The State Of The Entertainment Business With Jeff Ross

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The State Of The Entertainment Business With Jeff Ross"

Podcast: Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Hosts: Conan O'Brien, Sona Movsesian, Adam Sachs
Guest: Jeff Ross (Executive Producer)
Release Date: April 23, 2026
Main Theme:
An irreverently playful but insightful exploration of recent shifts in the entertainment business, with a focus on the evolution of late night television, streaming, syndication, and how creators like Conan and his team are adapting to an ever-changing landscape.

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Episode Overview

In this special episode, Conan forgoes his typical listener calls to consult with his longtime friend and executive producer, Jeff Ross, about the current state of the entertainment industry. Their conversation navigates through the business of Hollywood, syndication, the transformation of traditional TV, quirky business ideas for Conan, and the realities facing creatives today. The discussion is layered with trademark Conan humor and candid commentary, offering both entertainment industry insights and hilarious banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Changing Entertainment Landscape

[00:58–03:06]

• Conan marvels at his career shift from late night TV to podcasting and digital content.
• Jeff affirms the business has gone through seismic changes:

  “It’s crazy. … It’s a very different landscape now.” (Jeff Ross, 02:48)

• Brief reflection on their long relationship and bewilderment at how “podcast empire” work would have seemed unimaginable decades ago.

2. Syndication and Buying TV Time

[03:09–04:57]

• The group discusses Byron Allen’s deal to buy CBS late night time and air his own show, selling his own ads.
• Conan, half-joking, considers buying a 4am slot on NBC for his own show:

  “So you’re saying I could go back on NBC? They’d probably let me go on at like 3 in the morning if I bought the time.” (Conan, 03:41)

• Jeff clarifies how syndication and station-controlled slots work, noting it’s akin to real estate.

3. The Conan Daytime Pitch: Satire Meets Reality

[05:18–07:39]

• Conan floats mock ideas for a daytime talk show, "Conaan" (with two A’s and an exclamation point).
• Sona and Adam express doubts about Conan’s fit for that demographic:

  “Your humor is for the wee hours of the night.” (Sona, 05:44)
  “As you’ve aged, your audience has stayed very young. … You have a very young, mobile, digital-first audience.” (Adam Sachs, 06:32)

• Conan’s classic reaction:

  “Can I say this to Adam, with all respect? Fuck you.” (Conan, 06:45)
  “Most of what I do is to spite someone around me. … I am launching a daytime talk show.” (Conan, 07:25)

• Ongoing gag: Conan out-of-spite launching a totally unsuitable daytime show.

4. Alternative Conan Product Pitches

[08:03–09:46; 10:48–13:13]

• Parody brainstorming: Conan dances for a whole hour while guests pitch to the background, a spoof on Ellen and MTV’s The Grind.
• Comedic riff on product endorsements—clothing for long-legged men, Conan-brand pomade, makeup line for pale-complexioned Irishmen:

  “We all have a prominent eye vein that shows up on camera when we’re doing a podcast. … Apply this, and it softens it.” (Conan, 16:32)

5. Real Changes in Hollywood: Work For Writers and Production

[17:15–21:21]

• Conan voices concern for writers and industry workers, noting a paradox:

  “So many people I know aren’t working … Yet I go home and all I see are thousands of new streaming shows.” (Conan, 17:16)

• Jeff explains many shows are now produced overseas and not written by US writers:

  “I think a lot of them are made overseas. Us writers don’t write them.” (Jeff, 17:41)

• Discussion shifts to production costs and overregulation, illustrated by Conan’s Oscars "golden retriever" anecdote:

  “It was going to cost as much as, like, a Porsche. … all this stuff that gets built in over time, these different rules.” (Conan, 19:19)

• Recognition that inflated costs and red tape drive productions to cheaper locales, leaving Hollywood quieter than before.

6. Nostalgia & Technological Change

[21:53–24:43]

• The group reminisces about Blockbuster video stores and the transition to streaming content:

  “…I remember looking at Blockbuster, now looks like, oh, that’s a speakeasy. … I have to rent a video so I can watch Back to the Future again.” (Conan, 22:30)

• Conan recalls being awed by early HDTV, now ubiquitous and taken for granted.
• Brief gags about tech illiteracy and generational change.

7. The Team Dynamic & Closing Thoughts

[25:13–27:13]

• Playful riffs about needing to work until 90, Conan’s inability to fire his team, and closing affirmations:

  “Listen, so you say the state of the podcast is good? We should keep going. HBO, it’s all good. I shouldn’t panic.” (Conan, 26:38)

• Joke pitches for Conan’s future: HBO, more podcasts, or the all-dancing daytime experiment.
• Conan thanks Jeff for bringing sanity and confirms the team’s ongoing playful antagonism as a fuel for creativity.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the state of the industry:

  “It’s a very different landscape now.” — Jeff Ross [03:06]

• On Conan’s audience:

  “Your humor is for the wee hours of the night.” — Sona Movsesian [05:44] “As you’ve aged, your audience has stayed very young.” — Adam Sachs [06:32]

• On Conan’s Daytime Ambitions:

  “Fuck you. … How dare you tell me I’ve aged.” — Conan, mock-indignant [06:45]

• On absurd business pitches:

  “If Rihanna knew that Conan O’Brien was coming out for the pale man in your life, … Rihanna would shit her pants.” — Conan [16:32]

• On industry difficulty:

  “So many people I know aren’t working … Yet I go home and all I see are thousands of new streaming shows.” — Conan [17:16]

• Classic Conan visual gag:

  “I’ll be backstage and … I’m rolling on the floor with nine golden retrievers. … They said, okay, this is gonna be incredibly expensive.” — Conan [18:25]

• On nostalgia:

  “I remember looking at Blockbuster, now looks like, oh, that’s a speakeasy.” — Conan [22:30]

• Team’s camaraderie:

  “You can’t ever fire us.” — Sona [25:16]
  “That’s our job. That’s what we do.” — Sona [27:24]

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Important Timestamps & Segments

• 00:58–03:06 – Opening reflection: The business has changed
• 03:09–04:57 – Byron Allen/CBS late night slot & TV real estate
• 05:18–07:39 – Daytime show parody, generational humor
• 08:03–09:46 – "Conan dances for an hour," mock business brainstorming
• 10:48–13:13 – Product pitch satire: pomade, clothing, makeup
• 17:15–21:21 – The difficulty for writers and industry overregulation
• 21:53–24:43 – Nostalgia: Blockbuster, technological progress
• 25:13–27:13 – Team dynamic, closing affirmations

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Conclusion

The episode blends comedy with real industry insight, as Conan and Jeff Ross (plus team) riff on the absurdities of show business, adapting to technological change, and the challenges facing creators today. Nostalgic references, wild business parodies, and candid moments make this a classic “Need a Friend” episode—funny, self-aware, and sneakily profound.

Transcript

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[Sona Movsesian]

Conan o' Brien needs a fan. Want to talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com callknan okay, let's get.

[Conan O'Brien]

Hey, it's our Thursday episode. Normally, we talk to fans in this spot, but today we're gonna try something a little different. I'm gonna talk to someone who I've known for 32 years, and he's definitely not a fan. I'm talking about Jeff Ross, executive producer extraordinaire. He and I started out together on the old late night show back in the day. And, Jeff, you're the guy that understands the business of Hollywood. I don't. I'm kind of an outsider, an artist, a Michelangelo roaming the streets, painting his great masterpieces, head in the Clouds. But you, you get the business. What's going on in Hollywood these days? I just want to know, Jeff Ross, what's going on in Hollywood? How's the business?

[Jeff Ross]

Am I being sandbagged?

[Conan O'Brien]

No, you're not. No. This is not a sandbag. This is me questioning you. What's going on in the business? The business, Jeff. I hear that studios are.

[Jeff Ross]

It's tough out there.

[Conan O'Brien]

It's tough out there. What's going on? I don't know what's happening.

[Jeff Ross]

Um, well, I only hear what's happening because our world is pretty good.

[Conan O'Brien]

Our world is good.

[Jeff Ross]

Our world is good.

[Conan O'Brien]

Are we thriving in the business?

[Jeff Ross]

Yes.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay. Okay. I have no idea.

[Jeff Ross]

Yes.

[Conan O'Brien]

I have no idea what we're doing. But. But what a strange world. When we started out together back in 1993, we met in April of 1993. I was 29 when I met you. Now I'm older than that. And not me. You've. You've somehow gotten 70 years older, and I have gotten even younger. But. But now, you know, we've Got this podcast empire and I'm having a lot of fun. It's all great. Yeah. But if I had told you 32 years ago, we're not even going to be working in television anymore. We're going to be basically doing a radio show that goes over the computer.

[Jeff Ross]

It's crazy.

[Conan O'Brien]

It's crazy.

[Jeff Ross]

It's crazy.

[Conan O'Brien]

So that's your analysis? It's crazy.

[Jeff Ross]

Well, it is crazy. I mean, we have our HBO show.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah, that's true. That's true. I didn't mean to disc. HBO. HBO's. And we. We have a lot of fun with that. Yes, A good time. But again, it's a very different. I'm gonna say this. I don't think anyone's ever said this before. It's a very different landscape now.

[Sona Movsesian]

That's a good word.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Jeff Ross]

You talk about specifically late night or a talk show.

[Conan O'Brien]

Late night. You know, I think everyone's talking about late night's taken over. That's about that. Byron Allen is taking over from. For Colbert show. Is that right?

[Jeff Ross]

Well, he. Yeah, it's interesting. He bought the time.

[Conan O'Brien]

Wait, what's that? What are you talking about?

[Jeff Ross]

In other words, he went to cbs.

[Conan O'Brien]

Byron Allen went to.

[Jeff Ross]

He went to cbs. He's buying the time. The time period.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay.

[Jeff Ross]

And he's producing his own show and selling the ads himself. I believe that's how it's working.

[Conan O'Brien]

I didn't know that. That's fascinating. We could do that.

[Sona Movsesian]

We could just buy time on tv.

[Jeff Ross]

So essentially, can I do it? Essentially, CBS is like in profit because they just sold the time to him.

[Conan O'Brien]

Wait a minute. So you're saying I could go back on NBC? They'd probably let me go on at like 3 in the morning if I bought the time.

[Jeff Ross]

If that's. What's that gift that you had?

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay, four in the morning.

[Jeff Ross]

All right.

[Conan O'Brien]

Maybe I could give the farm report.

[Jeff Ross]

There's nobody there left. So you could.

[Conan O'Brien]

You could wind up back on NBC if. Now listen, this is where you come in because you understand the business. You understand what kind of money our business has. Can my production company. Can we buy the 4 o' clock time slot on NBC, 4am and create our own show and sell all that sweet advertising money that be coming in at 4am yeah. Is that a good business model?

[Jeff Ross]

Do you want me to get in the weeds on this?

[Conan O'Brien]

Yes.

[Jeff Ross]

Okay. I don't think NBC controls 4:00am Perfect.

[Conan O'Brien]

Then we can just squat there. We can be like. Yeah. People that just, you know, when an old hobo shows up in an apartment and just says, I'm here now. And they can't get him out. Why don't I squat?

[Jeff Ross]

We did do that.

[Conan O'Brien]

Why don't I squat?

[Jeff Ross]

We did do that.

[Conan O'Brien]

We did do that. We kind of did do that for,

[Jeff Ross]

like, 10 years at NBC.

[Conan O'Brien]

All right, listen, that's terrible. We did fine for them. I'm just fascinated by this new world. I don't understand it. But now you can buy a time slot.

[Jeff Ross]

Yeah, you did it. It's like syndication. It's essentially syndication.

[Conan O'Brien]

I should go into syndication.

[Jeff Ross]

It's essential. It's just basically what he did.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay, what about this? And I'm just spitballing ideas here, but this is a chance for people out there to hear our process. I think I'd be great in daytime. I think Housewives would love me. I think I could buy a dinner, daytime slot. We could have a syndicated show called. And guess what it's called Go in. And it's got an exclamation point and, like, a happy face.

[Jeff Ross]

You don't remember. You don't remember that. Before we went to tbs, we took a meeting with these guys, a company, it's called Debmar Mercury.

[Conan O'Brien]

Right.

[Jeff Ross]

And they wanted to do a daytime show. Oh, it was. Remember, it was all a blur to

[Conan O'Brien]

me because it was like the middle

[Jeff Ross]

of a car accident. It was in Rick Rosen's office. And we did take that meeting.

[Conan O'Brien]

We took a meeting, and they pitched me as a daytime host.

[Sona Movsesian]

Oh, that'd be awful.

[Conan O'Brien]

I'd be so lovable and fun.

[Sona Movsesian]

You said lovable and fun. I said it would be awful.

[Conan O'Brien]

Why would it be awful?

[Sona Movsesian]

Maybe not, then, because your humor is for the wee hours of the night.

[Conan O'Brien]

I don't know what time people are listening to this podcast. This podcast does very well.

[Sona Movsesian]

Your humor, your sense of humor is kind of silly and edgy and goofy.

[Jeff Ross]

I think Adam could look right now and see when most people listen to

[Sona Movsesian]

this podcast, a lot of.

[Conan O'Brien]

Adam, why don't you jump in on this? Because you also have a good business perspective, and you are, you know, the podcast whisperer. Does what I do translate to daytime? Should I have a daytime show?

[Adam Sachs]

I don't love it. No.

[Conan O'Brien]

Why don't you love it?

[Adam Sachs]

For the reasons that Sona said, I think. Like, I just can't imagine that that demographic sitting around on their, you know, watching in their kitchen.

[Jeff Ross]

What is it? Explain that demographic, Adam. Say it. Say it. What's that demographic? Go ahead, Go ahead.

[Adam Sachs]

Here's what I will say.

[Jeff Ross]

Oh, you.

[Adam Sachs]

As you've aged, your audience has stayed Very young. You have a very young, mobile, digital first audience. I think that the podcast, it makes a ton of sense that you're a successful podcaster, that you have a big mess.

[Conan O'Brien]

Can I say this? And I say this. I say this to Adam in here. I say this to Adam, with all respect. Fuck you.

[Jeff Ross]

You know what?

[Conan O'Brien]

I just do. I'm on a roll here. Fuck you. You. How dare you tell me I've aged. First of all. Haven't aged at all. Second of all, this makes me want to shut down the podcast immediately and the HBO travel show im. And because I am very reactive, I'm launching a daytime talk show. It's called Conan, and it's two A's. C, O, N, A, A, N, exclamation point.

[Sona Movsesian]

Oh, that saves it.

[Adam Sachs]

And it's mostly just despite me.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yes. Okay. Most of what I do is to spite someone around me. I've done so much to spite Jeff. I've done so much to spite Sona, and so much of my career now is about spiting you. But, Weston, we own it. It's syndicated. And, yes, it will do terribly, but we get to own how terribly it does. What do you think?

[Adam Sachs]

I actually like the idea. It's interesting that, that. No, not the idea. No, not the idea of you in daytime. I still don't like that idea. I like this Byron Allen idea, though, that that linear is now just kind of like up for sale. Like it's real estate. You can just go and buy real estate on linear television. I think that's interesting, and there might be opportunities there.

[Conan O'Brien]

Ellen, when her daytime show did something very popular, which is she would come out and she would dance. People know that I'm very physical and stuff like that. Here's my thing. I come out and dance and I don't stop. I dance for the entire hour. I dance for the entire hour. And people come out and pitch their projects in the background and you barely hear them, and I'm rocking out the whole time. And I could get into the kind of shape where I do that for a whole hour of just dance and tell me housewives don't want to see that. Is that a derogatory term? Don't want to see that. I don't want to use a derogatory term. You're asking me?

[Eduardo Perez]

I don't know.

[Conan O'Brien]

Is that offensive to the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City? Okay. I don't know. It's just. I'm spitballing here. Make it good. I was just saying MTV's the Grind was very popular. You could bring back MTV's the Grind. Oh, MTV is so gone, though, isn't it? What is MTV mean?

[Jeff Ross]

I think MTV is going to. I don't know, the Paramount thing. We'll see what happens.

[Conan O'Brien]

Well, what will those VJs do?

[Jeff Ross]

They're not around anymore.

[Conan O'Brien]

Don't tell me Kurt Loder isn't still on TV talking. He might Chris Novoselic and the rest of Nirvana. I mean, come on. You can't fool me. What am I, Rip Van Winkle? I fell asleep for 30 years? I need to know what's going on in duh business. What do you counsel me to do? You're my consigliere. You're my Tom.

[Jeff Ross]

Well, I think you should keep doing what you're doing because it's going really well.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay, so keep going with the podcast.

[Jeff Ross]

Yes. Oh, yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

And daytime show. Should we let that go? It's Conan with two A's, and I'll go up to three A's.

[Jeff Ross]

Here's what I say. Do you want to really want to do a Daily show again?

[Conan O'Brien]

Never.

[Jeff Ross]

Okay, then forget it.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay. Wait.

[Sona Movsesian]

What if he said he did? What are you going to say?

[Gatorade Advertiser]

Were you going to say something if

[Sona Movsesian]

you wanted to do a Daily Show?

[Jeff Ross]

You know, I learned being here just in the last 10 minutes, this is like the suck up room. This is what goes on in here. Everybody sucks up to.

[Conan O'Brien]

Not Eduardo. Not Eduardo.

[Jeff Ross]

You'd be great at it. You'd be great at it. You'd be great at it.

[Sona Movsesian]

Not to do it.

[Jeff Ross]

You told. Not do it. But you said he'd be great at it.

[Conan O'Brien]

No, no, no, I don'. Can I tell you one thing? You got to give Eduardo his props. Eduardo despises me and has made it very clear from day one just because occasionally I spill water into the electrical outlets. You called me the Sonic Stalin. Yeah, Sonic Stalin. I did? Yeah. You rule with an iron fist. You've killed so many of your own people. I'm just saying that he doesn't. No, I get a lot of pushback in this room, but I. I don't know what the next move is we've got.

[Jeff Ross]

You don't. Well, there is. Well, you don't need a next move. First of all, you can do whatever you want, and I think that's frightening. And I think that we've talked about various things and things you might want to be interested in doing, all of which are possible and you can do.

[Conan O'Brien]

You know what? No one's ever approached me about a clothing line, which I find Shocking.

[Jeff Ross]

Oh, no, that's not true. Gavin.

[Conan O'Brien]

No, Gavin Palone. Gavin. Gavin Pallone is my. Gavin Pallone is my manager. If we don't even know what Gavin story is, we don't know where he is. We never have. He told me he was a manager years ago and I've known him longer than I've known you.

[Jeff Ross]

That's right.

[Conan O'Brien]

I've known Gavin forever. And he'll come up with these ideas, but they're not grounded in anything. He didn't come to me with a proposal. He just said, you gotta sell clothes. And I think for a while. Oh, his one good idea.

[Jeff Ross]

Hair gel.

[Conan O'Brien]

No, hair pomade. A pomade.

[Jeff Ross]

Right, right.

[Conan O'Brien]

And I think. What? You shaking your head?

[Adam Sachs]

No, I think it's a great idea. I just don't know that it was his idea.

[Jeff Ross]

Oh,

[Conan O'Brien]

whose idea do you think it was? You can say.

[Adam Sachs]

I think Liza and I both came up with it on the same day.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay, well, first of all.

[Adam Sachs]

But I don't. I don't.

[Jeff Ross]

Yeah, but. But then Gavin wouldn't let it go.

[Adam Sachs]

Oh, that might be true.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay.

[Adam Sachs]

Gavin was pushing coffee. He was coffee brand.

[Conan O'Brien]

And you know what his push for coffee brand was? People think you're so hopped up on coffee it was that they would buy the kind of coffee you're on. That was his pitch. Like you should sell Ridland pills because people think that you're an out of control child.

[Jeff Ross]

There was also not tequila, but some kind of. He wanted.

[Adam Sachs]

I thought it was a whiskey.

[Jeff Ross]

A whiskey, right? Yeah, right.

[Conan O'Brien]

Irish whiskey.

[Jeff Ross]

He wanted it self respecting Irish whiskey.

[Conan O'Brien]

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[Conan O'Brien]

No clothing company has come to me.

[Jeff Ross]

No, not a clone.

[Conan O'Brien]

No, they have not. Okay, well, don't say everything.

[Jeff Ross]

Well, it's been pitched to you.

[Conan O'Brien]

No, but I think people probably look at the way I dress and think I want to look like him. He's like Don Draper on Madden.

[Jeff Ross]

No question.

[Conan O'Brien]

I wanna. Okay, how you doing there?

[Sona Movsesian]

I think that if someone has really long legs, they'll be like, what jeans does Conan wear?

[Jeff Ross]

Yeah, just for the sizing.

[Sona Movsesian]

Just for the sizing. For your proportions.

[Conan O'Brien]

Okay, what about that? I have very. My proportions are extremely long legs. Yeah, clothing that's tailored for the man who's had some sort of genetic malfunction and has really long legs.

[Sona Movsesian]

You know, like big and tall, but just tall.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah, just. Just tall in the Leg.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

Kona. Brian's tall in the leg stores.

[Sona Movsesian]

Okay.

[Conan O'Brien]

And it's just for people who are really long in the leg.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Jeff Ross]

You know, in the early days, this room's getting really.

[Conan O'Brien]

This room's getting really quiet.

[Jeff Ross]

Speaking of your legs, in the early days of the Internet and of YouTube.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yep.

[Jeff Ross]

For a long time. And we could probably. Somebody could probably look it up. The biggest clip on YouTube was you and Spanx. Oh, jeggings.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Jeff Ross]

I wish it wasn't Spanx then.

[Conan O'Brien]

No, it was. It was jeggings. I wore jeggings. And that was a huge.

[Jeff Ross]

It was a thing. It was like a five second clip and it was maybe humongous.

[Sona Movsesian]

You should do something that is way outside of what you would normally do.

[Conan O'Brien]

Like something charitable and kind.

[Sona Movsesian]

No, I'm saying like a makeup line. You know how, like, Rihanna came up with a makeup line.

[Conan O'Brien]

Those things are huge.

[Sona Movsesian]

Different complexions. Like you. If you did. If you went up against Rihanna.

[Conan O'Brien]

You know what? Iran. Rihanna. Rihanna would shit her pants if she knew I was coming after her. If Rihanna knew that Conor o' Brien was coming out for the pale man in your life, you know, and it's like it covers up an I vein. And all the stuff that I'm pitching is like, look, we all have a prominent eye vein that shows up on camera when we're doing a podcast. It's also a really specific problem. Well, this. Apply this. And it softens it.

[Sona Movsesian]

And your freckles, if you have like a lot of freckles, get out.

[Conan O'Brien]

If you have super thin lips and beady creepy eyes. Jeff, I think we found it.

[Jeff Ross]

Yeah, I think so. I think your pitch is perfect, Jeff.

[Conan O'Brien]

What is?

[Jeff Ross]

It's pitch perfect.

[Conan O'Brien]

Let's be serious. Back to serious for a second. We don't know. I have a question for you that you can answer. All I know is that so many people I know aren't working. So many of the writers we know. It's very hard to get work now. Yet I go home and all I see are thousands of new streaming shows. There's never been more product available to people. But my sense is that a lot of people aren't working. What's happening?

[Jeff Ross]

I think a lot of them are made overseas. A lot of them. And I'm not saying it's the entire issue, but I think a lot of them are made overseas.

[Conan O'Brien]

But what about. So that means that writers don't write them.

[Jeff Ross]

Us writers don't write. Of course writers write them, but US writers don't write them.

[Conan O'Brien]

Wow.

[Jeff Ross]

American writers oh, my God. Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah. It's crazy, because that is the puzzling part is I go home and Liza and I are just flipping through. I mean, every time you turn on one of these streamers, they've got, you

[Jeff Ross]

need seven more subtitles.

[Conan O'Brien]

Seven more shows. Yeah, you need subtitles. But there's so much product. And then you wonder, well, gee, that's good.

[Jeff Ross]

I don't think it's the whole problem. I think things got really expensive and out of control. And in this country, in this town,

[Conan O'Brien]

of all places, we had a moment on the Oscars that was really said a lot to me, which is we had an idea for the Oscars where I'm backstage and I just had this image flashed. Sometimes things just come to me as an image. And one image was when I'm coming back, when they're bumping in from commercial to come back to me, I'll be backstage and it'll be, I'm rolling on the floor with nine golden retrievers. I'm rolling on the floor with nine golden retrievers. And the band's playing. And then you hear, ladies and gentlemen, once again, your host, Conan o'. Brien. And I leap up and a team of a whole bunch of people with giant, you know, lint brushes roll me really quickly, and I step out on stage and go, hi, everybody. You know, cinematography. And it was just this quick, silly visual that I loved, and it's really interesting. One of the producers said, okay, this is gonna be incredibly expensive.

[Jeff Ross]

I know.

[Conan O'Brien]

And I said, really? Just getting a couple of golden retrievers. And she said, well, the rule is each dog has to be acclimated with the other dog. So they all have to live together for, like, two weeks before they can come on, before they can be on camera together. And if they're living together, all their pe. Their handlers have to live with them, too.

[Sona Movsesian]

Oh, my God.

[Conan O'Brien]

And she was going through all the things and how the cost got up to. I think it was going to cost as much as, like, you know, baseline sticker price for, like, a Porsche.

[Jeff Ross]

It was. It was like $30,000.

[Conan O'Brien]

I think it was more than that.

[Jeff Ross]

Maybe.

[Conan O'Brien]

I think it was more than 30, but it was so not a Porsche, but a really good high end.

[Jeff Ross]

And then I think Nissan said. Somebody said. Then somebody said, what about puppies? And they went, more expensive.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah, puppies are more expensive. And basically, it's all this stuff that gets built in over time, these different rules. And I realized in that moment, you know, we used to do things in the 90s. We used to get away with murder. Because we would think of an idea at 4:30, a really weird idea, and we would throw it out on the air. And then a lot of time goes by. And I think rules change and things.

[Jeff Ross]

I also think in the Oscars, especially when people hear Oscars, the price goes up.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah, I think you're right. I think you're right.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

But I was in that moment with the Golden Retrievers. I thought, oh, this is a concrete example of something that's happening that's making me think. I see why people go to Budapest to shoot something. Because. And I see why. Because. And I've heard that a lot of. I mean, we used. For years, for over a decade, for 11 years we were on Warner Brothers that. And it was, you know, humming that things are quieter in some of these lots than they used to be.

[Jeff Ross]

When we left, they were building new stages, I believe, and everything was packed. And I hear now that it's, like, half empty. I don't. I don't know that.

[Conan O'Brien]

Can I say one thing?

[Jeff Ross]

I don't know that it's true.

[Conan O'Brien]

I will say that happens whenever Conan o' Brien leaves a place.

[Jeff Ross]

Makes sense.

[Conan O'Brien]

NBC pretty much collapsed after I left, you know, but that's called the torn effect. When I leave a party.

[Jeff Ross]

In a way, it did.

[Conan O'Brien]

Good luck to that party. But, yeah, it's fascinating to me, the. I mean, we're joking around, but then at the same time, I do accidentally have real questions, which is I, you know, we've now been. I got started in 1985. That's ancient history now.

[Jeff Ross]

Very different.

[Conan O'Brien]

And, you know, it's funny, I was surfing the Internet the other day, and something came up. I don't know if it was on Instagram or maybe it was Instagram, where they know kind of what you're interested in. And they showed me footage of a video store, like a Blockbuster.

[Jeff Ross]

Blockbuster, yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

And it was from 1986 or something when I was first out here with Greg Daniels and someone had taken a video with, like, a video camera of all the displays. And now it looks like the footage I used to look at when I was a kid from the 1920s.

[Sona Movsesian]

Oh, it's crazy.

[Conan O'Brien]

And I realized, you know what I mean, where people are riding around with. Wearing straw hats in funny. I remember looking at a Blockbuster. Now looks like, oh, that's a speakeasy.

[Sona Movsesian]

During 40 years ago.

[Conan O'Brien]

It was 40 years ago. And I know that young people now see that footage and think everyone looks stupid, crazy. We all look like we're in a flock of seagulls with padded shoulders. And we're going, oh, it's my. I have to rent a video so I can watch Back to the Future again. You know, I'm gonna go home and put this into a giant 600 pound machine and watch Back to the Future. Yeah.

[Sona Movsesian]

And then rewind it.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah. And then be kind.

[Sona Movsesian]

Rewind.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Jeff Ross]

Remember when we were in Finland and somebody came up to us, we were at a party and somebody came up to us with a phone and said, hey, look, your show's on.

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, someone showed us our show on a phone.

[Jeff Ross]

Now this was like how many years ago?

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, I mean this would be 25 years ago or something. 20 years ago.

[Jeff Ross]

And they went, I'm looking at it. And we're like, what?

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, I felt bad cause I said witch.

[Sona Movsesian]

Oh no.

[Conan O'Brien]

And I threw hot oil on them. And then she was a witch. But it had nothing to do with her having the phone. That was completely beside.

[Sona Movsesian]

That's good.

[Jeff Ross]

No.

[Conan O'Brien]

I remember we were at some event for NBC and they said we were in Washington D.C. and it was some event broadcasting event. And this is in the 90s. And they said, we're going to show you something called hdtv, High definition tv. And they had it on a flat screen tv. And we walked up to it, it was a football game and I was watching it and it was the. I mean, I don't think HDTV was commercially available at the time. They were just showing us a sample of this thing that was going to be coming very soon. I remember being able to see the divots in the ground and it blew me away. And now you watch TV. TVs that are probably a hundred times more precise than that one. And we're just like, duh, whatevs. We get so inured to this technology.

[Jeff Ross]

Remember how expensive they were when they came out and now they're like, it's like a commodity.

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, well, you used to get a flat screen TV and people were like, oh, you're getting a flat screen? Yeah. I went to the bank and I got a co signer and I talked to my accountant. It's being installed tomorrow by a team of scientists.

[Jeff Ross]

I mean, Adams can speak to. Well, this criminal over here can speak to it too, you know.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Jeff Ross]

When the games are on, you just have your phone and just watching games live, you know, that's you, Jeff.

[Conan O'Brien]

I mean, I've seen you many times sitting alone at a restaurant.

[Jeff Ross]

No, these guys do.

[Sona Movsesian]

This guy does it while he's engineering this show. Yeah, remember?

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, that's Right, Eduardo? You like to watch your. Well, you call it football, I call it soccer. Yeah, but it's. I'm watching one right now. No, I'm just kidding.

[Sona Movsesian]

That would have been cool.

[Conan O'Brien]

No, it's. It's a whole. It's all.

[Jeff Ross]

Listen, I was just having my. Wow.

[Conan O'Brien]

Cracked it.

[Sona Movsesian]

There's.

[Conan O'Brien]

Things have changed. Yeah, but it's just stunning.

[Sona Movsesian]

You can't ever fire us.

[Conan O'Brien]

What's that?

[Sona Movsesian]

We have. You have. You have to work for. Until you're, like, 90, because otherwise we're all fud.

[Conan O'Brien]

So you can get a job that's just ridiculous anywhere else.

[Sona Movsesian]

What are you talking. No, Conan. You really have to work till you're 90. Thank you. We'll put it in writing. Just until you're 90. Thank you.

[Jeff Ross]

Then I'll be 96.

[Conan O'Brien]

Do you think, Jeff, that you have adapted to the new ways? I don't know.

[Jeff Ross]

In what sense do you mean.

[Conan O'Brien]

Do you know how to work your phone? Do you know how to.

[Sona Movsesian]

Is that the baseline standard? Do you know how to work your phone?

[Conan O'Brien]

I'm saying because David knows full well that I don't know these things.

[Jeff Ross]

Jeff has never had to call me

[Commercial Announcer]

to help him log into a streaming

[Jeff Ross]

service like you do. Well, I have had to call you for a few things every now and then, but not a lot.

[Conan O'Brien]

Yeah, dig a hole, by the way.

[Jeff Ross]

Very different. You better put my house on the market.

[Sona Movsesian]

What?

[Conan O'Brien]

Started yelling. I had to do something.

[Sona Movsesian]

Oh, God.

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, come on. It gets so dark so fast. No, I bring you in here, and then I expose you as a highway killer. Yeah, well, you know, he's called the highway mumbler. People are disappearing on the 405 freeway, and they. All they find is a shoe. And they hear some mumbling.

[Jeff Ross]

Guilty as charged.

[Conan O'Brien]

Listen. So you say the state of the podcast is good? We should keep going. Hbo. It's all good. I shouldn't panic. All right, well, listen. But HBO loves you.

[Jeff Ross]

They want more of whatever you want to give them.

[Conan O'Brien]

Oh, hey, well, I'm going to give them a daytime show.

[Sona Movsesian]

Conan.

[Conan O'Brien]

Watch Conan dance for an hour as guests far behind him yell to try to be heard. Can you imagine just me in the foreground dancing and. And they're in the background going. The book's called A Time for Summer. They get frustrated and walk away. It's going to be great for three whole days.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah.

[Conan O'Brien]

All right, Jeff, thanks for coming in. I think you brought sanity to a very damaged ecosystem. And just for the record, Eduardo despises me. Hate you. And I get a lot of hate from this room. So I think it's very good.

[Sona Movsesian]

Yeah, that's our job. That's what we do.

[Jeff Ross]

I'm happy to join in.

[Conan O'Brien]

Very happy.

[Podcast Producer]

Conan o' Brien Needs a Fan With Conan o' Brien, Sonam of Session and Matt Gourley Produced by me, Matt Gourley Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross and Nick Leow Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino Take it away Jimmy Supervising Producer Aaron Blair Associate Talent Producer Jennifer Samples Associate producers Sean Doherty and Lisa Berm Engineering by eduardo Perez get three free months of SiriusX when you sign up at SiriusXM.com Conan Please rate, review and subscribe to Conan O' Brien needs a Fan wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

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[Conan O'Brien]

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