Late Night Blackout #1 (2003)

[Deepmindandheartlife]

people going to new jersey? didnt the same occured when the twin towers fell?

[YSKite]

thanks for bringing back memories.

[lostindiancamp]

Conan needs a buddy to sit next to him so he won't be alone.

[floridaman2000]

was this done live?

[tunnelvision543]

i remember watching this the night of the blackout. It was the first thing on tv at 4am.

[that1prince]

Jay Leno could never do this. Jimmy Fallon could never do this.

I must say, however, that Letterman could pull it off. But, he couldn't kill it like Conan did.

[wiseass2147]

Didn't know they aired this. I live in NY, so i had no power until 7am the next day and couldn't see it. Yet my friend who lives half a mile from me had power by 8 that night, weird.

[DeadRaymanWalking]

@wiseass2147 I had no power until 8 PM that night of the blackout. It was CRAZY!

[CamilleNadia]

Damn, he looks good.

I love moments like this--when he has to adapt to a bad situation and run with it.

[ridewave444]

Interesting. ha Yeah, Conan has beeen better than Leno ever was for a long time. He's smarter, funnier, and has a better show than Leno. Leno's too conniving and kind of a phony.

[Anagnostis79]

I really like Conan...I did not know him until the very last episodes of this show, as he is completely unknown here in Greece. Now i am a big fan !

[hankseptember]

Toshis outta town, LMAO

[tike0rz]

amazing.

[mynintendobroke]

i had no knowledge of a black out until about 3 minutes ago. damn i need to keep up with current events.

[havaneezer]

Conan is so great in these types of situations.

[nypad5]

I remember being in ontario at the time of this black out. Everyone was crrraazyyy lol

[p00ner2010]

I remember this, I basically grew up watching Conan every night, that's crazy...

[myblueroad]

I must write a best-selling novel about this

[ThePurpleScrotum]

@Looserkid13 Fuck You.

[Yeungster23]

lmao "You're just a pervert!"

[GreenEclipz]

Wow! I don't remember this. Is this how this episode aired?

[thewrestler96]

I like Conan, but his die-hards are a turn-off. I like Leno too. Some good Vintage NBC here. Nice Video.

[themightydumbass]

damn...i was 8 and i dont remember this

[dmao7si]

True genius, natural talent

[XplosivCookie]

Can someone tell me what caused this blackout, if you know?

I'm finnish, so I don't have a clue what's this about

[ixcuincle]

I remember this moment...good flashback. His ability to improvise is amazing, especially during the writer's strike

[SillyLetters]

i remember this so well, i live in Michigan!

[kakadoodoo3000]

i would've liked to see what the chin would have done. freeze like a dear in the headlights, i'm sure. :P what a dork the chin is. this clip shows conan's a real trouper.

[PennyLane298]

I remember this like it was yesterday. good stuff. :) thanks for posting!

[lonercarrot]

fuck.. this was 7 years ago!?

[Kan2209]

DAmnit. I don't believe it.

[viralthings]

I feel old. lol

[williamgatesenson]

this is what made conan so great. any other show would have just ran a rerun that night but not coco

[iD0NUTZ]

Even when the power is out, Conan still knows how to make people laugh.

[Bryanccc3]

I miss Conan so muchhh!!!! :( GO TEAM COCO!!!

[blahmeblahblahblah]

Take electricity from Conan O'brien — and the man gets funnier!

A real talent, Conan O'brien.

[killermod0]

he's so silly.

[matiasbackman]

im miss late night more than tonight show

[jweezindasnow]

what ever happened to joel

[susan462]

September can't get here quick enough until then i am enjoying these memorable clips of the Amazing Conan and his Amazing Staff..

[RefuseToRegret]

I miss Joel. I miss Conan. :(

[SactownChica]

Conan is so funny. Even when the show gets blacked-out he still tries to entertain his fans that tune-in. I remember when this happened, Conan was making a inconvienent situation up-lifting with his comedy. I love you Conan!

[narg]

this is what makes Conan legendary, he's here in an empty studio yet you can't help but be entertained by him

[SenseiOfSlow]

@narg was just going to say how much this confirms why we love conan so much.

[peppy12341]

@narg  you are right, i love Conan but hate jay leno ill be watching him on tbs

[catsnake7]

Conan really is a very talented guy. Some people think his stuff is childish but it's really not, they just don't get it

[tktru]

First time I've ever seen Joel out of character...

[qpitty]

I remember this episode. It was right when I started watching Conan. This episode and the ones during the writer's strike got me kinda hooked.

[SactownChica]

I think it was due to Conan's own comedy and just "winging it" during the writers strike that made it even more funnier. He's a talented guy.

[RandalBauer11]

You know, this is pretty funny for a guy who who is ostensively not working off a script.

[NeverKnowsBest07]

i remember this. my power was out in jersey too. it was SOOOO hot that day. i remember eyewitness news filming people in the street just sweating.

[TheLyther]

why was there a blackout in the first place?

[aphexmandelbrot]

@TheLyther

There were rolling blackouts. There was a major power flux due to what was probably a lightning strike at a NY power plant. There was a massive cascading failure after that. If you wiki "Northeast Blackout 2003" it will pull up a lot more info than I can shove into this comment. ;p

[Cilogy]

did they actually air this on that night? WOuld have been awesome

[hippiebutnot]

@Cilogy yep! I remember seeing on TV, Conan did this for awhile and then they went into a rerun.

[wwegirl93]

I remember that - it was like, so hot that day and the traffic was so backed up, I couldn't even cross the street!

[mobsterguy]

Aw man I remember this. And I miss Joel...

[maywood86]

Haha! This shows that even w/ a show in his basement, Conan can pull it off! I'm with Team CoCo!!!

[baerin18]

i actually enjoy stuff like that. blackouts etc. gives you a sense of unity, its a funny experience

[hicks727]

OK....part two...yeah

[hicks727]

I want to hear them play......damn

[brotherinthepit]

what happened to joel? how come he didnt transfer to the tonight show?

[CindyVision]

I heard a few months ago that he didn't want to relocate to L.A. Also, since he is almost at retirement age, it wouldn't be wise.

[Koishii1313]

"Yeah, your just a pervert....with equipment" XD

Hilarious! :D

[JadeBadClips]

i that really true? the people on the street?? I live in sweden and if the electricity (not sure about the spelling) went out I would be pissed for a while since I use it most of the time but then would probably my mum force us to play a family game or something..

[LamonicBomb]

i dunno if THIS is true, as its supposed t be a black out, BUT there WAS a east coast wide blackout that hit the us a few years ago.

[coconutgrove8]

wow, I really wish I started watching Conan before the 2007 writers strike.

[iaintbovvered11]

New Jersey joke HELL YHEA!!!!!!!

[MrDrSmithJr]

The power goes out in new york and everyone shit themselves. That incident really made me hate new york.

[arrancarfish]

I hate new york and all its denizens.

[toasega]

I hate 90% of the global population. nothing personal, I just would love to see them die.

[baerin18]

meaning you actually know almost every single person out of 6 billion. nice going

[toasega]

#1: no, i don't know them. i simply hate them, just like any good supervillain would.

#2: don't say things like "6 billion". i don't know what jackass decided he knew the EXACT number of people on the planet, but it's impossible to know the number of people on earth.

[baerin18]

you're really braindead, aren't you.

[toasega]

nope. i just happen to be going through a stage of my life where i hate pretty much everyone. it's nothing personal, i just hate them.

[CantankerousAkane]

So you're a whiny adolescent with misdirected angst? Golly, that's fresh.

[toasega]

hm? i forgot what i said already. bye.

[asbpab1966]

I was one of the first to realize what had happened. I was driving, listening to a NYC radio station. It went out. I tuned the radio to a local Rockland County station. A couple of minutes later, it went out. At that point I knew it was an areawide blackout. Lights came back up in about 2 hours, went out about 20 minutes later, then came back for good just after 9 PM.

[Fishscale15]

lmao toshis out of town

god i miss joel

[amp710252853]

i miss joel anyone know what happened to him?

[beyourself03]

he retired after late night ended.

[amp710252853]

lame andy's not that funny

[jcnsync1]

God I love Conan.

[FebruarySoul]

It's so weird not hearing the audience laugh to his jokes. Tho his crew his having quite fun :)

[markjv]

especially nbc, lovin technology but dont have any plans 4 when things dont work,LMAO apparently nbc is clueless to how many times technology goes wrong, w out the massive lites it looks like the bad old days,lol

late nite w conan in the cave, :) thanks 4 posting havent seen this b4 probably newyorkers had an easy time of it w all the brownouts/blackouts they get

here in ont they were heading 4 beer, we bought ICE, DUH! thats all u need a bunch of drunks in the dark, lol

[NeverKnowsBest07]

i remember when this happened

[gamer05692]

I love how Conan always makes fun of how crappy his studio is...plus he always rips NBC! He is hilarious...in my opinion, way better than Jay Leno!

[pagc93]

AMEN!!!

conan can make a joke of anything

and sometimes he does it without even talking

that takes a true comedian to do

[gamer05692]

exactly! TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN! Gotta love it! ;)

[nyc1960]

@gamer05692 can't agree you more. leno can kiss my x.

[jjjjjjenniebond]

I have one of those head light bands. Camera ops and AC wear them so they can see in the dark when they need to build and break down equipment.

[DungaroosRFun2]

I was in NYC when this happened, and absolutely nothing was working, toilets included. How did they have the power to keep the camera and mics working?

[jjjjjjenniebond]

cameras and mics run on batteries.

[doctorbeepers]

no they dont. handheld cameras do but not the ones they're using on the studio floor

[jjjjjjenniebond]

they might have had a generator.

[TimeSpliTT]

2003? coulda swarm in was 2005

[evh5150316]

Not it was 2003.

[VideyoJunkei]

power for lights, 3 cameras+editing board=Honda generator running in back room?!

[lazytown14]

Actually they did have power, but, not for broadcast a show. When there is a blackout in my house, my dad brings some batteries and with them we can power some lights.

[GiganticAsses]

Conan is the best.

[mauldoll]

Man, what a way to make a great show out of what you've got.

Conan is simply the best. I can't wait until he's back on the air.

[Tanru2000]

I like how they're in plain clothes, it's like a casual clothes day. :)

[WeirdBrainGoo]

Conan always keeps the show going no matter what. True love for TV work...

[VelvetKevorkian]

I remember the power being out for days here. God, that was horrible. Which begs the question, who was watching TV those days?

[cruddermonkeyz]

the rest of the country.. haha

[gun4hire]

Me. I live in Toronto and escaped it by vacationing in Florida. Wooooo

[culpritto]

that's awesome footage! thanks so much!

[mdanie3]

Holy Eff... there were a lot of people trying to get out of the city there.

[outoforder30]

conan's hilarious.

i miss the strike beard.

[zaara139]

ahh i love conan

[TheSalty]

I still remember watching this that night, although five years isn't that long ago.

[dexter713]

no light but how the cameras working?

[GuilleHsm3]

They got some extra batteries in the set (small) for the cameras and only a couple of lights

[danamon5000]

during*

[danamon5000]

He did this and he did the show by himself without writers doing the writers strike, which goes to show he is a crazy hardworking professional.

[pltravers]

This is real?

[WFCM18]

Did they ever air bits and pieces of this?

[AdamNedeff]

The whole thing aired. I was watching that night. Conan just improvised everything he could, and when he "ran out of steam," so to speak, they cut to a rerun joined in progress at about the ten-minute mark.