Conan O’Brien Must Go: Season 3 Roundtable Discussion Part I

Jessie Gaskell (0:03)

Conan O'Brien Needs A Fan. Wanna talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com/callconan.

Okay, let's get started.

Conan O'Brien (0:13)

Hello, Conan O'Brien here. And this is a very special episode that we're doing, Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, because I am sitting here with the creative masterminds behind my travel show, Conan O'Brien Must Go. By the time this drops, all four episodes will finally be out. India, Netherlands, Morocco, Philippines. I'm very proud of these shows. I think this might have been our best season yet. I think there's a lot of funny and even some heartwarming stuff in those episodes. And I'm thrilled to be here with the team that's been with me on all of my travel shows, going back to the very beginning.

And I'm talking about Mike Sweeney. Hello, Mike.

Mike Sweeney (0:57)

Hello, Conan.

Conan O'Brien (0:59)

Well, and now we're losing... We are dropping fans by the...

Jose Arroyo (1:06)

Ratings drop off right there.

Mike Sweeney (1:08)

Yeah.

Jessie Gaskell (1:08)

Hello.

Mike Sweeney (1:10)

Oh, and then we just went...

Conan O'Brien (1:11)

Jessie Gaskell. Hi, Jessie.

Jessie Gaskell (1:12)

Hi, Conan.

Conan O'Brien (1:13)

And that was a little more sincere. And then you know him as Dr. Arroyo. I know him as Jose Arroyo. He's an actual human being, sort of.

Jose Arroyo (1:22)

Jose, how are you? Hi, Conan.

Conan O'Brien (1:25)

And guys, we have been working together on travel shows going back years and years and years. The 80s. The 80s, that's right. The 1980s, when we traveled to... The Berlin Wall was still up. Yeah, that was us. We actually caused the Berlin Wall to fall.

I was doing a bit with Jordan and we slammed into it. And then everyone was like, ah, what the fuck, let it go. I almost said Putin, but that's historically inaccurate. It would have been Yeltsin, Conan, stop it. Anyway, let's talk about these shows. And I made this statement that this might be my favorite season. You guys can weigh in. And I'm not just saying that, Nia. I think this is our best yet kind of schtick. I was very proud of these. Yeah. They're all quite different.

A bunch of these are countries that we always wanted to go to and it never quite worked out.

Jessie Gaskell (2:18)

It's really the furthest flung season, I think. We've traveled far to get to these places.

Conan O'Brien (2:23)

Yes, yes. And if you go by just mileage alone, these are our best shows. Yes. And it all starts with, I'm gonna start us off on India because that was the first episode that dropped. And Mike, maybe you can speak to this, but India was on our wish list for a long time.

I think there were some bureaucratic difficulties, if I'm correct.

Jessie Gaskell (2:52)

Self-inflicted.

Conan O'Brien (2:53)

Probably self-inflicted. But Mike, why don't you lay the table a little bit for our long journey starting years ago to go to India.

Mike Sweeney (3:03)

It started in 2017

We were putting India together, and there is a lot of red tape, a lot of bureaucracy to shoot in India. I'm sure if you want to start a petrochemical plant, it's smooth sailing. But to shoot a TV show, it's rough.

Conan O'Brien (3:23)

Yeah.

Mike Sweeney (3:25)

Then it turned out we shot something in 2004 without any permits, and someone dug that up and dinged us for that. On the eve of going, we pulled the plug because we still didn't have an answer, and instead in two weeks, we planned you going to Italy with Jordan.

Conan O'Brien (3:45)

Yeah. I remember that. So we were going to go to Italy, but because of a weird rogue remote that we did years and years earlier.

Andy Blitz. Andy Blitz, very funny writer, had a very funny idea, which is he's having problems with his computer, and he's talking to someone at the call center, which of course is in India, and he's having difficulty, so he wraps his computer up, puts it under his arm, gets on a plane, and takes it to India, which is a very funny idea. Of course, we meant no offense to anybody, but what we didn't, because we're all wet behind the ears, and Andy Blitz, and I can say this, I don't think this is legally actual, he's a fool.

Andy Blitz, no one got any permissions or anything, it was just sort of shot guerrilla style. And that caused us to be put on some list, but it all worked out, and our huge thanks to the government, and everyone involved in letting us come to India, we had a wonderful time. It is one of my favorite places to visit, it's spectacular. India is a spectacular place, I cannot say enough good things about our experience there. And I loved, there's one fan that really, he's one of my all-time favorite fans, and that's Rusty.