I Rewatched Conan O'Brien's Oscars, And There Are 8 Perfect Moments That Make It Clear Why He Should Have The Mic Again Next Year

Yahoo

13-03-2025

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The 2025 Oscars made history in its usual fashion, as the coronation of this year's winners has added another chapter to the history books. It also saw the show being hosted by first time emcee and late night comedy legend Conan O'Brien, which was a pretty brilliant hire.
"How good was he?" you may be asking. Well, this golden comedy idol actually got me to decide to accidentally let the rest of the 97th Annual Academy Awards play while I was working. After rewatching the show, which is something I rarely ever do with The Oscars, I think that Mr. O'Brien should be allowed to host the show for as long as humanly possible.
No, this isn't Stockholm Syndrome. Also, for the sake of readability and the man of the hour's sanity, I'll scale that back to asking that Conan O'Brien host the 2026 Oscars. To make my case, I have a bunch of perfect moments as proof of why it's the best choice.
I promise I won't waste too much time on this point, but opening the Oscars is always key to setting the tone of the evening ahead. With a simple pre-taped joke involving The Substance, and a monologue that felt like classic Conan O'Brien magic, the night got off to an amazing start. Bonus points are also awarded for John Lithgow and Adam Sandler's scene-stealing participation in gags that only got funnier upon revisiting them.
Who knew that Dune: Part Two's sandworm was such a musical genius? Not only can the massive beast from Denis Villeneuve's blockbuster adaptation play the piano, it can also play the harp. If Hans Zimmer doesn't tap the sandworm to help out with Dune: Messiah's score, it's a wasted opportunity.
The Academy Awards are a live TV staple that bring the world together for a moment. For Conan O'Brien, that meant the perfect opportunity to bust out some fun language skills, which resulted in him begging for film work in China. It's another example of the former NBC/TBS host deploying a joke that felt like it came from the early days of his career, which I mean as only the highest form of compliment.
Being a good host is knowing when to shine and when to let others outshine you. John Lithgow helped prove that point twice during the 2025 Oscars, but Nick Offerman's show-stopping shenanigans were just as golden of an opportunity to learn this valuable lesson. Questioning whether or not he was pressured by the night's responsibilities, the physical voice of America gave us all a moment of laughter that only made its oaken tenor all the sweeter.
Former Conan writer Skyler Higley's Kendrick/Drake joke was the subject of a bet as to whether or not it would make it to air. Thankfully for him, and the rest of the world, that short and sweet punchline stayed - especially since Disney's exec VP of unscripted and alternative entertainment Rob Mills told Variety he knew the joke 'was going to kill' during rehearsal.
Showing off not only his late night background but also a love of cinema, another pre-taped Conan O'Brien sketch involved a very targeted skewering of streaming services. As you can watch in the clip provided below, the idea 'of 'CinemaStreams' is something that might sound so familiar you'll bust a gut yourself:
Rob MIlls from Walt Disney TV also commented on this joke, stating that the Killers of the Flower Moon director was more than happy to be a part of this satirical joke. One only needs two guesses why Martin Scorsese would participate in a joke about going back to the cinema, and one of them doesn't count.
Addressing the very real tragedy of the L.A. wildfires was always going to be a sensitive subject. Too much reverence would have looked maudlin, and too little would have seemed callous - especially with repeated calls to cancel the 2025 Oscars. Between a somber, but respectful acknowledgement at the top of the show, and a segment where Los Angeles firefighters got to deliver jokes on stage, the heart of this year's ceremony was absolutely in the right place.
Another reason I found myself revisiting the show was the fact that Hulu's accidental disconnection of The Oscars led to a lot of us missing out on Best Actress and Best Picture's announcements. In going back to see the moment myself, I was amazed how simply Conan O'Brien ended the evening.
In totality, here's what he had to say once Anora won the night:
Hey, congratulations to everyone. I had a blast. Good night! Take it easy!
Throwing in his trademark salute and jump on stage to close out the night, it was a prime example of knowing your exit.
In my opinion, there's two final honorary mentions that really seal the deal for Conan O'Brien's return for the 2026 Oscars. Since they're not TV moments, we'll have to turn to other reports about things such as Conan's sweet Oscar snack boxes. Complete with a note that joked about trying to include an edible, the man's talents weren't limited to merely a television broadcast.
Now those of you who know Conan O'Brien absolutely understand that he loves to rope his writers into gags. Case in point: there is no Amazon-MGM executive named Steve Belsky, that was a role played by friend/writer Dan Cronin, as confirmed on his Instagram. However, that's not the gag I'm highlighting as the grand finale.
Rather, it's the return of Conan's fake physician Dr. Arroyo that I feel really kept the fun going in a place where our Oscars 2025 live blog didn't touch: social media. You know him from Mr. O'Brien's memorable appearance on Hot Ones (played by actual comedian José Arroyo), but here's the good doctor attending to our host at his moment of need:
It's rare that a host's energy is felt as extensively as Conan O'Brien's was during the 2025 Oscars. Delivering a show that only he and his collaborators could, Variety's report of a small ratings boost is part of the proof that Jeff Mills' unofficial offer to welcome him back should absolutely be cashed in.
Of course, I'm a bit biased as a long-time fan that spans back to the Late Night with Conan O'Brien era. But can 19.7 million viewers really be that wrong? In this case, no, they cannot.