\n
\u201cI really love being a guest, because when you\u2019re the host, you need to worry about, \u2018How do I get [a bit of crucial info] into the conversation; I gotta get to this question; we\u2019re running tight on time; I gotta get out of the story,\u2019\u201d he explained.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re the guest, you don\u2019t care,\u201d O\u2019Brien noted and pointed to Kimmel. \u201cIt\u2019s your problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
A short time later, Kimmel asked O\u2019Brien his thoughts about being a guest on Letterman\u2019s show, saying he found it \u201cthe scariest thing\u201d he\u2019s ever done.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
O\u2019Brien agreed, saying Letterman was, for his and Kimmel\u2019s generation, \u201cour guy,\u201d and \u201cwe were, like, \u2018Oh my God, it\u2019s Dave!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
O\u2019Brien then remembered the first time he was scheduled to be interviewed by Letterman in 1993, a short time after Letterman left NBC for CBS, leaving O\u2019Brien to replace him as host of \u201cLate Night.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cMy show was hanging on by a thread. People said, \u2018Who is this guy? What kind of name is that? His hair looks stupid \u2015 it looks like a dessert,\u2019 and people were really down on me, and I thought, I\u2019m gonna go away,\u201d O\u2019Brien said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
A lifeline came in when Letterman asked to interview O\u2019Brien on CBS.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cThis is a big chance for me to maybe save my show,\u201d O\u2019Brien said, adding that he discussed the appearance with writers on his own show.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cWhat I love to do is pitch an idea that is intentionally bad, that I would never do, but it just makes the writers laugh,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
O\u2019Brien\u2019s intentionally bad idea was to sit next to Letterman, and when the host asked him how things were going, he would suddenly \u201cfreeze and hold it for a really long time and never break.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
He provided a visual for Kimmel\u2019s viewers. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nConan O’Brien demonstrates how in his proposed bit he would “freeze and hold it for a really long time and never break.\u201d<\/figcaption>\n
Jimmy Kimmel Live via YouTube<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n
One of O\u2019Brien\u2019s staff writers, Robert Smigel, previously wrote for Letterman and loved the idea, insisting he do it on the show.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cYou have to do it! You have to do it! Do it!\u201d O\u2019Brien remembers Smigel telling him. \u201cIt will blow people\u2019s minds, and overnight, people will say, \u2018This guy is a genius!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
O\u2019Brien had a different thought.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cI will be off the air immediately! I will never be invited back \u2015 literally hold it to the point where they carry me out of Dave\u2019s show,\u201d he said, while imagining that the celebrity.land would have said he had a meltdown.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
But while O\u2019Brien insisted a stunt like that would have been bad for the short-term prospects of his career, he figured that many years later, his fellow comedians would remember that time O\u2019Brien \u201cshowed the man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
He added, \u201cAnd, meanwhile, I\u2019m in an alley somewhere with no pants on,\u201d while Kimmel interjected, \u201cand Dave hates you!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
You can see the complete interview below, with the Letterman bit starting around the 11-minute mark.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"Conan](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/69b2f4c71b000045d614e141.png?cache=NuojzotsvJ&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp)
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