
Writer, showrunner, and producer Greg Daniels feels outraged about being Conan O’Brien’s friend. Greg sits down with Conan to discuss their unique strategies for saving money living together in their first LA apartment, traveling to Vancouver to hunt down the stars of the Canadian series Beachcombers, and expanding on the world of The Office with the upcoming spin-off series The Paper. For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com. Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (669) 587-2847.
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Greg Daniels
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Conan O'Brien
Bang Bang the Podcast, the promo, and in 30 seconds, I'm gonna tell you why. You should check out the show. I, the host, Scott Aukerman, have a lighthearted conversation with famous celebrities like Jon Hamm, Alison Williams, Phoebe Bridgers, Jason Alexander, Natasha Lyonne, Bob Odenkirk, just to name a few things. Go a little off the rails when different eccentric characters and oddballs drop by.
Greg Daniels
To be interviewed as well.
Conan O'Brien
Each week is a blend of convers and character work from your favorite comedians, as well as some new hilarious voices. Comedy Bang Bang the Podcast. Listen every Monday wherever you get your podcasts.
Greg Daniels
Hi, my name is Greg Daniels, and I feel outraged about being Conan o' Brien's friend.
Conan O'Brien
You should be.
Greg Daniels
Conan o' Brien needs a friend. Conan o' Brien doesn't have any friends. Poor Conan has no friends. Help him find a friend.
Conan O'Brien
And how long have we been friends?
Greg Daniels
I live two miles from you. I brought you food when you had shingles in your eye. Yeah, it's true.
Sonam Odsesssion
Fall is here Hear the yell back.
Conan O'Brien
To school ring the bell Brand new.
Sonam Odsesssion
Shoes Walking loose climb the fence Books and pens I can tell that we are gonna be friends.
Conan O'Brien
I can.
Sonam Odsesssion
We are gonna be friends.
Conan O'Brien
Hey there. Welcome to Conan o' Brien Needs a Friend. I'm sitting with my good pals, my amigos, my Chums 4 Life, that's the number four. Sonam Obsession. Matt Gourley. Good to see you both for life.
Matt Gourley
We're committing for life.
Conan O'Brien
Yes, you did. You've more or less. We've been doing this together over five years and that's significant. I know, but doing it well for five.
Sonam Odsesssion
It's the number four.
Conan O'Brien
That was one of my favorite jokes we ever did. We did a 10th anniversary special for the Late Night with Conan O' Brie and we did it at the Beacon Theater. And it was this big show. It was so much fun and so much great stuff. But one of my favorite things is I'm standing out there and I'm saying, it's such a wonderful night. And Mr. T came out.
Matt Gourley
I remember this.
Conan O'Brien
And he put. He handed me a giant. He's Mr. T wearing fatigues and with his mohawk and jewelry. And I was just so delighted because he became a friend of the show and he was such a great guest. And we did remotes together and I went to Chicago with him. He presented me with a gift and he put a big gold number seven over my neck. And he was like, happy, you know, happy anniversary, Conan. And I said, Mr. T, this is seven. I've been on the air for 10. And he said, you've only been funny for seven. And then he spun on his heel. He gave me a sharp salute, spun on his heel and marched out. Killed. I thought that was a great joke.
Greg Daniels
That is good.
Conan O'Brien
And God bless you, Mr. T. That's nice. We are having an exciting day because I walked in to the offices here at Larchmont. These sprawling, corporate, massive structure, one building. You shut up. I suddenly am set upon by two imps.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
Your kids are here today and it's so much fun. Why don't you paint the picture? Because I immediately revert to a three year old when I'm around three and four years.
Sonam Odsesssion
You really do become a child.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah.
Matt Gourley
Become a child.
Sonam Odsesssion
Maybe it is who you are. And then this is like, who.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, there's just layers.
Sonam Odsesssion
Not the real one.
Conan O'Brien
There's layers of crud, like those dishes that are wrapped in bacon. I'm a child. And then there's just layers and layers of high fatty meat surrounding the inner child.
Sonam Odsesssion
I was. It's weird. The analogy I thought of was how Superman is Superman and then Clark Kent is who he pretends to be. That's what I was thinking. More along.
Conan O'Brien
I like that better than bacon.
Sonam Odsesssion
No, I think bacon's more.
Conan O'Brien
So what happened? You were there and they were.
Sonam Odsesssion
They lost their minds when they saw you.
Conan O'Brien
Because I'm like a parade float.
Sonam Odsesssion
You. You come in and you're immediately just like going at, like just going at it. You're going crazy. And then they feed off that energy and then it just turns into a.
Conan O'Brien
We're both chasing each other around.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
I'm running upstairs, they're chasing me. And then I'm. They come running back downstairs and I'm chasing them.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
It was really fun to have them around. And the only thing I couldn't do is I tried to get them to freeze. Like, okay, everybody freeze.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
And Mikey won't do it.
Sonam Odsesssion
Mikey has a problem with authority. I don't know where he gets it from. I really don't know where he gets it from.
Conan O'Brien
It was so funny because I'd say no Guys. And then when I do this, we all freeze. And I would freeze, too.
Greg Daniels
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
And he just won't freeze.
Sonam Odsesssion
No, he won't. He won't listen to you. And then he'll, like, do it again. It's funny. And I'm like, it's not funny. You're not listening. Like, it's just not. It's. You have to stop.
Conan O'Brien
Right. Do you see yourself in a much better tone? Do you see yourself in him?
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah, I do.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. Because you never listen to me for years and years. You know that.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah, that's true.
Conan O'Brien
And I used to. When I first hired you as my assistant, I'd say, freeze, and you'd be like, what? No, that's stupid.
Matt Gourley
Well, that was just smart of her, though.
Greg Daniels
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, you were. You good life skills. You were 30. That was appropriate. Freeze. Tells you to freeze. Freeze. No. What are you doing?
Sonam Odsesssion
I just took out my pepper spray.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, no, I'm.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah, they're really. They love you. They really, really love you. And I think that they, like, every time someone would come in, they'd be like, is that Uncle Conan? Is that Uncle Conan? And, you know, like, they're just really excited to see you. I don't know.
Matt Gourley
Burn you a bit that they're loving so much.
Greg Daniels
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
Why? I don't know.
Sonam Odsesssion
I think when they're.
Conan O'Brien
It bothers you more than anybody. It does. It does. Yeah. You have kept me away from your daughter. I've noticed. You don't want her forming any attachments to me.
Matt Gourley
That's not true. I brought her in here before you.
Conan O'Brien
Bring her in, but you're always. Okay, that's enough. That's enough. And she starts to. I see light coming into her eyes for the first time, like, unbridled joy and fun. And you're always like, let's get out of here. And you wrap her in a blanket and you run away. I'm just gonna look at what you've been doodling here.
Greg Daniels
Oh, dear.
Conan O'Brien
Oh, look at this. Oh, no. You've got a Darth Vader that you've drawn. And then. Is that a Boba Fett? What is that, a Glip Glop? And then. This is just a regular Stormtrooper. These are the renderings of someone who has thought about these guys a lot.
Matt Gourley
I don't ever draw them. I swear to God. And I just happened to today. And of course, it's the one day that you pick up the piece of paper.
Sonam Odsesssion
Don't ever draw them.
Conan O'Brien
You don't ever draw them. These are perfectly rendered I used to.
Matt Gourley
Draw them in grade school all the time, you know.
Conan O'Brien
So you're saying you regress when you're in my presence? I do. Look at that. Those are really good.
Sonam Odsesssion
Those are really good.
Conan O'Brien
You're a very good artist. But it's just interesting to me that this is. This is what I feel like. I'm trying to get you to take an algebra test and I walk by you And I'm like, Mr. Goly, that's.
Matt Gourley
Exactly what happened in high school.
Conan O'Brien
Did you get. Yeah, he's horrible at algebra.
Matt Gourley
Absolutely horrible.
Sonam Odsesssion
Did you have detention a lot?
Matt Gourley
I wouldn't say a lot, but I was no stranger.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, you seem like a law abiding guy.
Matt Gourley
No, I was a real. Like, I got away with it. I broke a lot of rules, but I very rarely got caught. And I'm not proud of it, but I would do things like I wanted to get out of a test, did a full gash, wax makeup cut on my hand and went in to class just pouring blood out of it, going, I gotta go to the nurse.
Conan O'Brien
And so. And it was very realistic.
Matt Gourley
Very realistic.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah.
Matt Gourley
I had it in my glove compartment in my car in high school.
Conan O'Brien
My brother, we had this woman that, you know, my mom went back to work, my dad was at work. And so she got this woman named Eva Murphy who was from Prince Edward island. And she would help clean the house and she'd put on a meal for us at five o'. Clock. And she was just sort of there to make sure that there was someone at home. And she did a lot, actually. She was wonderful. But my brother Luke once took a. Sorry, Luke, I'm selling you out here. But he spent a lot of time, he used that fake vampire blood. And this is ingenious. He just wanted to play a prank on Eva. But he melted red wax on his hand and his upper arm so it looked like it had. And then he. He painstakingly put all this blood on it. And it looked like his hand had accidentally fallen into like, I don't know, a wood chipper disposal. Yeah, it was shredded. His hand looked shredded. And he went. He came running into the kitchen, was like, ah, Eva Murphy freaked out. And I think Luke then was like, ah. Luke was scared because he got. He just thought he was gonna get. Oh, you rascal. And instead he came running in with a sc. Stump that was shooting blood. Do you know what I mean?
Greg Daniels
It was.
Conan O'Brien
It was out of Monty Python, the.
Greg Daniels
Holy Grail man after my own heart.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. And I. I remembered. I was horrified. Eva was Horrified. Luke was horrified.
Sonam Odsesssion
Oh, my God.
Conan O'Brien
I don't think so. He's kind of a sociopath. But it was quite. That just triggered me. You just brought up a very painful memory for me. Yeah.
Sonam Odsesssion
Is that a butt?
Matt Gourley
It's a W for rap, but it also could.
Conan O'Brien
You looked. Look at that. Jesus. Can I see that, please? So you're out of control today. You just draw drew boobies.
Matt Gourley
Well, after she said, but I. Nipples on me.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. Okay, so now I see why you would go into detention. All right. Yeah, well, I'm gonna.
Sonam Odsesssion
Were you ever in detention? I feel like you were like the kid who asked for extra credit.
Conan O'Brien
I was the kid that carried other escorted other kids to detention.
Sonam Odsesssion
No, you weren't making that, were you? Were you the kid who was like, I have him.
Conan O'Brien
Principal Thomas. This malefactor Nerd. Nerd.
Matt Gourley
As he draws more Star wars head.
Conan O'Brien
Nope. I've taken your booby and I've turned it. I took your frown and turned it upside down. So I'm very happy with what I've done. That's real good. I know. And hey, you know the great thing about a podcast? It's perfect for drawing stuff.
Greg Daniels
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
But look at that guy. Look at that. See?
Greg Daniels
Wow, that's really special.
Conan O'Brien
Guess what, his friend. I guess his friends call him Titty. That's Titty Johnson. I just took back everything. I just did.
Matt Gourley
Okay, so we'll also post these on Team Coco. Podcasts on Instagram, both the Star wars heads and Titty Johnson.
Conan O'Brien
Do you want to do that? Do you want to do that again and sound like you're not on Lithium? I'm going to post these. Okay, Sylvia Plath.
Matt Gourley
We'll also post these.
Conan O'Brien
No, I want the other one.
Greg Daniels
You do it, asshole.
Conan O'Brien
Hey, you want to check out these fun drawings? See the whole evolution of two boobies to a friendly guy named Titty Johnson. Check it out on eamcoco.
Matt Gourley
Podcasts on Instagram and YouTube.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yay.
Conan O'Brien
That's the kind of show you've signed up for. Hey, I am very excited.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
My guest today is one of my oldest friends, and he also just happens to be a legendary writer, showrunner, and producer. I mean, he's been responsible for, like, half of the really good TV shows in the last 25 years. That's very true. And he and I go way back, and we got started together, we struck out. Two lads heading out to LA in 1985. He saved my life in so many ways, and I love him for it. The fourth season of his show Upload premieres on prime video Monday, August 25 and he has, like 15 other things going, too. It's craziness. I am so thrilled he's here today. And I know fans have been wanting this for a long time. The day has come. Greg Daniels, welcome. Anyone who doesn't know, and I think most people know because Adam Sachs has told me that this might be the most fan requested interview that we've had over years. People are saying, when are you going to get Greg Daniels here?
Greg Daniels
And yet I've guessed like, 750. I think I should have a podcast. Greg Daniels thought he had a friend.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, but I guess not. Look, I waited to monetize our friendship at the peak moment, and I think I've done that.
Greg Daniels
Middle of the summer who couldn't come because they were on vacation.
Conan O'Brien
You and I met in college and we both worked on the Harvard Lampoon. We knew each other.
Greg Daniels
You were in the same class freshman year.
Conan O'Brien
Yes, we did a.
Greg Daniels
Which you could talk about.
Conan O'Brien
We did a class which was like a playwriting class.
Greg Daniels
No, the other one. There was one. We did one with the same professor about stories. Do you remember in the freshman year as a seminar?
Conan O'Brien
I don't. It's all a blur.
Greg Daniels
Yes. Well, maybe I was dropping a lot. I might be thinking of someone else.
Conan O'Brien
I think you're thinking of someone else.
Greg Daniels
You know what we're going to do?
Conan O'Brien
We've never done this, but we're going to start again. Watch this and go. All right. For the uninitiated, for people who don't know, Greg and I went to school together. We kind of knew each other. And then I was on the Lampoon. You were competing to get on the Lampoon. You dropped off a car.
Greg Daniels
Why is that important that you were there first?
Conan O'Brien
I was there.
Greg Daniels
This is like the fourth time you've said this intro.
Sonam Odsesssion
I was on the lap. You were competing to get on the lap.
Greg Daniels
Yeah. I could have gone thumbs down. I could have gone thumbs up.
Conan O'Brien
I was the John Lennon and you were the Ringo that showed up. He was like, I can keep a steady beat. You dropped this cartoon off. That is. And that moment. I remember that moment very well because you had to leave them on the floor of this building. And I remember going into this room in the Lampoon building where people would just leave their stuff on the floor and looking down and seeing this cartoon. And a good cartoon is like a little silver bullet. It goes right to your brain. You had such a great cartoon, which was. Why don't you describe it?
Greg Daniels
I would never have brought this up.
Conan O'Brien
I liked it. I thought it was really funny. I thought it was. It was sort of my original story.
Greg Daniels
It's her origin story, I suppose. I suppose if we. It's a literary cartoon, but very literally literary cartoon. Very small audience, very nerd defining cartoon.
Conan O'Brien
Talk down to my people.
Greg Daniels
It was a. Oh, God, I can't.
Conan O'Brien
It's a sea captain.
Greg Daniels
It's a sea captain. Old sea captain. And he's at some party and he has a hello, My name is sticker on his shirt and it says Ishmael.
Conan O'Brien
Ishmael. One of the great lines. Call me Ishmael. And I thought. I saw that and I thought, okay, that's a great. That would be a New Yorker cartoon right now. It was well drawn. We got to know each other, and then both of us were interested in getting into comedy. I'll just speak for myself. The idea of going out into this crazy world by myself was terrifying. And I remembered thinking, gee, I wonder if Greg would do this with me. Cause he's really funny. And then I'd have a good friend and we could do it together. That was my feeling.
Greg Daniels
Yes.
Conan O'Brien
I think you were under the impression that I was very wealthy, which I was not.
Greg Daniels
Well, the summer before, we. We worked on a project and it was a very fun experience. And I think that comedy is such a social thing. It's so much fun to joke around with friends. And, you know, I prefer it that way, for sure. And so, yeah, so I thought, well, that's cool, let's try that.
Conan O'Brien
And I remember Greg, a brilliant fellow, and you were possibly going to go to law school, and I think your mother was questioning. And I remember when you showed up with me, it's like you show up with your fiance, you showed up with me. And I remembered your dad was like, oh, this sounds fun. And I think your mom was who I love, by the way. I love your mom and she's fantastic. But she rightfully was a little like, who's this Conan? And he's talking all this nonsense into my son's ear. That's the impression I got.
Greg Daniels
Yeah. Well, that was my two choices, lawyer or comedy writer. And I found that people, when I had been a kid and growing up, they would say, you should be a lawyer. And they always said that when they were mad at me because I was being really annoying and argumentative. And then sometimes they'd say, you should be a comedian, you should be funny. And they were always saying that when they were happy with me.
Conan O'Brien
That's cool.
Greg Daniels
And I was like, you know what? I think I should probably not go down this path of everybody hating me.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. Well, this part of my life is so seared in my brain, and I'm indebted to you because I don't know what. I don't. I think coming out to LA was terrifying to me. It was just. I.
Greg Daniels
What have you said to the audience about your origin? What can I talk about that they don't know?
Sonam Odsesssion
Oh, he ate a lot of burgers and fries and he ate weird and lanky.
Conan O'Brien
No, no. That's just genetics. Oh, okay. That's not my Marisa.
Greg Daniels
For burgers and fries, we used to go to Johnny Rockets. Did we talk about this?
Conan O'Brien
Well.
Greg Daniels
And I had this very annoying running joke with him where I would tell the waitstaff it was his birthday every single time that we came so that they would come sing to him.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, it was annoying. Very annoying. But I think all I have to tell people is that we came out here and we were very frugal. We were very hardworking. We did not have girlfriends.
Greg Daniels
We shared one car.
Conan O'Brien
Yep.
Greg Daniels
One apartment and one office.
Conan O'Brien
Wow.
Greg Daniels
And according to my father, one towel. I don't know if that's true.
Conan O'Brien
No, it's true. It's true. And I'll tell you this. We had an apartment, which I pass every day because I live not far away on Barrington. And I remember us, we had no furniture.
Greg Daniels
All right? So we got mattresses from a parking lot in Watts. Do you remember that?
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. We drove there, and they would. You pick out your mattress, and they.
Greg Daniels
Throw it on a truck, they tie it to the top of your car, and off you go. It wasn't a store. And then.
Sonam Odsesssion
I'm sorry, who's.
Conan O'Brien
They're not important.
Greg Daniels
I don't know. There was no warranty to this. It was just.
Conan O'Brien
There was no tag on the mattresses.
Greg Daniels
And it was wrapped in plastic, but it could easily have come from a dead person's apartment. I don't know.
Conan O'Brien
There was weird stains on them, bloody stains.
Greg Daniels
And we also. We had a subscription to the LA Times. Cause it's very important to know what's going on in your community. And that used to pile up so fast that we built furniture out of it.
Conan O'Brien
We stacked our LA Times. We did not have a couch, we did not have furniture. So we knew we had to have a television. So we got a television. And I know what it was, because my brother Neil tends to, let's say, hang on to things somehow. My brother Neil, he calls me the other day and he says, I just emailed you Something. And I checked my email. He had emailed a photograph. He said, it's an old 1985 TV remote that says Quasar on it. And I said, what is this? And he went, that's the remote control you and Greg had in your apartment in 1985.
Greg Daniels
It's like the size of a dictionary.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah.
Sonam Odsesssion
Oh my God.
Conan O'Brien
And it's all beat up. And Neil got it because I guess when we got our own places, eventually I took the TV and then it had another life and it went to New York with me. And then eventually Neil gets all appliances. He ended up with it. But the story that everyone needs to know is we shared a terrible car that we bought at like a junkyard near the airport.
Greg Daniels
The Rent A Wreck.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, the Rent A Wreck.
Greg Daniels
There used to be a place you could rent cars, maybe still called Rent a Wreck. And when the wrecks got so wrecky that nobody would rent them, then they sold them. Oh my God.
Conan O'Brien
And this looked. It was a 1977 Isuzu Opel, which is a car that I think they made twice. And then said, eh, no more, no more.
Greg Daniels
And you can see the ground from in the backseat. There was a corrosion hole. And if you wanted to get rid of your litter, you could just drop it on.
Conan O'Brien
We were this unit. We were locked in. We worked really hard at our job at. Not necessarily the news, but one of the things that was unusual is for young guys who are 22 and out in LA, we didn't drink, we didn't do anything, we didn't do drugs, we didn't. We were kind of interested in having girlfriends, but we didn't know how to do that. So I remember you went to like a Mrs. Fields and started chatting up the girl who worked at Mrs. Fields and you were like, I'm doing pretty well with that.
Greg Daniels
And then I had a second date with her.
Conan O'Brien
You had a second date. And so here's the best part of that. Greg comes to me because he had some success with the girl working at Mrs. Fields. And he came back and he went, ah, taking her out. And then he said, I need to speak to you. Can I have the car tomorrow? So he had to ask me if he could borrow the car. And I said, well, that's okay. And then I just stayed home with the tv, the Quasar and watched the A Team again. I don't know, but I don't know. It was this.
Greg Daniels
This is very accurate. Yeah, it's not complimentary, but it's very accurate.
Conan O'Brien
Well, I mean. And then we had these. We were so worried that we were gonna get into some kind of, what if the job dries up and we don't have money? And you were more of a taskmaster, in a good way, about, hey, we gotta make sure we don't blow our money when we're out here on our paychecks. So you found a place called Flaky Jake's.
Greg Daniels
Oh, yeah. My Flaky Jake scam.
Conan O'Brien
He had a scam at Flaky Jake's name. Yes.
Greg Daniels
So Flaky Jake's name was. It was this burger restaurant. And they were very proud of the fact that they baked their own buns and that you would put the burger on the buns and then you'd go. And they had hundreds of fixings.
Conan O'Brien
It's like a salad bar. Fixings bar.
Greg Daniels
Yeah. And, you know, and the whole thing was, you know, I don't know what, like eight bucks or something, but they would sell the. The buns for 35 cents. And you got the bun, you got a tray. And then you could go to the fixings, and you could put tomatoes and onions and a lot of dressing.
Conan O'Brien
Russian dressing, pickles. Yeah.
Greg Daniels
And you can make yourself, like, this vegetarian fixing sandwich for 35 cents.
Conan O'Brien
So you don't. So they would say, I, of course, didn't subscribe to that. I was 6, 4, 155 pounds, which, if you do the math, doesn't work. And I was always hungry. I was always perpetually hungry, and I couldn't gain weight. So I would say, I'll have the double, double, triple burger. And then they'd turn to Greg and he'd be like, just the bun. Thank you. And then he'd walk over to this thing and he'd pile it mile high with free throw.
Greg Daniels
I don't have to take a bad job because I had the burger. You know, I want to have a little flexibility there. Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
And so that's genius. Yeah. So we're driving around. I'm just trying to paint a picture because Greg has gone on to be one of the most successful TV creators of all time. And it's just. No, it's true. And it's really fun for me to time travel and go back to. You had a kick once when you said you had read an article that broccoli has all the amino acids you need. So you and I went and you filled bags with broccoli at the store. And we came home and we boiled it. Cause that's supposed to be. Or steamed it. And then we ate it with some Fat free butter substitute. And you were chomping it down going, mm, all the amino acids and for very little money. And I remember thinking, why did I pick this guy? Why didn't I pick a guy who was like, come on, let's do a few lines and then go to that strip club. You gotta carpe diem. Yeah. There was no carpe diem with us.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah. It was. Greg holding you back, right?
Greg Daniels
Yeah. I'm the problem.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. Yeah.
Greg Daniels
Thank you. Can you imagine?
Conan O'Brien
I had a T shirt that said Bikini inspector.
Greg Daniels
There was not a nerd vibe in him at all.
Conan O'Brien
It was just me.
Sonam Odsesssion
This guy was supposed to go clubbing. And you held him back with, say.
Conan O'Brien
That Leopold and Loeb. Neither one of them would have killed if they were alone, but together they were lethal. That's true of most murdering couples. Greg and I each made the other nerd vibrate. Nerd genes vibrate. And we both would get nerdier.
Sonam Odsesssion
I know. Who knows? Maybe without you, he would have been like, you know, going to the strip clubs and I don't know.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah.
Greg Daniels
Having a burger.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. I don't know. Having some real protein.
Greg Daniels
I really want to run with that premise, but it doesn't feel right.
Conan O'Brien
Conan o' Brien Needs a Friend is brought to you by Airbnb. You know, one of the best things Sona about traveling is getting to immerse yourself in a new culture. Try new things that you wouldn't have otherwise thought of.
Sonam Odsesssion
That's right.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. That's why I love Airbnb experiences. Authentic, unique ways to explore a city like a local and meet new people along the way.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah, it is.
Conan O'Brien
I'm such a fan of Airbnb experiences. Get this. I'm hosting my own Airbnb Original Experience at the Sirius XM Garage, L.A. on Thursday, September 4th. You'll get to sit down on a very intimate, one of a kind live podcast recording with a mystery celebrity guest, followed by a cocktail party and a fun surprise experience you'll only know about if you're there. This is something you want to be part of. I think it's going to be what the kids back in the 60s called a happening.
Sonam Odsesssion
Okay.
Conan O'Brien
Plus, you'll take home exclusive Conan o' Brien needs a Friend merch. But that's not all. Everyone at my Airbnb Original Experience will get to record their own, I feel. So come and tell us how you feel about being my friend. No profanity, please. I think this is gonna be a fun day. I'm very much looking forward to the secret guest on this podcast. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. Go to airbnb.comconan to snag your spot on August 21st. Guests and co travelers must have an Airbnb account prior to signing up for the experience. Max two guests per booking. Hey, can't wait to see you there. One of the hardest things about B2B marketing is reaching the right audience. You know what B2B is, don't you?
Sonam Odsesssion
Business to business?
Conan O'Brien
You bet it is. It's not some little robot in a Star wars movie. LinkedIn has grown to a network of over 1 billion professionals, and that's where it stands. Apart from the other ad buys. I say this all the time. I hope people are listening. You can target your buyers by job title, industry, company role, seniority, skills, company revenue, all the professionals you need to reach in one space. Why be talking to the wrong person?
Sonam Odsesssion
I know. What's the point?
Conan O'Brien
That's like going to a delicatessen and asking for I want a monkey wrench. Yeah, you go to a hardware store for that. I think that's a really good example I just made.
Sonam Odsesssion
That's a really good one.
Conan O'Brien
Stop wasting budget on the wrong audience and start targeting the right professionals only on LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn will even give you an extra 250 credit on your next campaign so you can try it yourself. Isn't that cool?
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah, I want to try it.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, play around with 250 bucks. See what you can do. Just go to LinkedIn.com teamcoco that's LinkedIn.com teamcoco Terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn at. Introducing Searchlight Pictures New movie the Roses Perfect couple Ivy and Theo Rose, played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, have it all. Successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But when Theo's career comes crashing down just as Ivy's fame starts to skyrocket, a tinderbox of fierce competition and growing resentment ignites, threatening to destroy everything they've built if they don't destroy each other. First directed by Jay Roach of Meet the Parents and written by Tony McNamara of Poor Things, the Roses is a sharp laugh out loud comedy about love, rivalry and what happens when success becomes a battlefield. Also starring Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Shoothi gatwa and Kate McKinnon. All's fair when Love is War in theaters everywhere this Friday. Get tickets now. I have such clear memories, and they come back to me whenever I drive past our old haunts. Remember, we eventually get separate apartments. I found a $380 month, month apartment from Cynthia Stevenson. She had this special apartment that was really cheap and she said, I'm moving in with my boyfriend, you can have my apartment. You got an apartment not too far away. We're now in the Flats in Hollywood. And I'll never forget you finally decided you were going to get a new car and you were going to come by and show it to me. And of course you're very practical, you're careful.
Greg Daniels
I did a lot of research about how you deal with, with car dealers. And you gotta hold the line, you gotta go in there and tell em, this is all I got. And so I did that. I did everything right. I went in there and I walked out. They had sold me a car with no air conditioning because I didn't know what to do. I was like, this is it, this is all I can go. And they were like, well, we can make that if you get by this one that has no air conditioning. And I kind of was like, maybe I don't need it.
Conan O'Brien
And so this is interesting. He comes by my apartment and this is before cell phones, before anything like that. So I think you called me ahead of time and said, be out in front of your apartment and at 3 o'clock I'll come by with my new car. I go out. And then you had bought a very sensible Toyota Corolla.
Greg Daniels
So I got the one with no air conditioning. And then I also compounded my problem by getting a car that would last forever, would have no air conditioning for years and years.
Conan O'Brien
And I got in and you were a little defensive. I got in and there was a giant hole in the middle. This is a BR brand new car and there's a giant space that you could put a watermelon in in the console. And I said, what goes here? And he went, well, that's normally the air conditioner, but I didn't get that. And I said, I'm sorry.
Greg Daniels
Do I sound like that? What the fuck?
Conan O'Brien
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I forgot. I thought I. I'm sorry. I thought, I thought that I partnered with Niles from Frasier. I apologize. No, but Greg said, oh, I didn't, I didn't get that. And Greg was like, yeah, I didn't get that. What the fuck?
Greg Daniels
How you doing? How you doing?
Conan O'Brien
Hey, hey, don't diss the pussy wa. I was like, craig, please. He said, come out on vag patrol. I was like, jesus, Craig. But he said, he said, I didn't get an air conditioner. And I said, there's only two Settings.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
And I said. Yeah, I said. I said, I don't know. Don't you need air conditioning? It's fine right now. And it was. Of course, it was February.
Greg Daniels
And yes, felt really good in the car without the air conditioning after that.
Conan O'Brien
Anytime we went to a meeting, he was covered in sweat. He looked like he was having a nervous breakdown.
Greg Daniels
I remember going to. I drove to, I think, to see you in Chicago when you were here.
Conan O'Brien
I did Happy, Happy, Good show with Robert Smigel, Bob Odenkirk.
Greg Daniels
Yeah. And I was going to see you. It was like August. And I drove from LA to Chicago and I had to sleep during the day and drive at night because it was so hot in the car. I made the mistake of leaving a cassette in the car. And I came back. Like, when I went to get a hamburger, I came back. It was all curly, cued from heat. It was a nightmare car. But I had a.
Conan O'Brien
At least you had a hamburger, though. You treated yourself. Yes, I'm dying and so I need a hamburger. I do remember we used to do very strange things to entertain ourselves. We have to sit down and we have to together write all this down sometimes.
Greg Daniels
Yeah. I don't know what you've told folks here. Like, one of my favorites was, you're insane.
Conan O'Brien
And I was held back from my life as a fucking suck master.
Greg Daniels
Oh, no.
Conan O'Brien
God. By the way, Greg and Judy Daniels. To Aaron and Judy Daniels. I hope you're enjoying the podcast. See, I was a good influence.
Greg Daniels
We redid the beginning four times, and we won't redo this. That's gotta stay there.
Conan O'Brien
I'm not redoing this. I'm proud of this.
Sonam Odsesssion
Oh, my God.
Greg Daniels
I was just remembering the bit where we got into our first kind of argument with the costume designer and.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. This is at Saturday Night Live.
Greg Daniels
At Saturday Night Live. And they went to Lauren and they said, said, you fire these two or I'm leaving. And Lauren was like, this is my costume designer. She's terrific and got all these awards and everything. So he called us into his office and we were a little nervous.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. We thought we were getting fired.
Greg Daniels
Yeah. And he sat down and we just had this conversation. He said, we gotta stay in here about 20 minutes. So she thinks I'm yelling at you. It was terrific.
Conan O'Brien
It was great. He was like, I have to be here for 20 minutes, and you're in here, too. And just so you know, I'm yelling at you right now. But he wasn't right. And we didn't get into a fight to Be fair. All we did was we wrote a sketch and it had these elaborate costumes, and we checked on. We went to the place where they were manufacturing them just to check on them. Cause we thought that's what a good writer, producer does, is check on things. And that, apparently, was us overstepping our bounds, which. Okay, I didn't know. We didn't know that we were brand new. So. Yeah, I don't remember us. We never got into fights with people or yelled at people.
Greg Daniels
No, no, no, no. We just ignorantly stepped on toes.
Conan O'Brien
Yes.
Sonam Odsesssion
That just seems normal, though.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah.
Sonam Odsesssion
Even now that's normal.
Conan O'Brien
I don't know. It was one of those things where we were new, and I don't think it would have been an issue if we had bad.
Greg Daniels
I mean, I think we were pretty nice people, but we had a lot of, like, bad instincts for Hollywood. Like, I remember when we. Before we got to snl, we had an opportunity to possibly do a movie rewrite. And this was very rare for us. We had never, ever been offered any. So they sent us this script, and we read it, and we had this one meeting. We came in, and for some reason, we were really concerned that the studio had wasted money, because we didn't like the script at all. And we spent the whole time going, can you get the money back? Is that possible?
Conan O'Brien
We were more interested in the studio getting its money back.
Greg Daniels
And there were.
Conan O'Brien
And we weren't playing the game. And also, I remember the first meeting we ever had with an agent was. No, it was Howard Klein. We had a meeting with Howard Klein. And Howard was like, okay, well, you guys, there's a good word on you. You're doing a good job. And the next step would be for you guys to do this and this and this. And I cut him off and I said, what if we. How does it work if we want to write new lyrics to existing songs? And he said, what do you mean? I said, well, you know, Elvis Presley had that big hit with Suspicious Minds. What if we just changed it to Suspicious Brains? Can we get paid for that? And he said, get the fuck out of here. I don't know why. Trying to tickle our own brains and be happy.
Greg Daniels
Well, you had this thing. You had this thing where you wanted to put in our contract that if Bob Hope died, we would be released from our contract. Rules of Comedy would have been all different.
Conan O'Brien
You know, there's all this boilerplate.
Sonam Odsesssion
Oh, God.
Conan O'Brien
We got our first contract, and it was just, you know, we were staff writers on, Not Necessarily the News. And there's just this stuff that of course, Greg got out his magnified glasses and was looking and saying. It says here, well, according to Painsley T. Paensworthy, it says here that Article 4, Section 9 and it says things like. That's been in contract since the beginning of time. Literally biblical stuff about fire, plagues, locusts, act of God. And I said, well, there needs to be. I said, harry Klein, we want a clause in there that if Bob Hope should die, comedy as we know it would be forever changed and this contract is null and void. And again he said, get the fuck out of here. I just think I was kicked out of his office like 15 times.
Greg Daniels
And Bob Hope just kept living too.
Conan O'Brien
He died six hours ago, the age of 150. But I will say I have so many happy memories that I wouldn't have had. I'm an anxious person and I put a lot of pressure on myself. And Greg was really just a great.
Greg Daniels
If you go lucky.
Conan O'Brien
Well, hot smoking.
Greg Daniels
Just think Owen Wilson.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, Greg should be played by Owen Wilson from the stick era. No, you. We just had a lot of fun doing weird things that. There's a whole story. It's probably a screenplay where you and I decided to. I think we had seen in the news that Lady Diana, or Princess Diana and her husband Charles had just been to Vancouver for like a fair.
Greg Daniels
And we decided to Expo. The Expo, it was like Expo 87 or something. And we saw an ad where they made it look amazing in the ad. And I think you as a historian type person knew about the Chicago Expo of like 1904 or something. That was very impressive. And we just managed to convince ourselves that if we missed Expo 87 in Vancouver, we would regret it for the rest of our lives.
Conan O'Brien
I still stand by that. And by the way, the Expo was over. The Expo was over, but we thought we'll see the remnants. Oh, no. So I remember we flew to Seattle.
Greg Daniels
It was like all business too. It's just like Xerox had a thing because they had a new copier.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. You know, there was a new kind of asbestos they were coming out with.
Sonam Odsesssion
You sign in the paper and you're.
Conan O'Brien
Like, we gotta go there, we gotta go. So Greg and I fly. I mean, other people on their weekends are. I'm in la, I'm gonna get on a boat with all my friends. And we did know people, Billy Kimball, Ian Macksone, Graham, who lived in a cool house. They all were writers, they would go out on, they would rent boats and all split it. And on the weekend they'd go out and wear yachting caps and have fun. And there were women on the boat. And you're like. We're like suckers.
Greg Daniels
Xerox has a new copier, so we're gonna be the first to see it. We're gonna have our pictures taken with the new Xerox copier.
Conan O'Brien
So we flew. We fly to Seattle. We fly to Seattle, and then we drive in a. Of course, the cheapest rental car you can get. Like the Hyundai bulb. And it's a light bulb that turned into a car. And we drove that from Seattle to Vancouver. And then we're watching. We're in our motel room quickly sussing out that, well, this expo isn't really happening, and it's raining a lot, and all the exhibits are closed, and there's a half a Ferris wheel. What are we doing here? And then we're spending a lot of time. We got hooked on hcombers.
Greg Daniels
There is a Canadian content show that ran for, like, 50 years. It's like the Bold and the Beautiful of Canada called Beachcombers. The Beachcombers, I think the Beachcombers. And Bruno Girouci was the star and creator, I believe.
Conan O'Brien
I'm glad you got that right. That's some mail I don't have to answer.
Greg Daniels
And we decided we had to go watch it be filmed. And we just became completely obsessed with this film. With this film.
Conan O'Brien
And with one particular character. We decided there was one particular character on it who didn't have many lines. And we decided we have to meet him. And we made a promise to ourselves. We're going to shake his hand before we leave Vancouver. And then we went and we got reporters notebooks, and we're interviewing people all over town pretending we're reporters. And then someone we saw with cbc.
Greg Daniels
We found out they were shooting at Gibson's island, which I now am, like, in that community a little bit. Cause I shot Upload up in Vancouver, and so I.
Conan O'Brien
People, you've returned to the scene of the crowd.
Greg Daniels
I've returned, yes. People send me, like, Beachcombers shirts. Like, all the crew that I worked with there. Yeah. So we. And then we had to get to Gibson's, like, in time to go back to Seattle to get our flight. And we were running out the clock trying to figure out how to get to the set. And we missed the ferry that goes to Gibson's. And it was the last ferry. There'd be no way to get there. So then we went down to the docks and we started talking to fishermen. And we were. Yes. And we paid some guy to go faster than the ferry in his little fishing boat.
Conan O'Brien
And we're so excited. We jump in this boat and we're beating the ferry, and we're like, yeah, we're going to get to the island before the ferry. And then we get on the island and we. And then someone tells us the character we want to shake hands with. He says, oh, yeah, no, I think he lives over on Mapleton Avenue. You and I fan out and you take. We're pounding on doors, and we're pounding.
Greg Daniels
On doors randomly going, you know where.
Conan O'Brien
Open up. And so Greg took the north side of the street, I took the south side of the street, and we just both. And then I'm banging on, like, my seventh door. Door opens, there's the guy, and I'm like, hold on a second. Greg, Greg, Greg. Greg comes running. We both shake his hand. He doesn't know what's happening.
Greg Daniels
He's just accepting that he's got fans from LA that, you know, have made the pilgrimage. He's happy.
Conan O'Brien
And we did this. So. And then.
Greg Daniels
But then. But we have to get on. The ferry has docked and is putting on cars, and that's our last chance to make our flight to get back to that ferry, the one that we beat. And we start running down the street trying to get to the ferry, and this woman in a Jeep picks us up. Do you remember that? We hitched, like, this woman, we explained it to her. She completely loved the. Got into the spirit of it. She, like, gunned it towards the ferry, went the wrong way down a street. Cause, like, the ferry line for the next ferry was already there and pulled us.
Conan O'Brien
So we had to kill her.
Greg Daniels
No witnesses. That was the plan.
Conan O'Brien
Still unsolved, but, you know. So flash forward years. Greg's gone on to create half the TV shows people have watched. And I've gone on to my foolishness. And one day, I get this. Someone tells me, ari Emanuel, the famous Ari Emanuel's on line. One agent to the stars. He's like, I just talked to Greg. He told me the story of you guys.
Greg Daniels
He thought it would be a movie.
Conan O'Brien
And he said, it's a movie. And I said very calmly, no, Ari, it's not.
Greg Daniels
It's an anecdote.
Conan O'Brien
It's two nerds doing something very nerdy. Yeah, if anecdote film starts making films, then maybe.
Greg Daniels
But Ari's got really good instincts. And so, I don't know, maybe that should have been the next project.
Conan O'Brien
That'll be the next thing we do. So. So I knew early on that you were very interested in what turned out to be stuff that most people like, which is character development, story arcs. And I was always like, what? You know, it should be a sketch that's three minutes long and it should have a masturbating bear in it. And you'd go, uh huh. Yeah. But what happens to the bear over time? And so we decide. You start. I remember initially you were writing. I did an extra season on snl. You start working on a screenplay, then you start working on these different things. I know that you did work on the Simpsons. You did work for Seinfeld. And then you team up. You and Mike Judge do King of the Hill. I think was. Which was fantastic.
Greg Daniels
Thank you. That was a lot of fun. And it's coming back August 4th.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah.
Greg Daniels
Season 14.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, it's coming back. And you are in this period right now, a real purple patch, which is.
Greg Daniels
I don't know what that means.
Conan O'Brien
Purple patch. I usually means, like a very creative sweet spot. Because King of the Hill is coming back. You are also launching season.
Greg Daniels
Upload is coming. The final season.
Conan O'Brien
Final season of upload.
Greg Daniels
August 25th.
Conan O'Brien
August 25th. You showed me the other day your pilot episode, the first episode for the Next generation of the Office.
Greg Daniels
It's the new documentary by the same crew. That's how we're describing it.
Conan O'Brien
Yes. It's not a reboot. It's nothing like that. You showed it to me, which I loved, by the way. I really loved it.
Greg Daniels
I like to slip you things. I remember showing you and Beckett parks and rec. And I get good feedback from Conan.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. Beckett said, no, really, this can't work. Yeah. I said, cartoon in Texas. That's not gonna work. And he was really vehement about it. And he was like, five. Yeah. I saw this latest. The episode for this latest show, the pilot. And it starts. If I'm allowed to say there's. We can cut this out if it's not cool. But there's a moment that's very powerful where the documentary crew is trying to find.
Greg Daniels
Well, it starts with them trying to find out what's up with Dunder Mifflin. And they find out some stuff, and it leads them in a new direction to a different city. And in the different city, they stumble upon this historic newspaper which has kind of turned into a ghost newspaper, which I don't know if you're familiar with that, but that's when some other company buys a local newspaper and fires all the reporters and keeps it going, selling ads, but they just print wire stories.
Conan O'Brien
Wire stories.
Greg Daniels
Yeah. And so. So they see this and they kind of go, oh, that's an interesting subject for documentary. And then this guy comes and he doesn't really have a lot of journalism experience. He's been selling toilet paper at another division of the company. But he loved being on his college newspaper and he wants to revitalize this newspaper.
Conan O'Brien
He wants to bring it back to a real paper. There's just a great scene in it that's. There's a lot about this new show that is putting a light on how much things have changed. So there's old documentary footage of the old newspaper in Toledo, Ohio. And then they contrast it and you just see 150 people working really hard on these giant machines putting out the paper. And then you see this young woman who's an important character, but she's working at the paper and she's explaining to the documentary crew what they do. And she's just dragging and clicking AP stories and dropping. And then a lot of it is just clickbait. There's a thing that automatically tells you, is this too big an article for this page? Yes, it is. And then she has to pick a different article. And I thought, very smart to make it about this right now especially.
Greg Daniels
Well, it's, you know, people have sort of counted out newspapers and there is something in the tone of the office that this sort of poignancy of people doing their best in a situation that is not very hip or people have kind of counted them out. And this, this new show is. Got a little more maybe bad News Bears energy because they are trying to do accomplish something. And, you know, and they are more inspired than the team that worked at Dunder Mifflin.
Conan O'Brien
And you're working with a guy who started out with me, Michael Komen.
Greg Daniels
Yes.
Conan O'Brien
Michael Komen is one of my. Shout out to Michael Komen, one of my all time favorite late night writers. Brilliant guy, really funny. And he has enough on me to put me in jail because he was.
Sonam Odsesssion
Everybody does.
Greg Daniels
I was gonna say more than Sona.
Conan O'Brien
I think I tackled him 50 times. Physically tackled him.
Greg Daniels
Yes. I've seen the battery, assault and battery, things that he hasn't filed.
Conan O'Brien
He's absolutely brilliant and I love that.
Greg Daniels
You guys, this is the guy behind Nathan for you. And when you think about, you know, a show like the Office that takes like a reality format and gets high comedy out of it, I mean, to me, Nathan for you is like the pinnacle. So, yeah, very excited to doing this with him.
Conan O'Brien
You know, I think the relationship I have with my Team has been a critical part of the phenomenal success of Conan o'. Brien. Needs a friend for sure. And maybe my late night career. David, you know, you see me with my team. I care about my team.
Greg Daniels
You actually do.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. And don't say actually do.
Greg Daniels
You actually do. I stand by that.
Conan O'Brien
I show a lot of caring and concern for my people. Justworks is an easy to use, intuitive HR platform that helps small businesses support their people. And that's what I'm all about. You love supporting people. Yes, I do. Quiet.
Greg Daniels
Okay.
Conan O'Brien
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Greg Daniels
The licensing fees.
Conan O'Brien
I'm up all night with that stuff. And your team gets access to premium benefits like health insurance, 401k and commuter perks. Plus, with transparent pricing, you'll always know exactly what you're getting and what you're paying for. Go to justworks.com to learn more. They do your human resources right. So you can do right by your people. Just works for your people.
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Conan O'Brien
I'll think of myself occasionally as being very busy. And then I look at what Greg's doing and you're doing 15 times the amount of work that I'm doing.
Greg Daniels
Well, it's very rare that they all come out the same month. I mean, that's like nothing. The paper is September 4th. So between August 4th and September 4th, I have three things coming out. But they've been years in development and working on them and stuff. It's just random that they're right. Well, I noticed that at least I get an invitation here. I have to do three shows. I don't know what some of the other guests do. I can't imagine they have three shows coming out.
Conan O'Brien
The only guests I interview have an Emmy, a Golden Globe, you know, the whole thing. And egot, Tony, Oscar. Yeah. I've been rooting for you to get on this and I've been waiting.
Greg Daniels
I know.
Conan O'Brien
I talked to Paula when Will Greg's career.
Sonam Odsesssion
He said he called out Paula.
Greg Daniels
That's what Conan's been saying. He said, I want to get you on. But Paula.
Conan O'Brien
Paula Davis, who we met at snl.
Greg Daniels
At snl?
Conan O'Brien
Yes. We met Paul at SNL the first day we showed up there in February of 1988. And I started talking to Paula, and she was sitting behind a desk and she was really funny and quick. And I said, oh, she reminds me of my sister Kate. I like this Paula. Cut to her me hiring her the summer of 1993 to be the head booker at Late Night. And she's still with me. A barnacle that cannot be removed. It's funny, I think about. I don't know about you, but I drive around Los Angeles and when I'm in New York, New York less so because it doesn't have the same associations. But in LA. 85, 86, 87. I'm constantly passing things, and I have a very strong sense memory of you and I being there. You went off to get your ridiculous car. I decided I need to get a different car than this piece of junk we bought at the airport. No, I got a 19. I decided I needed. Oh, yeah, you got a cool car.
Greg Daniels
Well, it is like a Dodge Dart or something.
Conan O'Brien
It's a Dodge Dart. It's the car they drive on Dragnet.
Greg Daniels
Yes, that was a good one.
Conan O'Brien
I wanted a car that looked like I was a narc from 1972. So I got. And the thing about my. It was a Plymouth Valiant, which is the same thing as a Dodge Dart, pretty much. And it was mustard yellow with a black interior, bench seats. And when you turned it off, the engine dieseled, which means it kept going. And I remember going on a date and getting out of the car to go open the door for my date. And opening the door, and I had turned the car off and it was going. And then like. And just watching it and thinking, well, this isn't going to happen for me tonight.
Greg Daniels
Well, I had a window air conditioner in the passenger side for my dates.
Conan O'Brien
The car's a little. It's a little side heavy. I'm trying to think of. I'm trying to think of. And you know what was really fun, which is a really nice memory for me? My hosting the Emmys. And I thought of this open that connected all the different shows that were Emmy nominated. And my favorite transition. I always wanted to think of a cool way to get from one show to the next. At the time, Lost had just had its first season. Was the big. A huge Hit big show. Everyone's talking about it. So I wash up on the Lost. My plane crash. I'm going to the Emmys to host my plane crashes. I wash up on the beach, and I make myself. I make myself a hairdryer and get my pompadour going. And then I walk through the jungle. I meet Hurley from Lost. We find the. What's it called? The port? The hatch. We find the hatch, and he said, we don't know what's down there. And I said, well, I'm gonna find out. And I lower into the hatch, and I went to Hawaii and shot this. So you can. I think you can look this thing up online. I go down, and suddenly my feet kick through something, and you cut to my feet going through acoustical tile off a ceiling, and I fall down onto Dwight's desk, and it's the entire cast, that original cast of the office. Suddenly, I'm in the confessional area where I'm giving my testimony. Whatever.
Greg Daniels
Well, you'd actually been, like, our one celebrity guest star up till that point.
Conan O'Brien
Because you guys came to 30 Rock.
Greg Daniels
We went to 30 Rock, and Michael was in. In New York for a meeting, and he was, like, showing all of his favorite things, like his local pizza place, Sbarros, and he thought he saw Tina Fey going into.
Conan O'Brien
But it wasn't Tina Fey.
Greg Daniels
Wasn't Tina Fey just. Somebody looked vaguely like her. But then you walked by, and the camera saw you. But he missed you.
Conan O'Brien
He missed me. So I'm going by, and I think I remember just doing, like, two takes, and I came downstairs from my show. But that was magical for me because our different worlds, which are very diverse, came back together again. And you were directing me in your big hit show, your second big hit show. And I was. It was cool. It was really. It was like a nice happening. Like, wait a minute. We're the same guys that maybe.
Greg Daniels
Us being the same age. I don't know. There's a couple things that go like that. Like you hosting the Emmys when we won an Emmy, and they were. There was something. What were you saying right before we.
Conan O'Brien
Were both arrested at the same time? Yeah.
Greg Daniels
No, but there's, like, things happen like that.
Conan O'Brien
No, but there was a lot of neat little. That was a moment. Getting to work with you on that. And then I remembered Steve Carell.
Greg Daniels
That's what I'm remembering. The upfronts. This was hilarious. You were hosting the NBC upfronts the year that we came out, and I guess there was an enormous amount of overlap there, but this was so funny to me because. And this is probably inappropriate, but the show that they were really pushing hard was Father of the Pride. Do you remember this? It was the cartoon.
Conan O'Brien
Cartoon based on Siegfried and Roy.
Greg Daniels
And Roy had just been. It was about their tigers. It was like the idea was to take the Siegfried and Roy's tigers and do a family show about them and this anime, animated and teamworks, I think. Yeah. And.
Conan O'Brien
And then literally a month before it came out, one of the tigers nibbled on Roy's face.
Sonam Odsesssion
Nibbled.
Conan O'Brien
He just had a nosh. And they were like, nope, this is actually good for the show. Yeah. I remember they were just like.
Greg Daniels
They cut to him. Right. Like you were on stage with all the advertisers and they decided they'd beam in Roy in bandages saying, it's okay, it's ok, I don't have any ill will to my tigers.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. And he was to show that the tiger was with him too. Heavily sedated, jaw wired shut. Anyway. Yeah. There were all these moments where then our careers would come back together. But all this time, I'll tell you one thing is, I've learned a bunch of things about Greg. One is that he doesn't want to just meet me at a restaurant and have a meal. He wants to meet me while we're doing something where our heart rate is up.
Greg Daniels
So you're always saying that I like walking with people. I like walking with people. I don't love having to look into people's faces when I'm talking to them. I prefer some faces are different. I don't know, Sona. I might make an exception. Friendly face. But it's better. It seems better to walk like.
Conan O'Brien
I know, but parallel.
Greg Daniels
Right. But it seems to talk more.
Conan O'Brien
Sometimes it's a little insane where I'll say, it'd be really nice to sit down and I'm hungry, I haven't eaten. You haven't eaten. We could sit down and you're like, no, there's a bunch.
Greg Daniels
I bring a bun with condiments in it for you.
Conan O'Brien
He has a big backpack filled with 33 cent buns and coleslaw and pickles.
Sonam Odsesssion
Something's never changed.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah. And it's just. That's still what you want to do. That's what you wanted to do in 1985. My dad always said, people don't change, they become more so. And I think that's the case. I think.
Greg Daniels
I think that's why that's what I like about character comedy. Just to talk about that genre. I think that's what people like about it is that you feel that way about your own friends. And then to see somebody on tv, you get to know what their character's like. And to see them act in character over and over again is very, you know, makes you feel like, oh, I know them. That's just like Conan. Conan's Conan going like this with his vein popping.
Conan O'Brien
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Greg Daniels
Have you guys seen that?
Sonam Odsesssion
Oh, yeah, we've seen it.
Conan O'Brien
I've been medicated since.
Sonam Odsesssion
Yeah, we've seen it.
Conan O'Brien
Well, yeah, we were back. I mean, I don't know about you, but I've. I've enjoyed. We have a culture that, you know, says, oh, you shouldn't get. Getting older is not cool. It's not good. And I just know that I'm happier now because, well, you're older than me though, so. Yes, this is. Yes, but I was on the Lampoon first. Greg, There's a two month. No, two.
Greg Daniels
April to June.
Conan O'Brien
April to June.
Greg Daniels
A lot more than two months.
Conan O'Brien
It's an eight week difference between our birthdays and Greg's favorite time of year. Every year is when I'm 50 and he's 49. And what he does is he calls me on my birthday and he says, how are you? Are you okay? And this goes on for eight weeks. And then my favorite thing is when that time elapses and it's his birthday, I call him up and say, ha, ha.
Greg Daniels
This is really cool, this art kind of banter, doesn't it? This is like, you gotta imagine Bill Burrs doing that with his friends. Like, right.
Conan O'Brien
He's doing much cooler things.
Greg Daniels
I don't think so.
Conan O'Brien
He's doing much cooler things.
Greg Daniels
I think this is maybe like what Jack Benny would do.
Conan O'Brien
Nope. With George Burns.
Greg Daniels
This feels like maybe two Mormon comedians or.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, I remember I.
Greg Daniels
Very polite.
Conan O'Brien
It was Greg. Speaking of birthdays, I'll just. We were in Westwood together. We were walking around doing nothing. And it was Greg's birthday. And I said, I've got a birthday present for you. Let's pretend we're firing our talent beams at each other as hard as we can. Oh, my God. And he was like, what? And I said, just each. We'll be firing our. And I blasted you. Nothing happened. Then you blasted me and I stepped. I threw my coat off like I had been vaporized and stepped behind a light pole. As if you were so much more talented than I that it vaporized me. And I remember you were pleased.
Greg Daniels
This was Conan's idea of a birthday present to me to one day a year suggest that I might have some talent that could, I could do a.
Conan O'Brien
Joke better than some.
Sonam Odsesssion
Was this recently or was this like.
Conan O'Brien
It could have been recently? I was gonna say now this is like 1986, but it could easily have been a couple of weeks ago. Easily.
Sonam Odsesssion
Nothing's, that's why I'm asking.
Conan O'Brien
Nothing's changed that much.
Sonam Odsesssion
I was gonna say. I, I mean, as, as a comedy fan, I think the reason people want Greg on here is because the fact that the two of you work together for so long before the two of you went on to astronomical success on your own is, it's very rare and it's really cool. I mean, I, I, it's cool for me to be in the room with you two just talking about this stuff.
Conan O'Brien
It's funny to me that, Cause I think back to Greg just out pointed. I am a, some would say demonic. I have a demonic, Various demons. And I would sit and I would be anxious and so I would grind my hands together and if something wasn't coming, an idea wasn't coming, I would grind. Greg would lean back in his chair and he thought that by whipping his head side to side, it would get blood into a part of his brain and create an idea. So I'd be sitting there. If you just, if there was a fly on the, or a secret camera, it would have seen me pushing my hair through my crazy long. Pushing my hands through my hair.
Greg Daniels
It's very like with nail and I. The two of us.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, we were, There's a fun reference. Yeah, we were, I was grinding. I was grinding my hands, my eye vein, my forehead vein coming out, giant hair flying everywhere. And then Greg is, I'm trying to concentrate. Greg has his eyes closed and is going. Anyone who came in there would say, you gotta medicate them both immediately. Right?
Greg Daniels
Yes.
Conan O'Brien
Medicate these guys. Well, I don't, I mean, usually I end these by saying, hey, excited about the new project. But you can't do that with Greg Daniels because it's last season of upload. Continuation of King of the Hill. You have a new show that picks up where the Office. It's the documentary crew that filmed the Office has now gone forward and they're exploring this newspaper which is tangentially related to Dunder Mifflin. Did I forget anything?
Greg Daniels
I could talk about a few other things.
Conan O'Brien
Oh, my God. It's insane.
Greg Daniels
I'm connected to this show. Common side effects that people like.
Conan O'Brien
I love that show. You know what I haven't talked to you about common side effects. Because you were out of town when Beckett and I binge watched it. I didn't even know you were. I watched the first episode and loved it and then saw your name.
Greg Daniels
Yes. Wow.
Conan O'Brien
So I didn't know that you were involved.
Greg Daniels
Mike Judge and I started an animation company about, I don't know, five, six years ago. And so we are producers and of course he's very involved in this because he's a voice. And it's done with this amazing animation God named Joe Bennett and Steve Healy who was a writer in the office, who you might know and. But yeah, it's a really good show.
Conan O'Brien
I watched it with my daughter Nev, who loves anime. So we watched the first one and then again we were like, well, the next one, then the next one, then the next one. Absolutely fantastic. And I started watching it not knowing about your guys involvement. But have you seen it? I absolutely love it. I've seen the whole thing and yeah, similar thing.
Greg Daniels
I watched it because I love Scavengers Reign, which I think.
Conan O'Brien
And the CEO, I was like, God, that sounds like Mike Judge.
Greg Daniels
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
And then I was like, oh my God, it is. And Greg, Daniel, what is this? It's an amazing show about kind of conspiracies. It's very funny.
Greg Daniels
The animation's beautiful.
Conan O'Brien
It's also really sweet. It's the best animation I've seen in a while. It's incredible because without giving anything away, watch common side effects. And I've seen it on a bunch of lists as if you're. It's everywhere on these lists, these critics lists of if you're not watching this, then you're an idiot. And shout out. Because I know you're not just a fan of upload.
Greg Daniels
David. I'm obsessed with upload. Oh, thank you so much. It's so good. The whole concept of it and just everything about it. It's one of those shows that once the season would end immediately Google when will the next one be out? I know it's tough. Did you see season three? I did because season three is, you know, dropped during the writers and actors strike. Right. And I think there's a lot of fans out there that may not have seen season three. The first two seasons had a lot of, you know, push behind them and then we weren't able to publicize season three. So season four is the one coming out August 25th and that is the final season. Wraps up all the stories and you know, if you haven't seen season three, you can go check it out now. This episode drops August 25th too. So you can. Oh, how do I like that? Comes out today. Upload. Comes out today.
Conan O'Brien
Oh, what a winky dink. I wonder if a publicist was involved. Greg's publicist is Greg wearing a wig. This was cut out on the tree piece, I tell you. Now let's all go to Flaky Gates for a bun. You're the Mrs. Doubtfire of publicists. Yeah, that is. And I cannot end this without saying a big shout out to your parents. Because your parents, and I've said this before to them, but your parents, well, they love you. Well, they. And they said to me, finally. The son we've always wanted.
Greg Daniels
Exactly.
Conan O'Brien
No, they let us.
Greg Daniels
They still want you to go to law school though.
Conan O'Brien
I know they think I fucked up. Your parents let us use their apartment that first crucial summer when we had no place to live. And I think if they hadn't done that, I don't know what our chances would have been. But that's where we started really, working together. It got me out of Boston. It got us both working together. Seriously. We wrote our packet, we sent it off.
Greg Daniels
Your parents too, though. I remember working out at your parents house and we went to see Spies Like Us.
Conan O'Brien
They were not. Yeah, that's right. Boy, did we have fun.
Greg Daniels
Yeah, that was a big deal.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah.
Greg Daniels
Remember that movie? Yeah. We would see those kind of things.
Conan O'Brien
We would go see movies if we thought a girl in a bikini was in it.
Greg Daniels
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
She would see an ad somewhere and he'd be like, there's a girl in a bikini in the movie. We were true creeps long before the Internet was invented.
Greg Daniels
Spies Like Us. There was a girl in the poster in a full length fur coat and we were excited.
Conan O'Brien
She could see your face in it. But she's a girl.
Greg Daniels
See your hands, they poke out of the sleeves.
Conan O'Brien
We went and saw Witness because we went for the action. That barn was erotic. Greg. We got to do this again. This was.
Greg Daniels
We've scratched the surface. Surface.
Conan O'Brien
No, I'm serious. There could be maybe 15 episodes where we talk about us in 85, 86 alone. And people would love that. But.
Greg Daniels
Well, that remains to be seen. Let's see how this goes. Well, there's a lot of talk about us alone in the 8586. You may get some comments. This is the most boring.
Conan O'Brien
I don't think so of all. Adam, you can weigh in. Adam can weigh in.
Greg Daniels
No, this is. This is what people want to hear.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah, this is what they want. Exactly. Sadly. Sadly, it's what they want. To hear. Because you know what? It makes them feel better about themselves. Yes.
Greg Daniels
Finally, you're humanized.
Conan O'Brien
Anyone listening to this suddenly feels like, hey, I'm a. I'm a stud. These nerds didn't do anything.
Sonam Odsesssion
I have a couch. My car has air conditioning.
Conan O'Brien
I have an air conditioner in my car, and I have a couch. I'm still going out with the Mrs. Fields girl. Well, Greg, your go with go. You're killing it. You're killing it. And I couldn't be happier for you.
Greg Daniels
Thank you. You too.
Conan O'Brien
Yeah.
Greg Daniels
I love the show.
Conan O'Brien
And you love me. I know you love me. And you're gonna end by saying you love me.
Greg Daniels
I'll say it.
Conan O'Brien
You didn't say it yet.
Greg Daniels
No, I love you, Greg.
Conan O'Brien
Love you, Greg. Love you, Greg.
Greg Daniels
Yeah.
Conan O'Brien
Love you, Greg.
Greg Daniels
All right. Love you back.
Conan O'Brien
Peace out, Tupac.
Matt Gourley
Conan o' Brien needs a friend With Conan o', Brien o', Brien, Sonam of session and Matt Gourley Produced by me, Matt Gourley executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross and Nick Leow. Theme song by the White Stripes. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy. Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, and our associate talent producer is Jennifer. Samples, engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brenda. Additional production support by Mars Melnick. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Bautista and Brit Kahn. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, and you might find your review read on a future episode. Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too, could be featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at SiriusXM. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O' Brien needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.
Kelly Ripa
Hey there, it's Kelly Rupa. And if you've been listening to my podcast, we are knee deep in season three, and if you haven't heard it, it's time to get on board. After years of interviewing celebs on camera, I finally get to bring you the real conversations that take place when the cameras aren't recorded.
Greg Daniels
Rolling.
Kelly Ripa
Where else are you going to hear Michelle Obama talk about keeping her girls out of page Six? Hilaria Baldwin's hilarious reaction to Alec running for office, or Jeremy Renner's lucid hallucinations about Jamie Foxx? Nowhere else. It's raw, it's honest, and best of all, it's off camera. And believe me, that's where you get the good stuff. So download. Let's talk off camera with Kelly Ripa now. Wherever you get your podcast.
Greg Daniels
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Release Date: August 25, 2025
Host: Conan O’Brien
Guests: Greg Daniels, Sona Movsesian, Matt Gourley
In this highly-anticipated and fan-requested episode, Conan O’Brien catches up with his longtime friend, legendary showrunner and comedy writer Greg Daniels. The episode blends nostalgia, playful ribbing, and deep gratitude as Conan and Greg revisit their formative years as young, broke comedy writers, reflect on their creative partnership, and discuss Greg’s astonishing career, including the return of "King of the Hill," the final season of "Upload," and the upcoming Office successor series. Their storytelling highlights their unique (and nerdy) friendship, the trials of making it in Hollywood, and the balancing act of ambition, risk, and frugality.
[12:26–15:04]
[15:33–24:45]
[24:53–31:35]
[32:20–36:02]
[36:31–42:56]
[43:47–46:54]
[31:48–36:31, 58:22–62:55]
[47:30–47:57]
On their DEEP nerd roots:
“Greg and I each made the other's nerd genes vibrate. And we both would get nerdier.”
— Conan O’Brien [24:19]
On their living situation as young writers:
“We did not have a couch. We did not have furniture. We knew we had to have a television.”
— Conan O’Brien [18:48]
Classic Greg move:
“I did everything right…I walked out, they had sold me a car with no air conditioning because I didn’t know what to do.”
— Greg Daniels [28:59]
Critique of their social instincts:
“We had a lot of bad instincts for Hollywood.”
— Greg Daniels [33:47]
The Beachcombers pilgrimage:
“He’s just accepting that he’s got fans from LA that, you know, have made the pilgrimage. He’s happy.”
— Greg Daniels [41:28]
Conan on Greg’s career explosion:
“You are in this period right now, a real purple patch…”
— Conan O’Brien [44:02]
Conan’s competitive joke:
[On being two months older] “Greg’s favorite time of year every year is when I’m 50 and he’s 49… this goes on for eight weeks.”
— Conan O’Brien [59:32]
The tone is fast-paced, affectionate, and irreverently self-deprecating. Conan and Greg trade gentle insults, reminisce without whitewashing hardships, and maintain the nerdy, "outsider energy" that drew them together. Running gags about nerd culture, air conditioning, and their utter lack of coolness as young men set the scene for newer listeners.
Don’t expect a nuts-and-bolts Hollywood success story; this episode’s heart is in the shared awkwardness, creative partnership, and all the ways two “nerds” found unlikely paths to the top. It’s a testament to old friendship, mutual encouragement, and the power of being deeply yourself — even if yourself is pretty weird.
Recommended for:
Fans of behind-the-scenes comedy, anyone curious about TV writing, lovers of underdog stories, and those craving warming, old-school friend banter.
Final Words:
“Love you, Greg.”
“Love you, Greg.”
“All right. Love you back.”
— [69:33–69:36]
Endnote:
“We’ve scratched the surface. There could be 15 episodes where we talk about us in 85, 86 alone.”
— Greg Daniels [68:23]