I don’t suppose there has ever been a extra thrilling time to be a fan of Conan O’Brien than now, from his current acclaimed Oscars internet hosting gig to the return of his Emmy-winning journey docuseries, Conan O’Brien Should Go (now streaming with a Max subscription), to when he acquired this 12 months’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. That star-studded occasion (which you’ll be able to watch with a Netflix subscription) introduced again a few of the finest bits from O’Brien’s days internet hosting Late Night time and past, together with one which comes courtesy of Paul Rudd.
Longtime followers of O’Brien’s profession know that anytime Rudd seems publicly within the comic’s presence, they’re doubtless going to see a clip from a film referred to as Mac and Me, which the star of the brand new A24 film, Friendship, has indulged in pranking the comic with for greater than twenty years. For those who ask me, the clip’s emergence on the Mark Twain Prize ceremony is essentially the most brilliantly humorous occasion of it but. Earlier than I clarify why, enable me to dive into the historical past of this iconic recurring bit.
The Historical past Of Paul Rudd’s Mac And Me Prank On Conan O’Brien
It began in 2004 when Rudd appeared on Late Night time with Conan O’Brien to advertise the collection finale of Associates and claimed he received his arms on a clip from the extremely anticipated episode. As an alternative, he introduces a scene from 1988’s Mac and Me, by which the wheelchair-using human protagonist, Eric (Jade Calegory), by accident rolls down a hill and falls right into a river quarry the place he’s noticed by the titular alien he later befriends.
Relive the history-making second (or witness it for the primary time) beneath:
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It might quickly turn into custom for Rudd to shock O’Brien with the clip from the critically reviled E.T. ripoff, forcing him to get extra inventive with how he would idiot the host over time, corresponding to when the actor spent minutes on O’Brien’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Wants a Good friend, describing a very pretend scripted podcast he had been engaged on as a set-up to play an audio-only model of the clip. Generally, he would even re-edit the clip to reference the challenge he got here to advertise, corresponding to one time when the MCU’s Ant-Man appeared on the finish.
Through the remaining week of episodes for O’Brien’s TBS discuss present, Conan, Rudd made a shock look, seeming like he wished to introduce a clip from his and Invoice Hader’s failed Saturday Night time Reside sketch, solely to indicate the Mac and Me bit. He would then double down by revealing he had beforehand thought-about exhibiting an additionally weird scene from 1999’s Child Geniuses and proceeded to introduce that clip as a substitute… earlier than taking part in the identical clip as soon as extra. I used to suppose that was the funniest iteration of the prank… till now.
How Rudd Managed To Shock Conan With The Clip At The Mark Twain Prize Ceremony
When O’Brien’s former sidekick, Andy Richter, took the Kennedy Middle stage on the 2025 Mark Twain Prize ceremony, he launched a brand new version of a traditional Late Night time bit by which O’Brien would interview nonetheless pictures of celebrities with their mouths changed by an actor talking reside, who was often Robert Smigel. This time, the mouth behind pictures of Invoice Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and James Mason was Rudd, who revealed himself after saying, as Mason, that he was introducing an AI-generated clip of the deceased actor being interviewed by O’Brien.
In fact, what we find yourself seeing as a substitute is the now-famous clip from Mac and Me earlier than reducing again to Rudd in a pre-recorded message by which he tells him it’s turning into extra of a problem to shock him with “that dumb clip.” He then delivers a real congratulatory speech earlier than exhibiting the scene a second time from what seems to be his own residence theater.
I’m not positive how Rudd goes to prime that one. Maybe, since a few of us hoped the Mac and Me clip may seem on the 2025 Oscars, he can try to shock O’Brien when he returns to host the ceremony in 2026.