During the week Conan had a bit about being vindictive and charging whatever he could to The Tonight Show, with NBC unable to do anything about it. The first expensive item featured during the week was a Bugatti Veyron car dressed up in mouse ears while an original recording of the song “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones played in the background. O’Brien claimed the car and the cost of playing the original song would cost NBC $1.5 million. The second expensive item was the purchase of 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, with the racehorse wearing a mink Snuggie while watching restricted Super Bowl footage. O’Brien claimed this hijink cost NBC $4.8 million. Conan showed the final expensive item on Friday night: a credit card purchased skeleton of a ground sloth from the Smithsonian institution, spraying Beluga caviar spraying through a hose on to an original Picasso, costing $65 million dollars paid for by NBC. Conan then made sure the audience knew the expensive buys at NBC’s expense was a joke all along.

Guests on Friday night included Tom Hanks who brought out what was thought to be scotch to toast Conan, who then proclaimed the drink to actually be cream soda, and diet cream soda at that. Friday’s musical guest was Neil Young, who played an acoustic version of his song “Long May You Run”.

In a very serious moment towards the end of the show, Conan thanked NBC for the years of employment with them and thanked his many fans:

“Here’s what all of you have done: you made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. So to all the people watching, I can never, ever thank you enough for the kindness to me, I’ll think about it for the rest of my life, and all I ask is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people that watch:

Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, it’s my least favorite quality, it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.”

Will Ferrell finished the show dressed in a long blond wig, hat, Neil Young t-shirt and jeans, singing “Free Bird” while bringing Conan onstage to play guitar along with the band. The in-joke of “Free Bird” for those that don’t know the tradition is one concert goers began in the 1970’s when the band Lynyrd Skynyrd didn’t play their signature song “Free Bird” before exiting the stage. The audience yelled “play Free Bird”, lighting bic lighters as is often the case at concerts. Yelling “Free Bird” has become a running joke at concerts ever since, with concert goers yelling “play Free Bird” during all sorts of rock concerts.

Ferrell then added a cow bell towards the end of the song, bringing enormous laughs from SNL fans remembering his skit as a member of the Blue Oyster Cult recording the song “Don’t Fear The Reaper” and featuring Ferrell’s extremely loud cow bell. Ferrell made the most of singing “Free Bird”, lightening a difficult situation for O’Brien and making the show a true celebration to the end.

O’Brien has been faced with making a decision following NBC’s plan to cancel Jay Leno’s primetime show and move Leno back to his late night position. The change cuts Jay Leno’s time to a half hour as a lead in for The Tonight Show, moving The Tonight Show to 12:05 p.m. start time. Rumblings from both Leno and O’Brien camps as well as the late night hosts humorous jabs at NBC are adding to the late night drama.

As you would expect from O’Brien, his press release includes good humor, graciousness in the face of a bad situation and his concerns about the welfare of The Tonight Show’s legacy show what a class act he is.

Read Conan O’Brien’s Press Release

Story online at Associated Press:
Conan O’Brien NBC Story

Official Press Release

“People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls,
and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a
second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to
do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been
absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public
predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The
Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching
Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair
has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that
opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I
have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the
franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like
my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as
important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time
schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without
both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven
months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react
to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in
their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the
Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For
60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late
local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into
the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously
damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of
broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show.
Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show,
which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon,
out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC
franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy
hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it
is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked
unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the
legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I
honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the
argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter.
But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but,
to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and
honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can
resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we
can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my
hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan”