don't know who asked him i i don't think it was me i was probably i don't know whoever produced that segment i'm guessing um and he he immediately said yes i'd be happy to help out and i what, like, did all the pieces just get dumped? I don't think he wanted it back. He was just like, destroy it. I'm not going to put it back together again. Yeah. I think he loved the idea of Harrison Ford destroying it,

that that gave it, that was kind of- It does. It's almost like that Banksy that got shredded immediately at Christie's auction. And now it's worth more than it was before. Each, yes, he should have auctioned off each individual piece. He still could.

If he's got the pile somewhere. Destroyed by Harrison Ford. That would probably get swept into the garbage. Well, I'm glad that you pointed out that error in Harrison Ford's interview. Yeah. It wasn't, the Millennium Falcon didn't come from a prop house. It came from a real human being.

Yes. In his writer's office. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, we often have errors pointed out to us by our listeners. Yeah. And we also get questions from our listeners. We get tons of fan questions. Yeah, we get tons of fan questions. So we thought, why not do a whole episode of fan questions? We have

so many good ones that we haven't had a chance to answer yet this season. We did think that, and we're going to do it. We're going to do it now. Okay, okay. I know we thought it, but yes, let's do it. I think let's do it now. Yeah, I'd love to answer fan questions. It's one of my favorite things. Right, yeah. I'm always impressed by the more obscure they are, the more excited I get. The memory that people have, I know. Well, you know what?

Like, especially the old late night show, I think some people were watching it during their formative years. So certain community things, I mean, don't you have stuff from when you were a teen that you saw that stuck in there forever and ever? Yes. And they're just like light bulbs that don't go out. Yeah, I know. So these are it really is kind of my favorite part of the show is hearing from listeners. Yes. So here's our episode full of questions.

All right, here's our first question. Hello, love the pod. I think I have listened to every episode since finding you guys about a year ago now. Oh, wow. My question, as far as I know, there hasn't been any mention of in the year 2000 on the podcast. Who was behind the bit?

What was the writing process? Who came up with the song? So many questions. Love you. Naveed. Too many questions. I think we can take them all though. Sure. Let's try. Yeah. In the year 2000, that's one of the most famous sketches. It was a signature bit on late night. And a book came out in the comedy section. If anyone can find it, I dare you to find that book. It's probably available on eBay. It's like a coffee table book? Oh, yeah.

Yeah. No. Less than that? It's not even a nightstand. A toilet book? It's a nightstand if it has a lower shelf book. Okay. Yeah, that's where you can put it. It's a coaster. It's a coaster book.

Now, there's a lot of good jokes in it, but anyway, the year 2000, I didn't know, you know, I started on the show in 95, well into the run of the late night. It started in 93, of course. Yeah. Including with the year 2000, I had no idea. So, I investigated. I talked to Michael Gordon. He's one of the original writers. Uh-huh. They're had no idea. So I investigated.

I talked to Michael Gordon. He's one of the original writers. Uh-huh. They're from day one. Exactly. And then he knew that it was done in something called Happy Happy Good Show, which was a show done during the summer in Chicago with Conan, Robert Smigel, a guy named Dave Reynolds, who was also one of the original Conan writers, and Bob Odenkirk.

Oh, wow. Yeah. And if there's anyone else that was in the cast, I apologize. I only know those fellows. Send us an angry email. Right. But it was a bit in that live show they did in Chicago that summer.

Yeah. And I got in touch with Dave Reynolds who said that Bob Odenkirk, there's a video of the show that I found out exists. I think that would be a great podcast episode

for Conan to do. For sure. I'm just going to throw that out there. Wow. Are you allowed to pitch things right now? I'm just going to throw that out there. Wow. Are you allowed to pitch things right now? I don't. Oh. It's a podcast. Yeah.

This isn't covered by the writers. But so in the live show, Bob Odenkirk sang the song because Navid's asking who came up with the year 2000. So Dave wasn't positive, but he thinks maybe Odenkirk came up with the year 2000. So Dave wasn't positive, but he thinks maybe Odenkirk came up with the song. But I, and he thinks all the whole team. Falsetto.

The falsetto. The team came up with the idea. So Conan, he said they all kind of came up with it together. It's one of those room ideas. That's a great backstory. Yeah. And then that became, it was like, oh, okay. When late nights started, they're like, well, we got one thing we can do.

And that's- Wow. I wonder if Odenkirk has talked about that. Like if he- He'll deny it. I know. I was going to say. No, that's a good, yeah.

That's a good question. Yeah. Well, cool. And then it became La Bamba's voice. La Bamba. From the Max Weinberg 7. Right. Who has a perfect falsetto voice for that.

Yes. Yeah. So he would sing that. And would he do it live? He did it live. Yeah. Yeah. He'd do it in between every joke.

Right, right, right. And, you know, we did that bit for years. And it was always Conan and Andy. And then when Andy left, we started getting celebrity guests to do it, which was fun. It was also scary. You found out certain people were better at it than other people. I bet. As you can imagine.

Yeah. There were just certain people. Because it was live, so that was always. It was live. Yeah. So, I mean, everyone who did it was pretty good, but someone like William Shatner doing it, I don't know, it just, people loved it.

Oh, God, of course. Yeah, yeah. It's perfect. Yeah, Alec Baldwin, or just people with incredible instruments, vocal instruments. Right. So, okay, so this started instruments. Right. So, okay.

So this started in the early nineties, but after the year 2000, did you change the year? Everyone, you know what? Because it's no longer a prediction. Everyone just sailed right through. Like it was kind of like, I think one person was like, it's going to be the year 2000. It's not the future anymore. It's not the future anymore.

It barely was the future then. And everyone was just like, yeah. Listen, people know it that way. We're not going to change it. So we just sailed through the aughts, still calling it the year 2000. And then it wasn't until The Tonight Show that it got changed to in the year 3000. 3000. And we came up, you know, those guys used to, Conan and Andy and then Conan and the guests would hold flashlights under their faces.

But for The Tonight Show, we came up with these elaborate lit kind of collars that would come down from the ceiling. You had so much more money. Yes. And that's probably why the Tonight Show didn't work out. It's because we changed the name. Yes. And added these ridiculous collars that didn't work. Oh, it was that one misstep.

Didn't quite work. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, that's. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Origin story. Yeah.

Well, cool. Thanks, Naveed. Good question. We've got another one. Yes. We're going to keepaveed. Good question. We've got another one. Yes. We're going to keep these rolling. All right. Rapid fire.

This one, this is from Josh. I love Josh. Josh asks, I'm curious if you could describe the late night show's relationship with Mr. T. How'd you figure out he'd be good in bits? Where'd that start? Conan always seemed to play well off of him. One remote I never see mentioned is apple picking with Mr. T, and it's one of my favorites. That is a great remote. It's a great remote. It's very funny. I hope, do young people know Mr. T is? I hope so. Yeah. We're

getting the thumbs up from our- I think from that remote they know. Very youthful producer. I mean, we've never talked about that remote because for a while, we had been trying to get Mr. T on the podcast. A while, like three seasons. And back on Conan on TBS for years, we were trying to get Mr. T because he was such a staple on the late night show, especially in the aughts, the last eight years of the show. He'd be booked as a guest and we'd have so many comedy pre-tape ideas that we wanted to do with him. I remember one time he was there. He's like, you guys are killing me. We were like, oh no, we killed Mr. T. That was great.

Man, maybe that's why we haven't been able to get him because we hired but we just and conan's like what do you what are you guys doing and we're like he's money in the bank yes we need the whole year's worth of banking bits and we shoot him things that we could you know sit on the shelf for a few months but i'm you know because you need stuff every day i'm sure we used all the mr t stuff within five days use all of that buffalo but um this is a great question um and i i looked into it and i talked to ellie barancic she was a writer who she's original writer's coordinator right when it all started. So she was there when the show assembled. It has great stories. And when she was a writer, she told me all this. I didn't know any of this. Mr. T was a guest on the show and she loved his rapport with Conan. And she's from Chicago, where Mr. T's from, and still lived even after he became famous.

And so she had a fondness for him. She pitched the idea, like, they have a great chemistry. What if they do something like go apple picking? Yeah. And boom. Yes, that's a great idea. Which is so perfect because it's— Yeah, it is perfect.

He's so masculine and it's such a, yeah. But yes, right, exactly. You're talking about Conan. And then Mr. T, of course. But then she had another detail that I really liked to hear. She said in Chicago, Mr. T would drive around and he had a Rolls Royce convertible with Mr. T license plate. He got to. And she said,

that was a big, in the 80s in Chicago, if you got a sighting of Mr. T, that was like, okay. It was bragging rights. It was such a great sighting. Like, what's her name in LA? Yeah, I know, just thinking that.

Evangeline? No. Evangeline, right? The woman in the pink. I don't think that's her name. Angeline? Angeline, yes. Angeline? No. Evangeline, right? The woman in the pink. I don't think that's her name. Angeline? Angeline, yes. Angeline, yes.

She still drives around. Yeah, that pink Cadillac. And she'll, because my wife got a photo with her. Oh, she did. She's like, can I get a photo? And she's like 50 bucks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

So anyway. Oh, that's great. So she ordered up a white Rolls-Royce convertible for the remote with a Mr. T license plate. And then for the end of it, a Mr. C for Conan. Yes. So that was a great detail. I thought that was really interesting. I know. That is fun.

Yeah. Because I would watch it go. You don't think about what went into that. But it came from Ellie's very specific growing up in Chicago. And so that was the first time that Mr. T was kind of used in this comedy. In a comedy, other than being a guest. Yes. And then that was such a big hit.

And there's two parts to it. There was the remote. And then a couple of days later, Conan showed the outtakes of the remote, which was a compilation of Mr. T giggling throughout the whole shoot, which is hilarious. That's really funny. It's on Facebook. I found it on Facebook. Autumn, oh, autumn.

My soul needs your spirit, needs the caress of your amber leaves. But shh, listen to that rustling. That's the giggle. You looked at me and I started to laugh. I love that laugh you got. What?

That's great. It is infectious. Oh my God. It is infectious. Oh, my God. It's the, you can't, we were both cracking up. It's the COVID of laughs. Yeah, it's pretty great. So, that was it, you know, between the actual remote, which is hilarious, and these outtakes. It was like more tea.

So, we started using them in all different comedy bits. Yeah. And he had a really memorable moment in the 10th anniversary special. And yeah, he became a friend of the show. And that man would walk in the building and light up the entire floor. I've never seen anyone with that kind of wattage. Yeah. And just money in the bank, comedy wise.

But just a great guy. He's just a great guy. And just, he literally put everyone in a good mood. Aw. Yeah. It's so great to hear that about celebrities. Yes. Well, Mr. T, if you're listening, we love you.

There's always a spot for you here on the podcast. Yeah. I think he has better things to do. I hope he does. I hope he has better things to do. I hope he does. I hope so too. Another question? What?

There's more? There's so much more. We're just getting started. All right. Hi, Jesse, Mike, and all the lovers at ICP. I've been a Conan fan for years and I mean years. I was raised on Bob Newhart,

Tom Lehrer, and Stan Freeberg records in the 80s and was a sophomore in college in 1993 when Conan debuted, so you can do the math there. I love hearing- I can't. I know. But anyway. It's too much. You overestimate us. Stan Freeberg, Tom, okay. I love hearing about old recurring sketches, but the one I've never heard any talk of on any of the pods is the one with the two alien visitors who would pop in at the bottom corners of the screen wearing black cowls and Conan would talk to them. That's about all I can remember. I can't even remember the writers involved, but if you could dredge up any memories about the sketch, you'd dislodge a major brain block for me.

Thanks for the pod from an old timer, John. Oh my God, we're going to perform neurosurgery. A brain block surgery, yes yes this is so exciting john i i love this question i know well and this i didn't when the way that he described the sketch it didn't register for me what which one it was right i know but then when we started watching it yes i was like oh okay yeah i dug up a clip of it yeah because it the the sketch was known as jeremy and ira yes so who's gonna remember that are you gonna search that and they weren't aliens god damn it john they were from an alternate dimension another dimension but they did have i mean they were mostly human but they had they they alien yes qualities it was two writers who who wrote came up with it

and wrote it i'm sure they i'm sure they came up within the writer's room probably at 10 p.m yeah or maybe 11 p.m because it's not an idea that happens during daylight no no their heads come in and it was john glazer, hilarious John Glazer. Yep. And Brian Stack. Yeah. Really hilarious. Both great performers. And they would just, their heads would come in. They would just lean in.

They would lean in. So in the studio, they would literally just be down in front of Conan's desk. Oh, they were that close. Oh, yeah. I thought they were on a green screen or something. No, no. They literally just leaned their heads in. That's so stupid.

So they were in the camera shot and then they pulled their heads out. So if you, yeah, if you deconstructed it, you'd see them sitting right in front of Conan's desk. But in frame, all you'd see is their heads. Just their heads. And they were wearing these black hoodies. Black hoodies.

And they never talked. They never talked. But so Conan and Andy would ask absurd, just they would, they'd only nod yes or no. Yeah, and Conan and Andy would ask, absurd, just, they would, they'd only nod yes or no. Yeah. And Conan and Andy would somehow guess. Yes.

What they, what they were doing there. Right, right, right. Yes. So, yeah. So we'll have to put up some clips of Jeremy and Ira.

Yeah. And it's really funny. And you did a lot of them. It's so, it's so, it's, it's so simple. I don't even understand how you would come up with this.

It's a great example of, you know, dumb, smart. Well, it's just funny. Yeah. It's funny. And as silly as it is. Yeah. It's funny a lot. And the time, I mean, their performances are really good.

They're great. They're just, you have great comic timing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's so, it's all they do is just nod and shake their heads. And they're kind of playing off each other,

but they're also playing off of Conan and Andy. So it's so simple, but fun to watch. And so we'll put some up. Jeremy and Ira is the name of the bit. I hope that helps. I hope that helps your brain block. God. I know.

What if he's been like in a hospital, in a hospital bed for 12 years? Yeah, in a coma. God. I know. What if he's been like in a hospital, in a hospital bed for 12 years? Yeah. In a coma. Yeah. John, please come back to life. Yeah. We're here for you, John. Okay. Well, there can't possibly be any more questions. There are. Oh my God. There are so many more. Okay. Well, not that many more. No, I love it. I love them all. I think this question is basically just for you. Hey, Mike and Jesse. Craig from Australia here. Love the show.

I'm not going to do an accent. No, don't try it. It would be... And then you got to add, you know... Consulting. All the slang. Yeah. The awesome slang.

Right. I read that Team Coco wanted to release the 25 years of late night shows on the Team Coco website. However, because of the licensing issues with the music, the whole episodes weren't able to be released

on the internet. Is this true? And do you think you'll be able to release the archive of late night shows one day? Yours sincerely, Craig.

Well, Craig, thank you. And thank you for writing. Craig, all the way from Australia after a delicious brekkie. 25 years of late night. It's 16 years of late night, for God's sake.

25 years of total. You know, the music was an issue. Everything that's been put back up from late night, we had to swap. Yeah. Well, there was even that, one of those Jeremy and Ira sketches you showed me has a Queen song in it. Right. How are you supposed to show that?

Right. I don't know what we're going to do about that. Yeah. Because someone else put that up online. Mm-hmm. Team Coco didn't put that up. Right. So we'll have to cross that bridge.

But right now, the website Conan O'Brien has been putting out one or two old late night clips a week. The website is ConanO'Brien.com? It's Conan O'Brien. I didn't even know this existed until- On YouTube. It's a channel on YouTube that is- You told me about it.

Yeah. It's kind of growing and growing. And two to three clips, I just added a third one, a week are being released on there. Who's selecting those clips? Do you want me to tell you? Jordan Schlansky. They're all clips of Jordan. They're all Jordan-centric.

It's him just at home. I don't remember shooting Jordan on his couch watching Star Trek, but there it is. Jordan working out again. Yeah. So, and also, I think it's fair to announce that a lot of the clips from late night, the audio clips are going to start appearing on the Conan Sirius channel. Oh, cool.

Yeah. Yeah. On Team Coco Radio. Wow. It's so much content. I mean, it's really kind of overwhelming. It's 2,250 episodes. What?

We figured it out once. That's like, if you just watch them through, I think it started January 1st, just late night would take you through May. Wow. Without sleeping. Without sleeping. Yeah. Without sleeping. Without sleeping. Yeah.

Actually, back in late night, the head writer's room had these closet shelves with every VHSs of every episode. Oh, my God. Yeah. So if a writer wanted- It's like at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Yeah, exactly. Oh, you just pull out. Oh, so many episodes. There were no miracles on those shelves. Lots of Nazi memorabilia. Yeah. That's for an expose that's coming out soon.

What's next? We have more questions. Can I take this one? Oh, thank you. I'm going to read this question. I was watching the newest season of Married at First Sight. Have you seen that show? I haven't watched it, but I'm aware of the premise.

Do you guys watch it? I'm not going to admit that I watched it the whole season. I would never admit that I watched season one. Oh, that's great. Oh, I love imagining you watching that at home. Well, imagine no longer. Come over tonight and we'll watch season two. Gorgeous glass of wine.

Of course. A nice glass of Gruner, Vint Liner. Okay, here we go. I was watching the newest season of Married at First Sight and was tickled by this new couple's conversation, just in case Conan's ego needed more inflating. Love the podcast, by the way. You've got a great team and good banter. Okay. But of course, this is someone who likes

Married at First Sight. So that is a little damning. Stay awesome, Lauren Lindauer. Clark, thank you, Lauren. Thanks, Lauren. But it's not a question. It's not a question. But we're going to play this clip. I'd love to hear what this clip is. Okay, so here's a couple that got married without meeting each other first. And I think this is like they've been married a couple of days and it's getting to know you sessions. Yeah. Because they just met. Right.

So here's a snippet. The experts asked me, like, what do I find attractive and an example of a celebrity or something? And I said, Conan O'Brien. Conan? Conan and I don't look at anything alike. No, you don't. But I like how he owns his blankiness, his awkwardness, and it's part of his humor. And honestly, he's my hall pass.

I'm just going to tell you. Wow. I like Conan so much that I'd be okay with that. Oh, really? He didn't have to be a hall pass. You can share your watch. Yes. My watch.

Yes. Oh my God. It's a... Wow. A three-way. Three-some. Conan's... On behalf of Conan, I think we have to say...

He would be growling hard. Yeah. Man, if he's doing a show right now, that would be a great remote. Yeah. Just sitting with them and letting them. Three-way. We're the jokes.

Go to town. Wow. Okay. That's pretty that's oh man Conan is someone's hall pass I know and I love that it kind of turned out

like maybe he was both of their hall passes it sounded that way yeah it sounded like if that couple is going to stay together that was

it seems like they are based on that seems like the cement mutual attraction to Conan that's quite a quite a tribute to Conan. Yeah. Bringing people together.

I wonder how many other couples have bonded and how many people have divorced over one of them liking Conan. Well, that's great. Yeah, that wasn't a question. I think we will have to share that with Conan immediately. Oh, yeah. He'll love that. So what's our next question? Well, we're back with David Hopping.

Hello. Hello, David. You're Conan's assistant. Yes. And a frequent guest on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. I've heard you on there. Oh, that's good. You're fantastic.

Oh, that's a lie, but thank you. You're a breath of fresh air oh thanks well we wanted to talk to you because we got this question that we thought you might be able to help us answer it says hi Mike and Jesse

what's the story behind the remote Conan trains his successor with David Hopping how did David Hopping get picked for this segment and more importantly which writer was responsible for it anyway I love the podcast Lord is with David Hopping. How did David Hopping get picked for this segment? And more importantly, which writer was responsible for it?

Anyway, I love the podcast. Lord is. Do you remember doing that remote, David? I do. Oh, good. It's all gone. You were the writer for that, right? I was. Yeah.

Oh, what a happy ending. But I'm glad that you're here because I don't remember a lot of it. I don't remember how I got picked. I remember you telling me I was picked, but I don't know how I got picked. Well, to be honest, I think I pitched it more broadly than that. I pitched it just as Conan training a successor. Okay. Like he was going to leave the empire to somebody and needed to have somebody that was going to take over. So you pitched,

it was your idea. Yeah, it was my idea. I my idea. That's great. But I didn't say specifically who the person would be. And somehow in the writer's room, we talked and you became the guy. Wow. Yeah. So one thing that I can't believe when I look back on this is you weren't even Conan's assistant at that time. You were a PA on the show. Yeah. What was your title? I was personal PA for Conan and Jeff. Okay. So I reported to Sona. Okay, so you were Sona's assistant. Yeah. And so how much interaction had you actually had with Conan?

I had had quite a bit. Like from day one, I remember Sona brought me in and wanted me to get to know Conan like right off the bat because I mean I was immediately like, you know, running his personal errands and stuff like that. Yeah cleaning his underwear Exactly. Just normal things that you go to college to learn.

So you already kind of had a shtick with Conan. Was he already making fun of you for things? Oh yeah. Right away. Yeah. What was his I mean what was he getting you for? Like what was his What was his thing with you? Thing with you, yeah.

I mean, being from a small town, I think is the in the Midwest is like the number one thing. But it still stuck around. Yeah. Oh, well, once it's locked in. It's never leaving.

It's never leaving. Yeah. You could become mayor in New York City and you'd still be the guy from Carlinville. Rural Illinois. I did.

Oh, my gosh this is just making me remember did was there something in like your hometown paper about this? Front page? Yes!

Oh my god! Yeah? I still have it framed in my apartment? That's fantastic. We need to get a picture. Oh yeah I can send a picture. Alright yeah.

So after this remote aired that ran in your paper? Yeah they reached out and like did like an interview with me. They reached out. You didn't call them. Guys, do I have a scoop for you?

Hometown boy makes good. So they reached out. They reached out. They did like an interview. Conan and I took a picture and sent it to them. Wow. So people back home, you won, essentially. That day I did.

Yeah. Have you gone back for a high school reunion? No, they did a five-year reunion, but I missed it because I was here. Yeah. So we'll see. Because it was yesterday. And then the tenure got canceled because of COVID. So 15 will be my time.

Okay. Well, you're going to go back. Don't feel you need to go to any high school reunions. But if you've, you know, if you've been Conan's successor. Either way, you know, either way, you're going to be like, no one will give you the satisfaction. Okay. Well, we disagree on this. I want to hear about what happened at your high school reunion.

I don't want to talk about it. Oh, okay. Sorry about it. Whatever you assume, it's true. Whatever you assume, it's true. Oh. It was fine. Had you been on camera before that? I think just like as an extra and a couple sketches.

Were you in the intern? Conan gets to know the intern? No, that was the group before me. My first thing was the Star Wars Nerdgasm Choir, if you remember that one. I don't, but I love it. But, oh, so, and you know what, this speaks very well of you, David, because if the writers together in a room are like zeroed in on you, that means, I think, don't you agree? Like in everyone's exposure to David, they're like, oh, you know what?

He's a cool guy. He'd be good on camera. For sure. Yeah. Because we knew that you weren't going to get too hammy, that you were going to kind of be able to be yourself. Oh, that's nice. Yeah.

And I think we just thought it was a funny, I don't know, that like, because you're so game for everything. Just have to like say yes. Uh-huh. Yeah. And so we knew Conan would enjoy telling you what to do. Yeah. And that you would probably say yes. The whole thing was just a repeat after Conan.

Yeah, yeah. And you're very all American. I mean, you're from Illinois. Yeah. The Carbondale area. Carlinville. God damn it. Oh. Isn't it near? Just tell me it's near. It's like three hours away. I mean, you're from Illinois. Yeah. The Carbondale area. Carlinville. God damn it. Oh.

Isn't it near? Just tell me it's near. It's like three hours away. I think maybe. It's so close. It's a different state. It's so close to each other. Well, anyway, I know nothing about you.

Well, and another writer worked on this too, Levi McDougal. Yes. And I just vaguely remember us filming that day. We had to put you in a Conan wig. The wig, yeah. So that was kind of, We had to put you in a Conan wig. The wig, yeah. So that was kind of, you had to go into like extensive hair and makeup. So extensive.

No, I remember going down and they just like, yeah, put like some glue and then just basically stuck it on. Stuck it on, okay. They glued it. You got extra special, they would take distance with you. And can I ask you guys, what was Conan, while you were shooting it, was Conan like, was part of him like, oh, someone to replace me, eh? I think he wasn't too threatened. I think I was so nervous the whole time that there was no threat. Oh, you didn't seem nervous at all. Oh, that's nice of you to say. No, but Oh, you didn't seem nervous at all. That's nice

of you to say. No, but seriously, that's I love hearing that. Well, one thing I didn't remember, but when I was going back through old emails, there was actually, so the first segment went well. We basically got you dressed up and you did some monologue jokes and

learned the string dance. Yes. Did you learn the nipple touch? No. No, okay. That's proprietary. That one was too far, I guess. Too advanced. I wasn't prepared for that one.

But we were supposed to do a second installment of this. Oh, yeah. Where you were learning how to interview a celebrity. Oh. And we had reached out and I know Paula Davis,

our booker, had reached out to Mayim Bial, our booker, had reached out to Mayim Bialik. Oh, yeah. And so you and Conan were going to interview her together. I forgot about that. I know. And then it never ended up happening.

One of the travel shows came up. Oh, maybe that's what it was. Yeah. Anyway, that's a shame. It's just one of those things that never, never got done. Just go back on TBS real quick. We'll just do it again. Well, we'll keep that in the can.

If we ever come back, that's the first thing we're pitching. We have a surprise for you. Here's my music! I mean, in a weird way, though, you do, I mean, because now you are Conan's assistant and you know what he does almost better than anybody else. In a way, you really are most equipped to become his successor. I guess so. You know where all his wills are probably. I know. I mean, once I got the banking info, I knew I was in. Oh my God. That's big. How do we get in? We'll talk later. Okay. Why talk later? So his credit card number is. Yes.

We also need the expiration and security number. Of course. And the billing zip code. The billing zip code, yes. Any other questions? Will. Yeah, you mentioned Wills. Are we just any codicils with, I mean, we're kind of.

Oh, yeah. Are we in on this, Will? Oh, you know what? I don we just any codicils with, I mean, we're kind of- Oh, yeah. Are we in Conan's will? Oh, you know what? I actually don't know. That'll be a fun surprise for you guys. Can you get us in there? You're the one with all the numbers. They look at everything and there's just a post-it with your names.

It would be like- That's legally binding, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right. Is that an underline or a cross out? It's an binding, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that an underline or a cross out? It's an exclamation point. Well, thank you for walking down the hall to talk to us. That was a really long walk.

We were worried halfway down here, you'd be like, I'm not doing this. I'm over it. Yeah. Well, we have another question about office staff and David, feel free to jump in on this one too. This one is about somebody

named Erica Brown. Oh. Yeah. Who declined to be interviewed for this. This one says, I have heard Erica Brown's

name mentioned countless times over the last 10 years or so, but I don't think I've ever seen her on camera or heard her interviewed.

What does she do? That's from Dan Spiffy Newman. Oh, Spiff. Classic Spiff. That's a great, he's got eagle ears. Yeah. Not eagle eyes, because you will never see Erica Brown.

No, we asked her and she emphatically said, not in a million years would I do your podcast. Right. Well, I knew that was going to be a hard no. Because we asked her for years to do, be in office bits. Yes. And it was always no, no.

She would, she could tell just by your body language approaching her. She would just be like, nope. Well, do you guys remember when we would do like the staff photo on the stage? Yeah, yeah. I was next to Erica on one time and like right before they took the picture, she just ducked.

No. Now I think maybe she's in witness protection or something. Oh my God. She has a secret life. So she wouldn't even be She doesn't want to be in it.

In that photo where it's 140 other people, she wouldn't be in it. Oh my God. I mean, listen, in a lot of ways, I respect it. Oh really i respect it really hard everyone else that has worked here has at some point been used been mined for comedy everyone else and she has maintained her integrity that's the only word for integrity yeah david no offense to you no No, but you... Oh, I lost my end. I sold out so quickly.

You folded like a... No, you were... Lots of cards. You were trying to help the show. That's all I was there for. That's all you thought of. Yes. And Erica clearly...

Doesn't care about the show. She doesn't care. Which might be true. Well, let's say... Again, integrity. So Erica's technical position here is office manager. Right. She's the first person we see when we come in. Yeah, she's the first person you see. so Erica's technical position here is office manager right she's the first person

we see when we come in yeah she's the first person you see I mean she basically keeps the whole office running yes

and she's fantastic she is fantastic oh she's the best person to talk to when you walk in the door and then when you leave yes but yeah

it is kind of like you know the lights wouldn't turn on without her because no one would know where the light switch is. And it's so funny because, you know, you meet some people where you're like, oh yeah, I could see them not wanting to be on, like they seem introverted or something,

but she's so kind of telegenic and gregarious. And then, and I think, I remember the first time we asked her to be on and she was just like, no, I think we were all scratching our head. Like, wait, this doesn't add up. Wait, but you're great. And you'd be, everyone would like you.

It is the only explanation you've hit on it is witness protection. Yeah, I know. She's running from something. She's so important that it says Erica's house on the doormat when you walk into the office. It does. It literally says Erica's house.

Wait, didn't Conan order that map for her? He did. He came up to me one day and said that he wanted to get this for Erica. So we ordered it online, got it. And then we all walked down to present it to her at her desk. Oh, I bet she hated that. Yeah. It's like her worst nightmare.

Yeah, even that's too much attention. I know. Three people talking to her at once. It's like one at a time, form a line. Who's first? Oh, that's so great. She liked it, though. She loved it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She deserved it. This is her house. She runs it all. I know. She does run it.

Well, it is. I feel like, I mean, we should amend Conan's will to have this house left to Erica. Yeah. We have a lot. There's a lot of amendments. There's a lot of amendments.

Well, she could contest the will because she has the mat. I know. And she's been with the show for, since the Tonight Show? Or when would she come on board?

Around that. Let's just say yeah. Okay, we'll say yeah. She's been saying no to us since The Tonight Show. No. But, haha,

we got her name on the show. We did. We got a shout out to her. That's right. From Spiffy. Yeah, I mean, she's wonderful. We love her.

She's a very hard worker and she's just not a fame whore like the rest of us are, I mean, she's wonderful. We love her. She's a very hard worker and she's just not a fame whore like the rest of us are, I guess. I wonder what that's like. I don't want to know. Thanks, David. I'm going to write you into the sequel

to David Hopping's successor at large. You can be our successor. Yeah, that's right. We're here to hand the podcast over to you. Oh, that's so nice. Yeah, have a great time. Technically now I have, you know, replaced Conan and then Sona when she was on maternity leave.

And then Gourley when he was on paternity leave. So you guys are next. Wow, what a downward trajectory for you. Holy cow. Sorry, David. Hey, show business is tough. That is though. I feel like you're maybe kind of

the designated survivor of Team Coco. Like there's always one person in government that goes to a different spot whenever Congress is meeting because they don't want everybody to be killed at once. Oh, that's nice. So you would be that person.

Yeah. And that's why you have all the bank records. And that's why I'm writing myself into the will now. Exactly. And that's why you have all the bank records. And that's why I'm writing myself into the will now. Exactly. Another post-it next to ours. Well,

if we all get killed, we'll know who's responsible now. I think it's Erica Brown. Definitely Erica. Well, thank you, David Hopping. Thank you,

David. Thank you. For hopping in with some memories. Thanks for David-ing your way over. That doesn't work as well as hopping. Fuck. hopping in with some memories thanks for daviding your way over that doesn't work

as well as hopping fuck fuck that's why you're taking over oh um that's it

that's it for our listener question I don't know how many we did that was that went fast I know it went by fast for us. For us.

I hope it was fast for you guys. That was fun. We really enjoyed answering all your questions. And please, for God's sakes, send us more questions. We just used up a bunch of them. So now we need more. Give us a call at 323-209-1079 or email us at insideconanpod at gmail.com. We got to wrap this up, but if you like the show, you can support us by rating Inside Conan on iTunes and leaving us a review.

This has been wonderful. Yeah. I don't know what else to say. There's nothing else to say other than this. I mean, what could you say beyond this is wonderful? Oh, I just thought of something. We love you. Oh, you can't speak for me.

Yes, we both love you. Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast is hosted by Mike Sweeney and me, Jesse Gaskell. Our producer is Lisa Burr. Team Coco's executive producers are Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao. Engineered and mixed by Joanna Samuel. Our talent bookers

are Gina Batista and Paula Davis with assistance from Maddie Ogden. Thanks to Jimmy Vivino for our theme music and interstitials. You can rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. And of course, please subscribe and tell a friend to listen to Inside Conan or an enemy

on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you like best. I'm not going to tell you what to do. Put on your hat, it's the Conan Show. Try on some spats, you're going to have a laugh. Give birth to a calf, it's the Conan Show. Try on some spats, you're gonna have a laugh. Give birth to a calf, it's Conan! This has been a Team Coco production.