Jake Tapper & Conan Convince Sona To Watch “Quincy M.E.” | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

Jake Tapper and Conan give Sona a crash course in 1970’s TV and pop culture. Plus, Matt Gourley confirms that “Star Wars” is mentioned in Jake Tapper’s latest book.
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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,
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[@scdundee12]

My little sister would watch this show religiously when she was around twelve years old. I teased her that she had a crush on Jack Klugman, but she would just laugh. She always did have excellent taste in books and movies. Rest in Peace, sweetpea..

[@ojomythgimeht]

You'll be pleased to know that Quincy has been a staple of daytime TV here in the UK for the last 20 years!

[@RJHart1214]

That's where I caught up with it in the 2000s! "also starring Garry Walberg" ☺️ It certainly beats Homes Under the Hammer or Escape to the Countryzzzz.

[@CHDean]

But the UK has lousy good.

[@timmccarthy9917]

"I'm busy that day" damn, i gotta use that the next time someone tells me to do something with no specific time frame

[@EinsteinsHair]

The title is a lie! They did not convince Sona to watch Quincy. "I'm busy that day."

[@lance134679]

Yup, we grew up on Quincy, M.E. I remember him trying to get a young woman to go out with him, saying "the night is still young!", and her comeback was "but you're not". He was... disappointed.

[@A-small-amount-of-peas]

Every... Friggin.... Episode I watched with my Grandfather always seemed to end with Quincy trying to go out on a date with a young woman then her fit young boyfriend would show up and ol Quince would get shot down again. I always thought someone should have took him aside and told him "Quince you're a very old, ugly man, stop hitting on 20 year olds"

[@Norsilca]

I only learned about it like two weeks ago, coincidentally. I thought I had a handle on the major cultural things of the 70s so it's weird finding out about something that was a major show and I'd never heard of it.

[@incredibleadventures1027]

Quincy is the kind of guy that takes a bikini girl on his boat but leaves his cardigan on the entire time

[@thedude4672]

Quincy was huge! It bored me as a little kid, but it was very popular. I love it when Conan talks about old shows on his podcast.

[@eromitlabhitw]

Young hypochondriac me loved watching Quincy in syndication and finding out about some new, rare way to die from Jack Klugman shouting at someone about it.

[@zoperxplex]

Conan really shines with Tapper. He is a Dean Martin like serious straight man to Conan's off-the-wall, Jerry Lewis like comic foil.

[@marthamydear5869]

I will pass these comments on to both Conan and Jerry Lewis. Thanks for your kindness.

[@andredegiant3876]

“Why everything?” is such a succinct summation of life 😅

[@ghoullii]

YES it resonated with me as well lol, I really felt that when he said it

[@patrick5729]

Conan is an encyclopedia of pop culture except if it's from present day.

[@Moekoffee2001]

Can’t say he knows much about the present, but he is gifted

[@CorinneH-ug3mu]

True. 😄

[@JoeO.]

It will happen to you one day.

[@jamesdunlop3220]

Bullshit

[@Sirala6]

LOL Sona's contempt for said pop culture knowledge is hysterical when she cracks up at the junk Conan has filled his brain with!

[@MiserableMovieMan]

Quincy is a legend of TV. Serious shows addressing stuff they never talked about before like drug addiction, and the always watchable Jack Klugman who will no doubt start off his sentences pretty softly but be absolutely raving by the end of each one. He could give Pacino a run for his money. I could spend hours talking about Quincy.

[@Potbelly76]

I vaguely recall an episode about a high school basketball star who collapses and dies during a game and he had an addiction to aspirin? Or was it Speed? Lol

[@amyjackson8725]

Except it was all "reefer madness" MISinformation!

[@EinsteinsHair]

@@Potbelly76 Don't remember that episode of Quincy, but I heard of aspirin addiction from some earlier movie or TV show. There was a stereotypical teen in a leather jacket who confessed he took it. I am probably misremembering, but it seemed as if it was Robert Blake, later of Baretta. But I looked through his IMDB and nothing from the right time period seems correct.

[@cleverusername9369]

Jake Tapper is such a great guest on this show. I always enjoy seeing his silly side. When you're so used to watching Jake on CNN being super serious, it's always a delight to watch him having fun and showing his sense of humor.

[@joemartinez331]

I wish he were a better journalist.

[@gardensofthegods]

@@joemartinez331 He used to be good but then again I haven't watched him in years .

[@cleverusername9369]

​​@@gardensofthegodshe's still good. Also I used to live 5 minutes from your username.

[@gardensofthegods]

@@cleverusername9369 but I didn't pick the name on a place in fact I never knew it was a name of a place until maybe 6 years ago when people started asking me . When I was picking a username I was trying to imagine what I would call the most beautiful gardens and fountains . I was surprised when I looked at the vids about the one in Colorado ... a lot of reddish color rocks ... not what I was picturing at all and then somebody else said there is a park by that same name in Illinois . Which location are you talkin about ?

[@generationalmolehill7674]

my favorite part of Quincy was the intro, where the rookie cops were being hazed by Quincy I think where he rips the sheet off a cadaver... and then the new police guys pass out one by one... I know for a fact that I have never spoken of this before!

[@gracealexandre3381]

And Quincy is so caught up in his work, he doesn't even notice it. He really loved his job. I just loved how he would always talk for the people who couldn't talk anymore. ❤

[@EinsteinsHair]

Watched Quincy all the time. A few years ago I streamed an actual Medical Examiner, Dr. G. She probably went by Dr. G because no one could pronounce Garavaglia, the second g is silent. She had investigators who went to the scene, providing her photos and descriptions. In medical school she learned she loved forensics, so she studied longer to specialize, and earn less money. She explained to her mother that she was going to be like Quincy.

[@Norsilca]

It made me so happy to learn that Jake Tapper knows about Lookwell.

[@neuvocastezero1838]

The writing for Quincy is actually pretty good from what I remember.

[@Kate7950]

I had a science teacher in 7th grade who loved Quincey M.E. and we spent like 2 months strait just watching episodes she had taped off the TV.

[@StudioHappyboy]

I didn’t know Jake Tapper was this cool

[@gregoryfujita8265]

The guy that painted the poster for "Tentacles " also did 6 of the Star Wars films,all 3 Back to the Future,& 4 of the Indiana Jones films...Drew Struzan..he's painted close to 300 film posters...the artwork for "Tentacles" is beautiful

[@pretzelhunt]

*sigh* thanks for the info. 😉 Brilliant!

[@richwagener]

Quincy ran for 8 seasons! It was great!

[@kstepko]

I remember my parents and grandparents watching Quincy. I have no recollection of the content … but now, I’m intrigued!

[@betsyduane3461]

Quincy was on until 1983, well into cable multi channel. And even in the 60's we had 7 channels.

[@mariaklein2715]

God I loved growing up in the 70’s and 80’s.

[@PopeLando]

A British comedian wanted to make a point about the manager of the football team we both support by tweeting a photo of David McCallum (Ilya Kuryakin in The Man from UNCLE and Donald Duck in NCIS). And what he meant was that our manager was "The Invisible Man". And I tweeted him saying, "dude, you and me are the only people who remember that show!" It ran 12 episodes before being canned. I bet Conan remembers it too, though.

[@EinsteinsHair]

The first time I saw David McCallum on NCIS, my first thought was of "The Invisible Man," him peeling off that latex face. Another invisible man TV series was The Gemini Man (1976). Digital watches were new, so he had a device to help him remain visible. I am shocked to see it also only ran 12 episodes. I thought it lasted a couple of seasons.

[@trust5977]

It’s conversations like this that make me love this podcast so much.

[@luciusoglesby2469]

Lolol yo the name of the Rupert Murdoch is literally “Max Lyons /maximum lying”

[@alexseiler1604]

This keeps getting better and better!! Hilarious

[@ruamcdill7871]

Thank you Stephen J. Cannell for all the great TV SHOWS!! Never missed an episode of Hunter… “Sergeant Rick Hunter and his colleague Dee Dee McCall embark on a tough fight against the underworld with cunning, wit, and bullets.”

[@amyjackson8725]

Do you mean STEPHEN J. CANNELL?? He is not an Italian food!

[@ruamcdill7871]

Yes Stephen J. Cannell. Spell check did it 🤓

[@bailysbeads2057]

I love Hunter.

[@BrianLockett]

Conan is 100% right about younger people today not having a clue about eras before their own, even as recent as a decade prior. I'm an 80s baby. I grew up on 1960s television (1950s, if you count I Love Lucy, Honeymooners, etc). I knew 1960s Motown hit and 1970s singer-songwriters by name. I knew what an Atari was, during the NES era. Younger folks today don't even know that my generation had earbuds before Apple made them. I literally had to pull up a photo of pre-2000s KOSS and Sony wired earbuds recently, just to prove to a 20-something that, yes, we had earbuds before they were even born. Sheesh.

[@lazy_dad]

the best quincy episode is called TOUCH OF DEATH, and is about the karate move (also on the simpsons) called the touch of death, sort of like bruce lee's one inch punch. a total classic!!!

[@frisco21]

Quincy was one of my favorite shows. Loved it!

[@zurzakne-etra7069]

was it meant for kids tho?

[@michaelhockus8208]

This Jake Tapper is a sharp fella

[@MM-ud1xf]

This episode was a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be.

[@djmizzou3030]

You all are the best. I've been a fan of Conan since back in the day. I watch the podcasts all the time and have been rewatching because they're awesome and hilarious 😂. 2 favorites are when you say there was talk of gerbils and the one where the guy says Chills, chills. ❤😂😅

[@hulapineapple]

Quincy ME was a key reason why he orphan drug act was passed. The key episode “Seldom Silent, Never Heard” was followed by legislation to help develop/increase access for drugs for rare diseases. Google Quincy ME and Orphan Drug Act.

[@thedude4672]

If that's true, and I have no reason to believe it isn't, then that's awesome!

[@Jiddy12345]

There's a bit in King of the Hill where they mention an episode of Quincy where the murder weapon was a gila monster

[@NotPorn]

This show sounds absolutely amazing.

[@petecartwright5211]

I thought Quincy was a "Quinn-Martin Production", but I was wrong. It was an ABC show. I can remember Columbo (Peter Faulk), McMillian and Wife (Rock Hudson and Susan St. James), McCloud (Dennis Weaver), Barnaby Jones (Buddy Ebsen), The Streets of San Francisco (Karl Malden- Micheal Douglas) Cannon, Banyon, 12 O' Clock High... What great shows and what a group of actors...

[@petecartwright5211]

My favorite was "Rat Patrol." Chrstopher George and Hans Gudegast. The quintessential outnumbered/ outgunned American G.I.'s, in machine gun equipped Willy's jeeps cat-assing around the North African desert. Always at war with the same Germans throughout the entire series. All us kids bought the "Bush Hat" George wore in the series. I still wear one today...

[@MiddleMalcolm]

Quincy M.E. was an expansion of the NBC/Universal "Sunday Mystery Movie" series. The original three programs run in rep were Columbo, McCloud, and McMillan & Wife. Quincy was probably the most memorable of the expansion shows. I've always described it as "CSI before that was a thing", for those not quite young enough to remember.

[@marcstephen506]

Of course Conan would know about Big Time Movie starring Big Time Rush.

[@DirtyFrigginHarry]

I really need to see this quincy horse murder trailer

[@thedude4672]

I looked for it and couldn't find it. I want to see it so bad, LOL!

[@miker.9138]

I wonder if Conan remembers Delvecchio, a shortlived show starring Judd Hirsch.

[@cheapphish]

I had completely forgotten about this! 3 future Hill Street Blues cast members in it as well. 😊

[@user-pn7rv5me2z]

I love how Sona pretends to understand, in hopes for the bit to quickly end 😂

[@GenerallyTyler]

I never watched it, but I know the premise of Quincy. I was born the year after it ended, but my father liked it and would watch reruns when I was a child.

[@ADHDad]

One day, someone else in the world will remember The Courtship of Eddie's Father and I'll know it wasn't a fever dream I had when I watched Nick at Night.

[@hamiljohn]

I remember watching it in FIRST RUN. Eddie is the pitcher for the Yankees in the original Bad News Bears movie.

[@spazzmanic_cripple_dance_farts]

That day is here. I know that. I'm also old af.

[@clairealderwood1928]

I watched it when it was actually on tv.

[@rsw1227]

Bill Bixby before "The Incredible Hulk" Right? "You wouldn't like me when I'M angry." Ha!

[@charlie-obrien]

Mrs. Livingston

[@thezachmarsh]

If you put "quincy" into the search bar now the first suggested result is "quincy me horse" 😂

[@distantandvague]

Jack Klugman was a treasure

[@PraxisPeabody]

This episode was extra sweet. I was born in 1977, so it was cool to hear what was happening.

[@lisas5211]

Conan: "Below Deck" The underwater series. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@francescaa8331]

Clips of that Quincy episode are funny.

[@lberg5575]

I want to hear Conan talk about Columbo next!

[@rsw1227]

The Brady Bunch mention reminded me of when, "The Donnie and Marie Show" changed to doing it on ice skates. Ha!

[@effurfeelings]

I catch the reruns on the local channels every now and then

[@shahanahmed9444]

sona lovin her life. good for her.

[@xGuitarInFlamesx]

Finally someone brings up Conan performance at Adam Sandler's Mark twain prize ceremony

[@charlie-obrien]

Conan killed at the Twain Awards for Sandler. An epic performance.

[@mrkrinkle72]

It was mmmmmurder!

[@commontater8630]

Showing my television ignorance: I never even heard of Quincy M.E.

[@eddiek8179]

Quincy was a great show and so was Jones.

[@bettysmith4641]

I love Quincy ❤😂

[@RJHart1214]

I really like the sound of this novel, the background and historical/pop cultural reference are right up my street. Does anyone else want to go to Coneland? It's have Graceland and Dollywood beat! Edit: The answer appears to be: No, no one else wants to go to Coneland. Ha!

[@boffo63]

The Rockford Files, for the win

[@shircarmichael1265]

I know M.E. stands for medical examiner but I'm imagining his as E.T. in a labcoat

[@eromitlabhitw]

The Quincy punk rock episode is friggin' legendary. I always liked the botulism one from season 5, where he's running around like he's going to cancel a soccer match at the Coliseum *unless we can contain this outbreak in time!*

[@bsquared4604]

Oh Conan, if Barry Williams sees this, he is going to be furious! Truth be told, the Brady kids actually could sing and dance (see Silver Platters episode) except for maybe Peter. To hop on the Partridge Family bandwagon, the Brady Kids recorded a number of records and went on concert tours. This was before the summer variety show. Also, you may recall at the time, variety shows were all the rage. Bruce Villanche was a writer on a lot of these shows. He would probably be a great podcast guest. Or maybe Barry Williams!

[@michaelweston2285]

Sona: YES!!! i understood that Saved By The Bell reference!!

[@brettwalker2723]

I watched Quincy in Whitecourt, Alberta when it had two channels and 5,000 population

[@2packs4sure]

Damn Jake I'm 60 years old, I watched Quincy on the regular back in the day, and even I didn't remember he lived on a houseboat !! I mean come on man,,, lol...

[@greenman8]

I think it was like Jim Rockford living in a Trailer, or not quite having enough to afford having the 'Trans Am', and having to settle for the 'regular' Firebird option. It's the Under-dog charm thing.

[@lachauntiswashington231]

nice😄

[@Moekoffee2001]

When I hear Quincy, I think Magoo

[@AlexAnteroLammikko]

And I hear Quincy, I think Bleach.

[@APrettyGoodChannel]

Conan's Australian Accent is maybe actually 10% better than most attempts I've heard, speaking as an Australian...

[@Ghoopty]

“‘Allo mate. Gupert Gurdock’s the name” 😅

[@jaywilliams1653]

I’m busy that day 😂😂😂

[@felipeiglesias]

I really live when Jack goes on Conaf. He’s great and nerd as Conan. They could have a nerd podcasts just between them.

[@Ghoopty]

Yep, good ol Jack Tipper

[@andrewchapmancomedy]

Episode was called Dead Last September 27 1979

[@joeldumke5057]

I just watched it and I don't think so. I couldn't find "This horse was murdered." Could it be When Luck Ran Out?

[@commontater8630]

Sona: 'oh...medical examiner...ladies' man...'

[@BLT001]

Interesting thing about Quincy is they never gave him a first name. His character GOT MARRIED in the show, and even HIS WIFE called him "Quince!"

[@EATherridan]

The Quincy Punk is a well loved trope.

[@DeltaDemon1]

"Put the kids to sleep"...They can do that? The laws in the states have become super relaxed.

[@dutchesswb]

Quincy,barney miller, and the og Hawaii 50 were my grandma's favorite shows and thus were my favorite shows as a small child. Also how you gonna talk about only 1 of the brady bunch spinoffs??? 😂😂

[@ruamcdill7871]

BTW… Missoula, MT, in the 70’s, had 2 channels, no mall and great live music.

[@PeterSedesse]

There was a scene in House where he mimics the opening scene from Quincy...and all i was thinking is that there are probably less than 100 people who got the reference

[@TheTarrMan]

I still view life as a Spike Jones song. In these weird times, it kind of matches up.

[@SpaceForceCommander]

The only Quincy I knew before I’d heard of Quincy Jones.

[@tangibleterror2421]

Gourley to Tapper, "Pater?"

[@robertanna9964]

Wait-wasnt it a sailboat? The 70's was all about that Quinn Martin feeling. Quincy, Mannix, Cannon Barnaby Jones and the mackdaddy-Rockford.

[@gracealexandre3381]

It was a house boat. His home.

[@soupernutt9508]

My straight man has dementia. It's a new show every night.

[@gardensofthegods]

I was around back then and I don't even remember much about the show Quincy and certainly not that he lived on a houseboat

[@lauristonbrewster9097]

I'm surprised that Sona would be so incredulous as to how popular Quincy, ME was (to be clear, I'd never even heard of this show before this clip).

[@mayfallon4680]

A very young Melora Hardin is one of the punk kids on Quincy.

[@lberg5575]

Remember the CONAFan episode with the pathologist? He held up the "heart" "This is/was murder!" Inspired by Quincy I'm sure!

[@angeltrumpet4035]

Quincy punks are infamous!

[@WaitingtoHit]

I was born in 1980, and I have always known about pop culture from decades prior. I work at a college, and it does seem that people in their twenties generally have a much more limited range of pop-culture knowledge.

[@timmadison5410]

Quincy always got the last word--sometimes in the most absurd ways. I remember one episode where he has confronted some corrupt authority figure. Before Quincy makes his angry exist, he scribbles something down on a pad of paper and then hands it to the baddie who asks, "What's this?" To which Quincy intones, "It's a prescription. For sleeping pills. You're gonna need 'em!" He writes him a prescription to shame him??

[@GuardianOwl]

The duty of a fan of content is to try to pass on that which they enjoyed to the next generation. As a child of the 80's and early 90's, I watched some network TV, but I watched a ton of Nickelodeon during the day, and thus also much Nick-at-Nite in the evening. So I was exposed to a ton of great TV shows from the 50's, 60's, and 70's that is probably less typical of my generation. Some delightful TV programmers loved those shows and so wanted to share them with the next generation. Now that type of older content is on Antenna TV, Cozi TV, TV Land, etc. Nick at Nite is now network TV from the late 90s and early aughts. Unfortunately so many of those old shows only have existing deals for syndication broadcasting or feature well known music so it is too expensive to do new deals to license them for streaming. For Sona to watch Quincy M.E. she would have to buy one of the DVD sets or hope it's airing on one of those TV channels with older programming.

[@Traint_Trungdrundringsron]

I was suppossed to be named after my uncle, named Quincy, who shot himself in the head with a shotgun due to his addiction to alcohol. My parents decided to go with the more concervstive name Michael. True story. completely unrelated to this video but yeah i was almost Quincy instead of Michael

[@Clipperson]

Did anyone else just try to find the "this horse was murdered" clip?

[@erica22595]

I only found a news story of a real horses being poisoned 😭

[@Clipperson]

@@erica22595 Oh, that certainly took a dark turn. Guess that's the 70s for you.

[@thedude4672]

I did. If anyone finds it, then please post it here!

[@jasonhare8540]

I've been to Graceland . The jungle room still haunts me . What avocado hell is this ....

[@danielgoncalves2306]

08:04 that's not a knife!

[@InHypnoticTrance]

What I remember about television through the 70s and 80s was that they would broadcast rated R movies on television and just cut and dub the crap out of them to make it work. The plot of the television edit of Saturday Night Fever bears no resemblance whatsoever to that of the actual movie.

[@rsw1227]

I remember as a kid in Cleveland , channel 43 sometimes on late night TV there would be nudity on "Benny Hill." Ha! There was also a movie called "Lipstick" (I'm almost positive that's the name) with Marial Hemingway (sp?) that had a ton of nudity. I don't know if the censor just got lazy or what but it was on regular TV. We never had cable.

[@rangers11ization]

Just checking😂

[@kathyaruvalcaba5662]

😮🎉😮❤🎉❤

[@jameslocopo4742]

The punk rock episode has to be seen to be believed. Actually, it should be required viewing

[@matthewcubbon1264]

I love the simpsons reference

[@billpola]

Did we notice the Awkwafina's character in Renfield was R. Quincy? Was it just me?

[@darthsirrius]

Is someone who watched way too much television when they were a kid, I don't know that I ever saw an episode of Quincy, and yet I know exactly that episode they're talking about lol.