March 1, 2025

Conan O'Brien Prepares to Host the 97th Annual Academy Awards

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac previews the 97th Academy Awards hosted by Conan O'Brien. Conan shares insights and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from his extensive press week, including his excitement about wearing a custom tuxedo, getting advice from former hosts Billy Crystal and Jimmy Kimmel, and his nostalgic reasons for hosting. The episode discusses Conan's preparations, including bringing in 10 writers and trying out material at LA clubs. The hosts will thread the needle between acknowledging political climates and celebrating cinema and craftsmanship. Additionally, Oscars producer Katie Milan and writer Bruce Valanche provide their takes on this year’s show and what makes a great Oscar host.

00:16 Conan O'Brien Hosts the Oscars
00:29 Conan's Preparation and Press Tour
01:40 Advice from Past Hosts
03:25 Conan's Unique Hosting Style
04:07 Balancing Humor and Politics
05:45 Behind the Scenes
10:51 Industry Insights and
16:20 Upcoming Episodes

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WEBVTT

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Kalaroga Shark Media. Do you like Conan O'Brien, because if

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you do, you'll like today's show, and if you don't,

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you might as well leave. Now. I'm Johnny Mack with

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your daily comedy news. This is the OSCARS Preview, your

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host for the ninety seventh Annuel Academy Awards, former late

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night talk show host current podcaster Conan O'Brien. He joked

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at a press conference, I only hosted so I could

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be invited. Conan did a lot of press this week.

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Everything I'm about to tell you here is from many

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different sources. I'll mention the sources for the most part,

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but understand that I'm really bouncing around from interview to

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interview and trying to piece things together thematically. As we

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had forward here, Conan was riffing. He said he was

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probably the greatest entertainer of the producers I've ever worked with.

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The producer said working with Conan has been a delightful experience.

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Conan said, well, we'll see what you're saying on Monday.

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The OSCARS team, they're incredible professionals. They know what they're doing,

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they do beautiful work, and it's been a thrill for

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myself off and from my head writer, Mike Sweeney, and

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also my lawyer as well. Conan said one of the

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things that as him the most excited is wearing a tuxedo.

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He said, it's the nicest thing I've ever put on

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in my life. It's made by High Society. Conan said

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it was important to use them because these are the

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people that make incredible wardrobe in Los Angeles. I didn't

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want to go with whatever designer. We wanted to do

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something that was from the community, and they made this

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incredible tuxedo. Another reason Conan accepted incredible lighting. I said

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yes to this happily because I wanted to be part

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of this magical machine and have for the first time

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my life, incredible lighting. Because when I see people on

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a mall, all they say is you look so good

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in person, what's wrong with you on television? And this

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is my chance, so let's get that lighting together. Conan

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got some advice from Pass hosts, including Billy Crystal and Kimmel.

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Conan said, I've spoken with Billy Crystal, who I think

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is the als. I'm great and mastered the hosting of

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the Oscars, in my opinion and will always be top

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Conan said Kimmel and his wife reached out to Conan

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and met him at a restaurant. Conan joked that Kimmel

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picked an expensive restaurant and ordered tons of appetizers that

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I don't need. I don't eat shell fish. He ordered

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it and then stuck me with a bill while wife

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Molly gave me all the pitches and the things I

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should know. Molly's the genius in that equation. They've been

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very supportive and very helpful, and so that's nice because

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I came up in a very different era of late night,

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when not everybody was chobby and friendly, and he didn't

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just pick up the phone. So this new era where

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people are so lovely to each other is something I

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don't take for granted. Interesting anecdote about Billy Crystal from

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the Times interview. Conan said, Billy lost his house in

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the fire, and I didn't want to bother him because

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I can only imagine. Then I saw him at the

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SNL fifty and we had a long talk. So I

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think I'm going to be texting him to say, hey,

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maybe here is some jokes things like that. Then he

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talked about the dinner with the Kimmel's ConA said things

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you wouldn't even think about, Like if you're doing a

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bit about somebody in act one, make sure they're in

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their seat, because sometimes five minutes into the monologue they're

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still loading people in. Jimmy said, just make sure you

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sit down when you can in between acts, because you're

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standing the whole three hours and it does start to

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wear away at you. So I've had a pair of

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metal legs made that I'm going to paint a flush color.

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ConA talked about Kimmel at a different piece and said

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his tips kept going back to try and sit down.

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If you could do the jokes sitting down, do them

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sitting down? What are you? Franklin roosevelts, it's funny. Conan

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was on Kimmel's show, and Kimmel said, I wouldn't give

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you tips on jokes or any of that stuff. I'd

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never do anything like that, and asked Conin do you

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have a tuxedo? Codin said, I have a tuxedo. I'm

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going to change out fits fifteen times. How many tuxedos

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would you wear in a night? Kimmel said, well, what

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I would have is two jackets, and I would switch

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into the second jacket, and I always felt dumb about it,

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And Conan said, good to known, and he would tie

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a chair to your butt. Right more Conan, he spoke

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to us Weekly and said, I've hosted many awards show

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in my life, but the Oscars it's the pinnacle. It's

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the one you dream about hosting when your child. As

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long as the pay is good, I'm looking into that.

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What can we expect. There'll be several moments in the

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Oscars were all be shirtless and oil, and I think

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that's going to hurt the program incredibly. My biggest goal

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is to enjoy the nine hours of the Oscar telecast.

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I think it would be a shame to get the

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chance to host the Oscars and not have a good time.

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So I'll be medicated. Conan said, the biggest hosting lesson

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he's learned over the years is that mistakes aren't mistakes.

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I'm someone who hopes that things sometimes go a little

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off the rails because that's where the real memorable moments

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happen on late night and on the Oscars. Yeah, there

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is this thing a couple of years ago. I don't

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know if you remember, remember Will Smith slap Chris Rock. Yeah,

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I think we're still talking about that. One Conan says

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he will address the current political climate during the awards,

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but he won't get bogged down in devisive jokes. I

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think it's host I can't ignore the moment we're in,

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but I also have to remember it's threading a needle.

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I also have to remember what we're here to celebrate

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and fuse the show with positivity and also shine a

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light and all those people that have worked incredibly hard,

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not just dayless celebrities, but people you never see, craftsmen

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and crafts people that work hard and have spent years

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making the films. But I do with humor, and then

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I also make sure the night doesn't drift into only

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about politics, because I think that's robbing people of something beautiful,

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hard work that they've done. So it's a difficult line

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to walk, but I'm determined to figure it out. We're

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told the show we'll have uplifting moments dedicated to la

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after January's fires. As for his week putting this together,

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it's been a thrill. It's like for the first time

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getting to drive a Ferrari. My philosophy on this is

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as the host, I'm the spokesperson in a way. I'm

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the person who's sitting in for anyone who's watching at home.

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If something happens it seems awful, funny, or strange, I

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should comment on it. Will Conan have a musical opening?

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His answer, I can either confirm nor deny anything that's

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happening anywhere in the show, mostly because I don't know

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what's going on. I don't come to rehearsal. I hang

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out a cheesecake factory which is on Vinen Island. The

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whole check here in this business to get people to watch,

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to see what's gonna happen. See, this is the mistake

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I used to make. I used to tell people exactly

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what I was going to do long before I did it,

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and no one tuned in. Then I learned, oh, don't

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tell people what you're gonna do. A magician taught me

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that The New York Times profiled Conan. Conan had to

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evacuate his home during the fires. His wife called and

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asked what to save. His only thought was a nineteen

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eighty letter from author E. B. White, Conan had written

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to him as a teenage fan. Conan said, and he

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wrote me back a really sweet letter. So I said,

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just grab that if the rest goes, it goes. Conan

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is still living in a hotel. His preparation for hosting

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the Oscars has included bringing in ten of his own writers,

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running jokes by the crew, and dropping into clubs in

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LA to try out the material. You know now that

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I'm thinking, I'll tell you. I had reached out to

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Smigel's camp to see if I get him on to

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talk about Night of Too Many Stars, and I got

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silence back, probably because Smigel's probably working with Conan on this,

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now that I think about it. That said, professionally, a

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non response is just the worst thing high Night of

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Too Many Stars. Just write me back and say, like,

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the dude's busy, or we hate your show, or nobody

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listens to your show. We're not doing that. Non Responses

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aren't cool if you work professionally in the industry. No

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is a perfectly good answer. Hey do you want to

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host the Oscars? No? Hey do you want to host

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the Oscars? Well, I'll get back to you, or let

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me think about it. That's not good. It's seem like

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with your friends, do you want to hang out Saturday night? No?

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Just tell them no. If you don't want to hang out.

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Just no is a fine answer anyway. Hopefully I'll hear

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from the Smigel people. I'm just genuinely interested in the

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event and what goes into the event, and in the

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most positive way. You raise some money, where does the

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money go? I don't mean that like I'm hosting sixty minutes.

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I don't mean it like where does the money go?

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I mean like, oh, where does the money go? You? Guys,

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guys seem like you're doing a good thing. You'd like

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to learn more about it. So smigle camp, someone get

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back to me if you want to tell me. Nobody

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listen to the podcast. That's fine. I have digressed to

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Conan brought in ten writer is one of them, possibly

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perhaps maybe who knows Robert Smigel to work on the jokes.

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They've been running jokes by the crew and dropping in

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at clubs in LA to try out material. But they've

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been keeping that on the DL. I haven't heard a

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thing about that. That'll probably come out next week. Interesting

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that that hasn't leaked at all. Conan said, I started

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seriously writing comedy around the time I was eighteen, and

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that's what I think about all the time. But he

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says there's no formula. It's frustrating, but it's not math.

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He can't prove it. The only way to find out

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is to try it on people. He also wouldn't tell

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The Times if he's doing a musical number or an

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opening montage. My guess one hundred percent, Yes, one hundred percent.

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I have no doubt he will do something musical and

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goofy to open up. But Conan says nothing's in stone.

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I'm leaving every possibility on the table. I have choices

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right now. We'll see what happens. Conan got a little

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more serious with The Times. I said yes, because I'm nostalgic,

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particularly now about my childhood. The biggest thrill I've had

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in my career is meeting the celebrities that were on

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my TV when I was a little boy. So when

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I met Don Knats, I lost my mind. When I

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met Tom Cruise, I was happy and he was lovely

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to me, but it couldn't have the same impact as

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Don Knots, and I remember watching Johnny car Person hosts

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the Oscars and that being a big deal. The entertainment

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landscape has changed a lot. I told Billy Crystal, you

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hit a note that I don't think you can hit

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anymore because when people tuned into his Oscars, everyone had

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seen the movies. He was parrotying, it's not the communal

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campfire that maybe it once was. But I still think

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the Oscars is meaning really good cinema, especially when it's

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from different countries, different points of view, as an incredible

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amount of residence and importance right now, and this is

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the night that celebrates that. To be part of it

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is meaningful to me. I don't think of it as

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a thankless task. Even if I just do it once

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and no one's interested in me in doing it again,

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it'll have been a meaningful experience for me. My parents

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aren't here to see it. Yeah, they passed away last year,

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but I know it would have been a huge deal

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to them. I was able to tell my father and

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he was impressed. He probably wondered, couldn't they find someone else.

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ConA told people I have a really great photograph of

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my parents laughing in the audience, an event I did

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years ago, and I realized early on the original reason

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anybody gets into comedy is just trying to make our

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parents laugh. I used to think to myself sometimes, Huh,

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why would I continue doing comedy. If my parents aren't

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here anymore, I'll still be thinking about them on Oscar

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night and trying to get them to laugh. That's kind

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of a comfort. It's also more pressure in case in

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the hereafter they don't like it, and they let me know.

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When your parents go through all that effort to travel

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through space, time and the mists of mystery to tell

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you they didn't love it, that's a crushing blow. So

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I've really got to nail it. The topic of politics

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came up again. Conan said, it's all about threading the needle.

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I'm there really to talk about the films, to talk

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about the industry, and yeah, there's gonna be political jokes

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here and there. There have to be. But if it's

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a screed, I'm doing a disservice to everybody. I'm actually

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doing a disservice to the people who might agree with

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the screed. In my opinion, however, anyone voted should not

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be a prerequisite for whether you enjoy the show. I

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feel very strongly about that. What's Conan the most nervous

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about getting the tone right. The tone's been shifting a

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lot in LA and people love to project their agenda

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on a big show. The thing I think the most

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about is how the ground can shift between when I'm

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talking to you. This is the New York Times and

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this is by Molna Rizzicks. I'm not friend of the show,

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Jason Zinneman. Perhaps Malayna could become a friend of the show,

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but ConA wants to get the tone right. The tone

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has been shifting a lot in LA. The thing I

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think about the most is how the ground can shift

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between when I'm talking to you and when the show happens.

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Moods can change, currents can change. I want to make

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sure that I have my intenta up forever, and I'm

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gonna be doing that right up until they tap me

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on the shoulder to go out. So I just hope

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I'm able to ride it like a wave, because there's

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so much about it that I can't manifest. Now just

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gonna happen. It's what excites me and worries me, and

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that in a nutshell my life, I'm drawn to things

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that scare me. They excite me and they scare me.

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I love them and I dread them, and it keeps flipping.

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And they haven't made a medication yet that will fix it.

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I think the surprise for America is people are gonna

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look at this and say, that's one of the most

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attractive men alive. Some more odds and ends from Conan.

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I'm gonna go to the audience and I'm gonna shave

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a Stanley Tucci's chest. He hasn't consented, He's heard about it,

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he said no, but I'm still gonna do it. Conan said,

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the Oscar audience can expect to say something new. I

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don't care if my ideas are bad ideas. I care

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that they're new and you haven't seen it before. You

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know what I mean. Wrestling the giant Kobra, you know,

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for the first time on stage hasn't been done. I

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can sing, I can dance, I can do close up magic.

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I'm a contortionist. You don't know what I'm gonna do.

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Anything can happen at any time. The Hollywood Reporter caught

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up with the producers of the Oscars, Raj Kapor and

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Katie Milan. Katie told The Hollywood Reporter, We've been preparing

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for the show for months and months and nights, and

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then what happened in January caused us to do a

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rethink of a lot of the elements and really think, Okay,

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how do we acknowledge it, the fires, how do we

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reflect on it? And also how do we give the

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people the ability work so hard and have so much

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talent to be able to walk on that stage and

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still seize their moments. So, yeah, it's been an interesting

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and difficult couple of months and we just really hope

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this year's show kind of helps heal and it's a

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bit of a love letter to la. Kapoor also was

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a producer on this year's Grammys. The Grammars were acclaimed

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for the way they handled La. Kapoor said, it's definitely

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influenced our show. We have moments that definitely acknowledge the fires,

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what has happened. It's kind of our unique spin on

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how we acknowledge that. But there will be at least

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three moments when the show that touch on it and

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hopefully have some messaging that may be inspiring. Then you know,

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a charitable component with the Motion Picture Academy and the

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charities they're supporting, and then there's a way that Conan

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will acknowledge it. So throughout the evening there's gonna be

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some touchstones to acknowledge because so many people in the room.

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So many people in the film industry have been impacted

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by it, and I think almost everybody in LA knows

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somebody who's experienced some sort of loss or impact. So

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we feel that it's very prudent that we acknowledge it

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and make it part of our show. We also have

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the Oscars to produce. We have twenty three awards to

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give out, and we want to really honor everybody who's

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nominated and have the unique things that make the Oscars

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the Oscars. Milan talked about what Conan's up to and said,

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there's a lot of ideas and he's a great team.

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People have been cooking them up for weeks and weeks

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and weeks. What we have at the moment is probably

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way too many, but we love that because then we

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can whittle it down to the best of the best

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for the show. Some of them are pre taped, a

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lot of them are live in the room. I think

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Conan is just so beloved and he has such great

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connections with pretty much everybody who's going to be in

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that audience. So seeing that from the stage and allowing

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him to kind of really own the room and give

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everybody license in the room and have a good time.

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It's crucial and key. But you know what we love

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about Conan in his styles that he always comes up

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with something unexpected. We're going to pepper that throughout the show.

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So yes, there will be some pretapes. There's definitely going

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to be some unexpected moments, and there are probably some

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surprises we haven't even thought of yet because it's a

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constantly evolving creative process. At the moment. Oscar writer Bruce

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Valange talked to The Hollywood Reporter about some of what

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goes on in making one of these things. They asked

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the question kind of similar to what Trevor Noa talked

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about that I played the clip the other day. Do

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you play to the room or do you to play

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the people at home? Bruce said, you make it work

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for the house meeting the people in the room, because

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if the house is enjoying it, that spirit is seen

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by people at home watching it, and they kind of

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get into the fact that it's working, and even though

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they might not know every reference is being made, there'll

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be enough you have to calibrate. His advice for any

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Oscar Night host, I always tell hosts to front load

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the show because for everybody who wins. There are four

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people who don't, and as the evening wears on, the

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room fills up with losers, and they're not listening to you.

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They're texting, firing their agent, firing their dentist, whoever. So

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you're not gonna get the laughs you got. And many

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times the camera cuts to where Eddie Murphy was sitting

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and now it's a lady who bought a dress from

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TJ Max that you got for the occasion. You better

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do this strong stuff up front because you're not gonna

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build as the show goes on. All right, Bruce, what

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makes a great Oscar host? And guys, you know I

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don't preread these things half the time. Ah, I didn't

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set this up. I'm laughing. Let me answer. Bruce said, Well,

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what Joe Cooy proved at the Golden Globes is you

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have to be a big star. I'm not going to

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do it. Scott Becker, relax because if you're gonna make

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fun of big stars, they have to feel as if

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you're on their level. There's a very short list of

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people who can do that. Generally, no one wants to

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do it. Bruce is they're an upside of hosting an

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Award Show. Hey, if you're Nicki Glazer, there's a great upside.

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And she wasn't mean. She calibrated her stuff. Her act

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is very dirty and she was being a nice girl,

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but she had a little edge to it. I don't

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know if it would have worked on the Oscars necessarily,

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because while it's the same crowd, there's more pomp and

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ceremony to this thing. Listen to this question, who was

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the worst Oscar host that you had to work with?

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Bruce Flanche said, well, I had a problem with Ellen,

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but that's because she was I think she was scared.

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Hollywood Reporter seems you weren't the only one to have

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had a hard time working with Ellen. Bruce said, yeah,

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I had no idea. She isolated herself a lot. It

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was not fun and I like her. I've known her

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for years and she was always fun, but I think

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the burden of everything that happened to her changed her.

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I think she was a little risk averse, even though

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she was now on her own talk show and everything

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about her was out and the public loved her. I

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think she was very protective and wanted her people around

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her and that was it. So that was the only

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one that was really difficult. Bruce R. People ever warned

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that they're going be made fun of. He said, no,

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Elizabeth Taylor was the real exception. It was because it

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was a joke about a personal life. Billy Crystal was

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introducing al Pacino and he said, this is al Pacino's

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eighth nomination and he's never won. He' said more people

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cry out another man's name than anybody except Larry Fortinski.

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That was Elizabeth Taylor's seventh husband and longtime Oscar telecast

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director Gil Kate says, it's hysterical. You have to call

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Elizabeth because it's a sex joke about her. Anyway, he

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called her and told her the joke, and she said,

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who's Larry. That's great. They're really nothing comedy specific other

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than the whole conan of it all. In case you're curious,

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you're in an Oscar's mood if you're still listening to

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me twenty minutes in. The nominees for Best Picture are

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Anora The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown Conclave, Dune Part two,

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Amelia Perez, I'm still here, Nicol Boy's The Substance, and Wicked.

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The only one of those I've seen is Dune Part two,

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