WATCH: Conan O’Brien Invites Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Homer Simpson to Help Say Goodbye to Late Night in Epic Final Show

Conan O’Brien bid farewell to late-night on Thursday night — inviting Will Ferrell, an injured Jack Black, and his old pal Homer Simpson to help him go out on a high note.

“It’s hard to believe it’s our final show on TBS,” O’Brien said on the finale episode of Conan. “Every night, I always said we had a really great show. I was often lying. But tonight, we really do have a great show. And if we don’t, what are you going to do about it? I’ll be long gone.”

Harking back to his first job as a TV writer on The Simpsons, O’Brien kicked off the hour-long finale with his friend Homer Simpson, who conducted an exit interview with the talk-show host before the episode began.

The host later invited Ferrell to join via Zoom, the comedian helping O’Brien say goodbye to his show, similarly to how he appeared on O’Brien’s final episode of Late Night and The Tonight Show.

To mark the occasion, O’Brien shared clips from shows featuring his favorite guests over the years, including Betty White, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Nicole Byers, Harrison Ford, Sophie Turner, Zach Galifianakis, and Tom Hanks.

In addition to honoring his favorite guests, O’Brien also offered shout-outs to the TBS team, thanking them for their help along the way.

“11 years ago, I made a decision to come to TBS, at the time, a lot of people were really surprised I did that. They didn’t think that would be the move,” he said. “I did it for one reason, a guy named Steve Koonin came to me, one of the loveliest men in showbusiness, and said I will protect you, I will let you and your people do what you want and I will never interfere and we’ll support you 100 percent. They did that in every single way. They were extraordinary and lovely. I’d have gone away a long time if it weren’t for them.”

He later thanked other friends, team members, and family, including David Levy, Kevin Reilly, Brett Weiss, Jenn Cohen, Gavin Polone, Rick Rosen, Jeff Ross, Andy Richter, Mike Sweeney, Matt O’Brien, Jason Chillemi, and Sarah Federowicz.

The host then thanked his wife, Liza Powel O’Brien, before offering the final cheers to Lisa Kudrow, who he said gave him the confidence to pursue his dream, and Lorne Michaels. 

“In 1993, When I was chosen to replace David Letterman, people thought it was a batshit crazy stupid idea. I had no experience, I shouldn’t have had the job. One man changed my life, Lorne Michaels put his credibility on the line,” O’Brien said. “He changed my life.”

But before giving his last farewell messages, O’Brien was joined by Black, who had planned to perform during a pre-taped musical number, in which he would fake injury to get carried away and brought into the theater with the host. But, naturally, Black ended up actually injuring his ankle while filming — forcing the plan to get scrapped altogether.

“Today, just to be safe, I got an M.R.I. and they were like yeah, no, it’s a real sprain. You’ve got some damage there. You’re going to have to take it easy. No dancing, no running, no physical craziness for a while, you’re going to have to heal up,” Black shared while sitting down with O’Brien, medical boot and all. “And I was so bummed, because I was like, I wanted to be the best guest of all time for your final episode and, instead, I am literally the lamest of all time.”

“When Carson and Letterman, all of these legends go off the air, everything is meticulous. Of course we would think of a bit with Jack, where Jack pretends to get hurt and, while shooting it, Jack gets hurt,” O’Brien cracked. “We’re the only show in the history of the medium that would ever do that. It’s somehow fitting.”

Despite the injury, Black was still able to perform a musical number for O’Brien’s last show — the comedian noting that the doctor never said he couldn’t sing!

After the fun and games, O’Brien closed the show on a more serious note, speaking directly to the audience for almost 15 minutes.

“I’ve devoted all of my adult life — all of it — to pursuing this strange phantom intersection between smart and stupid. And there’s a lot of people who believe the two cannot coexist, but god, I will tell you, it is something that I believe religiously,” he shared. “I think when smart and stupid come together, it’s very difficult, but if you can make it happen, I think it’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”

“My advice to anyone watching right now, it is not easy to do. It is not easy to do,” he continued. “But try and do what you love, with people you love, and if you can manage that, it’s the definition of heaven on Earth, I swear to God, it really is. So good night, thank you very much!”

O’Brien is set to host a new weekly variety show for HBO Max.

Watch above, via YouTube.