After a successful 17 year run at NBC, Conan O’Brien hosted his final performance on January 22, 2010. Steve Carell showed up to conduct O’Brien’s official NBC exit interview, and Tom Hanks stopped by to bid his friend Coco adieu before rushing off to appear on the Haiti Telethon.
Dressed in hippie garb, Will Ferrell and his Swedish actress wife Viveca Paulin performed the Lynyrd Skynyrd 70’s hit “Free Bird” with Conan on guitar. Neil Young also appeared to perform “Long May You Run”.
After hosting Late Night with Conan O’Brien from 1993-2009, Coco stepped into his dream job as host of The Tonight Show. Unfortunately, that gig lasted a mere seven months before the network pulled the rug out from under the comedian.
Jay Leno will get his old show back beginning March 1, 2010 after a contentious 10 day round of behind the scenes negotiations. Conan won’t go away empty handed — he brokered a hefty $40 million severance package that has undoubtedly left him smiling all the way to the bank.
We’ve included video clips of last night’s highlights below.