Robert Smigel On The Origins Of “In The Year 2000” | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

Robert Smigel and Conan were both surprised that “In The Year 2000” continued past the year 2000.
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ABOUT CONAN O’BRIEN NEEDS A FRIEND
Deeper, unboundedly playful, and free from FCC regulations, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend is a weekly opportunity for Conan to hang out with the people he enjoys most and perhaps find some real friendship along the way. Watch highlights of Conan, Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley chatting with celebrities and meeting fans, along with special segments like “Review the Reviewers” and “Big Dick History.”
ABOUT TEAM COCO
Team Coco is the KZbin home for all things Conan O’Brien and the Team Coco Podcast Network. Team Coco features over 25 years of comedy sketches, celebrity interviews and stand-up comedy sets from CONAN on TBS and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, as well as exclusive videos from podcasts like Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,
Literally! with Rob Lowe, Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer, The Three Questions with Andy Richter, May I Elaborate? with JB Smoove and Scam Goddess with Laci Mosley.
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[@Positivethinking2]

Not gonna lie the "in the year two thousaannnnddd" voice randomly hits me at times.

[@rhythmicfriction536]

Whoa I didn't realize until just now, but me too 😳

[@user-ht1xu4gv2u]

My relitive saw segments. Year 2k. He was senile a bit and it aggravated him to no end

[@DanFlashes99]

My favorite In the Year 2000 bit was with David Duchovny, who had the perfect dry delivery: "In the year 2000 the Bald Eagle will be taken off the endangered species list, not because it is no longer endangered, but because it is a douchebag." lol

[@shanhussain6114]

When Conan got the spot on the Tonight Show, he did "In The Year 3000" instead, and one that always comes to mind was: In the year 3000, KZbin, Facebook and Twitter will merge into one company named "You Twit Face" 🤣🤣🤣

[@N-xi2zh]

I love Duchovny 4ever.

[@geloamiote]

We need a 10-part deep dive with robert smigel

[@dustinbilson5472]

Da boyz

[@edwardh1003]

Da Bears

[@fredbaumann3360]

Pleeeeeeze!

[@mattmacnavarro8060]

Add a 1 and two 0’s in front of that and you got a deal

[@sanctifiedandsaved5298]

I can't say who does the better Leno - but these two guys are hysterical!

[@Sunset4Semaphores]

2:06 *Burn Jay, Burn!*

[@cleverusername9369]

Dueling Jays was hilarious, but you have to appreciate the grace Conan shows, he clearly doesn't like Jay Leno (for good and obvious reasons) and he'll occasionally do the voice, but he NEVER comes off as bitter or mean-spirited. He rarely talks about that whole fiasco, in fact he seems to go out of his way to avoid it, but when he does, he's very matter-of-fact and dispassionate.

[@nolongerblocked6210]

Totally agree! If that was me, I'd be so pissed off that all I talked about would be Leno hosing me

[@Sunset4Semaphores]

2:06 I like the Jay Burn!

[@angelmanfredy]

I was so sad when Conan canceled his show but I’m so happy that he has this. There’s been some amazing hilarious interviews like this one.

[@beardown6574]

Smigel is a legend. Loved this conversation between 2 old friends

[@kenyanoxygen5801]

robert smigel is one of my favourite comedian writers. all his appearances on howard are literal gems.i love the work and support he has done for kids with autism and im also glad that his latest project LEO is getting the love that all his projects deserve ..i cant count the number of times ive watched YOU DONT MESS WITH THE ZOHAN

[@maxstraight8240]

I didn't realize he cowrote Zohan until recently. Great funny movie!

[@mikestevenson576]

Zohan is the hardest I've probably ever laughed at a movie.

[@JoshPhoenix11]

Have you seen the pilot episode 'Lookwell' that Conan and Smigel wrote that was the greatest, funniest most genius tv pilot to never get picked up? It stared tv Batman's Adam West and it would of been the best tv series of the 70's if it ever was made.

[@os-tin]

going through a pretty rough time and conan is always there, whether it's new clips or digging through clips from the past decades. it's nice to be able to count on the team

[@seanryan7515]

Stay strong my dude

[@charleybarley914]

us Team Coco stans are on your side my friend.

[@udaymukhija4366]

This was me in July. Old Triumph videos really helped.

[@TeemuSintonen]

Conan is my comfort zone also

[@jasonr375]

I'm right there with you. Not an easy time but comedy helps.

[@gringostarr7858]

Am i the only one that says the "year 2000" in a super high pitched conan voice when someone in my life mentions anything about the year 2000? I love that sketch.

[@IMLMadras1st]

Nope, 🤚🏻 .

[@desertleviathan5131]

I think the main reason I have so much affection for "In the Year 2000" is because it persisted so far past 2000. The actual content of the bits were often hit or miss for me, a fair number of low-hanging fruit jokes about whatever celebrity was controversial at the time, but the absurdity of the framing was what hooked me.

[@michaelhudson2912]

Yep and the song was funny literally every time

[@patreekotime4578]

The flashlights was also such a great touch. It was just so stupid. When they changed it to In The Year 3000 and added fancy costumes for the Tonight Show it didnt work as well IMO.

[@Spaced92]

It was just the song and how surreal it was. Going after 2000 was bonus territory.

[@erakfishfishfish]

My favorite In the Year 2000 joke: “After years of wedded bliss, Miss Piggy files for divorce when Kermit the Frog converts to judaism and can no longer eat pork.”

[@trevour]

ACTUAL ITEMS! That and the Staring Contest with Andy were the best recurring bits on Late Night.

[@JomerTB]

Can't forget about the Chuck Norris lever haha

[@senoritaperdida]

My absolute favorite parts of the podcast are when Conan and his guest just reminisce or chit chat. Performance is great, but I just love the feeling like I’m a fly on the wall of their hangout.

[@jkap34]

No, that's hosted by Dana Carvey and David Spade. (Fly on the Wall)

[@kamenanew9867]

​@@jkap34odd to pretend to misunderstand a comment as a way to advertise that podcast but hey whatever works ig.

[@fdrstan]

I wish we could somehow convince Lorne and Conan to have Conan host SNL again… it would be so incredible.

[@Writebrain82]

I don't think the NBC suits would let Conan show his face back on the network, but maybe it's been long enough now where they wouldn't care. I'd LOVE to see him on SNL. It'd be the best.

[@lanceh543]

he was on the show Feb 2022@@Writebrain82

[@raveoreynolds6049]

Oh boy, Conan hosting SNL at its peak irrelevancy, with one of the weaker casts they've had.

[@Robert-rw6pi]

He did a surprise appearance on snl last year.

[@adamziegler7921]

Smigel is a comedic genius. What I would have given to be a fly on the wall for those Chicago sketch shows.

[@detroitdiezel7856]

Just as long as there wasn't someone with a flyswatter nearby... or worse, a bug zapper!!

[@Challam3ow]

My favorite thing about Triumph, is when Robert pulls out the long stick arms and doesn’t even bother to hide Triumph’s actual arms 😂😂😂😂😂

[@brannonhill4046]

Or sometimes even try to hide his own hand

[@bwuh]

2:57 I could have listened to Jay vs. Jay for the rest of this segment. Hilarious.

[@Cloudryder9]

My 5 year old suddenly started humming “in the year 2000” a month ago. Proud of him. And a pat on the back for me.

[@puppsmcgee74]

I guess that’s why Conan has resonated with me ever since he began his talk show in the 90s. I too am a huge fan of Warner Bros cartoons and have been since I was a kid. If I could act like Bugs Bunny every day of my life I would be ecstatic.

[@treetopjones737]

Watch the very first Daffy Duck cartoon, wild.

[@MissInformation773]

Hoping you guys make a time capsule to be opened 70 years from now with a Triumph puppet and a film of the best sketches

[@kamenanew9867]

Best of triumph on Conan DVD I still own and love. Also the come poop with me cd DVD combo.

[@Lurdiak]

My favorite part of the Triumph puppet is the cigar he constantly drops.

[@taylorlconner]

Yes! And the arm holding a microphone that is nowhere near his body!

[@kamenanew9867]

​@@taylorlconneralways loved when he'd lose an arm, great bits.

[@greenrobot5]

So this guy is a huge part of why Late night was so awesome

[@ThatsOnYoutube]

I need Triumph to poop on these Amazon ads.

[@batoutofmel4959]

Do it now, Triumph! Don’t be a fool!

[@missoula2213]

Or you could just eat 💩 instead. 😅

[@ThatsOnYoutube]

@@missoula2213 Jeff Bezos that was rude.

[@kstepko]

I liked it a lot better when they didn’t include Conan reading ads from the podcast in their videos.

[@hopegaming867]

I mean he could poop and u could get a toilet paper and litter box from Amazon. 😂

[@Tonyhouse1168]

Robert just did an interview with Rich Eisen where he gets really in depth with this story. Learning about Triumph’s creation was pretty cool

[@lanamarie6-2020]

Love Conan! Love Smigel! 😄

[@Ou8y2k2]

This Smigel interview needs to be like 3-4 hours long. 👍

[@jkap34]

Just watch the reading of Hanz und Franz. You get like 6 hours of Smigel with Kevin Nealon and Dana carvey mixed in there.

[@Kendilious]

All this time, I thought IN THE YEAR 2000 started AFTER 2000 (I started watching as a teenager in the early 00s). It was hilarious and definitely worked, so glad you kept as is haha

[@Bombadil-ez9ns]

I got into Conan in the year 2000. I got that it was an old bit that they carried over without changing it, which made it that much funnier.

[@darthsirrius]

I remember watching that episode the first time they did the year 2000 bit after the year 2000 had passed, and just laughing at the insanity of it. Honestly one of my favorite bits, and it only got better the farther past the year 2000 it got ROFL

[@itskevinzerbe]

The Year 2000 was one of my all-time favorite bits from Late Night. My friends and I still sing that tune

[@trentb3148]

Oh man, I remember as a teenager wondering what they were going to do when it was actually the year 2000.

[@marshmallowcrew]

Loved the podcast! This just made me think, it would be awesome if Brian McCann or Brian Stack were a guest on CONAF. I’m sure they would both have plenty to talk about with Conan

[@patreekotime4578]

They've done Inside Conan. They even appeared together on it. Its really a great podcast.

[@user-gt7vn9lz2m]

Classic duo. They should write a banging comedy series man. Time to make up for Lookwell

[@Daniel_Ilyich]

Conan, thank you so much for this gift.

[@suemick8709]

Smigel binge about to commence.

[@imfireproof]

"That‘s just ME, I guess“ 😂😂😂

[@blacki4268]

The best in the year 2000 joke was the friends one with mr. T. It went something like this "in the season finale of friends, it will finally be revealed, that NYC has black people"😂😂

[@fbaesh]

As I sit, watch & loudly guffaw at these Conan/Smigel segments, my bandmates, in an adjoining room, are wondering: what the HELL'S going on in there? Thank you, Team Coco, for making this happen 🙂👍

[@davidhill2020]

I love watching Conan's people take a steaming dump all over Jay Leno. That guy stole so many bits from Dave and Howard, it was ridiculous.

[@mikestevenson576]

In fairness, when Dave started Late Night and had the same challenge as Conan (he was forced by Johnny to avoid pretty much every talk show convention people had gotten used to), Dave didn't generate mountains of completely new things like Conan and Smigel did. He lifted the entire Steve Allen catalogue. At least, the parts Johnny Carson hadn't already stolen.

[@Sunset4Semaphores]

2:06 *Burn Jay, Burn!*

[@thomasdemoor874]

These Amazon ads are a joy to listen to... FOR ME TO POOP ON!

[@treetopjones737]

The bits with the announcer guy ( was his name Joel ? ) revealing that he was a creepy guy were always fun.

[@mctaguer]

Keeping In the Year 2000 way past 2000 was one of my favorite niche humor things, ever. Master stroke.

[@edub9930]

Robert Smigel is the GOAT u dont even know. I remember those fake newspaper clippings bits they were hillarious 😂😅

[@cosmonot47]

I hope conan’s underlying contempt for leno never fades

[@shawnphillips1612]

When I'm old and grey and have forgotten my name.. I'll still remember.. "in the year 2000"

[@folarinosibodu]

best episode yet. best stories and wall to wall laughs.

[@supafun33]

I rewound the Leno/Lorne impressions multiple times! Great stuff!

[@1Godlessheathen]

My favorite ‘Actual Ad’ would have to be the one where Conan is showing off this swimming pool and says “here we have this swimming pool that you can put up in your backyard. Looks like it would be fun for a family to splash around in and create memories. There’s a… young man playing in it. It looks like he’s having fun. But then when you look closer it reads ‘Timmy’s ghost says “this is the pool I died in.’” I laughed so friggin hard at that.

[@user-gw5ru6kr6c]

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Conan laughed this hard so often.

[@xchapix]

I love that they just randomly go in and out of bits all the time lol

[@jamesscozzari5008]

Robert Smigel is an Isles fan and that's all I needed today.

[@danielwilliams7562]

I need this whole interview

[@jozz2248]

Appreciated the dueling banjo Lenos 😆

[@patreekotime4578]

Sounds very similar to banjos.

[@TheSavageBountyHunter]

In the year 2000 bits was how I started watching Conan. ❤❤❤

[@growupjohnny9374]

One in a gazillion ❤

[@TheReal_DeanD]

Always loved triumph and Conan. Robert Smigel is great. I gotta dig up my Triumph music album somewhere on my attic.

[@dh5363]

These guys would be so fun and exhausting to be around with all the characters and sketches they constantly go in and out from lol

[@jasonbenjamin1464]

the man the myth the legend robert smigel... he gets brought up all the time

[@cleanaholic2584]

Genius

[@garywaynehoffman207]

Smile-Gel always makes me happy !

[@willpfister]

Sona looks amazing.

[@mj.ray0898]

4:58 them talking about Odenkirk being in Nobody and joking he's got a John Wick franchise starting, but honestly I would be so down for a sequel, that movie was badass. Never expected that kinda thing from Odenkirk but he killed it!

[@sunshine3914]

Why am I watching this, I listened to the podcast yesterday

[@b25822]

Wow I remember all those old Conan bits. They were so good. FOR ME TO POOP ON!

[@amyjackson8725]

I usually listen to true crime podcasts, but it was getting late so I decided to listen to a Conan Needs a Friend episode. It happened to be one with Conan doing the "Yay Boo" song, which haunted me all night long!! I woke up to use the bathroom and have Conan in a loop in my head going "Yay Boo, Yay Boo..." I wake in the morning and it is still there, "Yay Boo, Yay Boo...", then I picture him doing the marionette dance too😱

[@florete2310]

I know, I know... - we've announced so many honorary chill chums by now... but Robert Smigel must be added to the ranks (obviously)... Sheeesh... guess, Gourles has to make some extra space in his garden for the Annual Chill Chums v Honorary Chill Chums Cookout & Drinks Bonanza... I don't see any way around that😁...

[@lachauntiswashington231]

this is great.😂😂😂👏👏👏

[@tinytanks]

the funny part about that "in the year 2000" being a 60's thing is that it was still a thing for us kids in the 90's, even though we didn't realize just how close it was by that point. i think that has to be a huge part of why it resonated so well on conan.

[@eliasisamess]

I love listening to these clips on slower speed

[@samanthab1923]

Love “In the year 2000” 😂

[@julesbower762]

Been hearing of him, all my life (at least the part where I pay attention to such things...) and had never seen him. Had heard some of his voices, knew it was him doing the characters. Triumph, the shorts on SNL. Kinda how I pictured him actually.

[@garycitro1674]

Dave didn't invent headlines and small town news. Carson did that! (Maybe someone will come on here and tell me Steve Allen or Jack Parr did it before that.)

[@mikestevenson576]

Absolutely. Smigel almost certainly knows and was just taking the easy swipe. I just typed it above but will say again, Smigel and Conan creating all those original bits was not the rule in talk shows, it was the exception. Dave and Johnny both lifted the entire Steve Allen body of work.

[@Whatever-you-wanted]

Never changing the year in the year 2000 skit made it so much more funny!

[@joshuapaladini1507]

One of those fake print ads was for miniature candy, and the tagline was, "Candies so small, you're a douchebag!" Still cracks me up 30 years later

[@highd12]

Knives are quiet stuck with me until this day!

[@GPS379]

Conan the comedy GOAT

[@amberowens3244]

I do remember that skit, the flashlight under the chin. I thought Triumph's accent was like Yugoslavian 😂

[@fatsuperfly]

Lmao! My brother had a 71 valiant and I remember him just always having 2 jugs of water at all times when he just bought it. “ ok, gotta pull over and fill it with water. And the steam rising just before😂. Great car.

[@chiramos310]

Robert Smigel is a genius!!!!

[@gfrutherford]

beautiful

[@frankg7630]

Clutch cargo rehearsals were hysterical,most didn’t make air.

[@gustafsone]

I was at a taping of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" (who wants to touch me??) and I vividly remember them doing this bit because a UFO came down from the ceiling and landed on top of LaBamba's head. They were chanting "In the year 3000". Conan must have forgotten they did the "updated" version of that bit where they advanced to the year 3000.

[@Whatever-you-wanted]

Robert, you are my favorite comedic writer tied with Mel Brooks! The Producers ( the original) is my all time favorite. You will probably never read this but, I beg you please bring Triumph back in a new special. Maybe Triumph has a son? A young pup? If you need a extra voice I am American, Russian/ Romanian Jew raised by his grandma I can do it or at least try to lol. Robert the world needs Triumph more than ever. We need real comedy like you and Conan! So much for you to poop on! I hope one day to write something as good as you Robert! I’m trying. Thank you from your fan- Jesse.

[@jub69]

Why u melting in face conan, love u

[@Elkdog]

I always got an instant laugh from LaBamba's high pitched voice

[@FlexoShootFlexo]

Robert Smigel is a national treasure

[@mattmmilli8287]

lmao you can tell the way they both did Leno the same time how many times and for how long they have done that before 😂

[@hindsightapparel]

Robert Smigel is under rated.

[@erch4882]

Robert is such a sweet sweet guy

[@christophercruz1513]

Please give us more Triumph

[@roadkillvp4life]

The year 2000 will always be in the distant future!

[@PopeLando]

In about 2009 they changed _In The Year 2000_ not to 2100 but _In The Year 3000_ , and then the ridiculousness of the joke would be that all the topical people in the setup would still somehow be alive in the year 3000!

[@Sunset4Semaphores]

2:06 *Burn Jay, Burn!*

[@selfdiscardedkingofruin7291]

My first car was a 74 Plymouth Valiant!

[@twentyfifthdui4717]

I always liked Conan but I was a student in the 90s and rarely could stay up that late. I was into Leno until I think 96. His comedy was good enough, you didn't need to know much background or context to get the humor, it didn't rely much on callbacks, it was just simple and accessible. I had rarely switched over to watch Letterman but I always quickly switched back because I didn't get it. But in 96 the Olympics were on NBC and preempted Leno. So I was forced to watch Letterman for a few weeks, and in that time I found that Letterman was more funny by leaps and bounds than Leno but was an acquired taste and it took a few weeks to catch on to what he was doing. I never went back to Leno after that. Of course when I was able I'd still try to stay up to see the antics of Conan and Andy. One of the great regrets of my life is that I missed so much Conan during those years.

[@mikeplumer7687]

Funny that was Jay's defense on stealing all of Sterns material lol

[@bennyfactor]

OH YAIS

[@112ctr]

The most insane Conan guest: Jay Leno

[@NspireM8]

Man I was listening to the podcast and thought Robert was making an impression of Chris Farley lol

[@denellebeauchaine9774]

Hope you bring Danhausen on your show becuz that would be rad..