Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
5.0/5
Critic Rating
4.5/5
Listener Rating
After 25 years at the Late Night desk, Conan realized that the only people at his holiday party are the men and women who work for him. Over the years and despite thousands of interviews, Conan has never made a real and lasting friendship with any of his celebrity guests. So, he started a podcast to do just that. 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.
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Simrin Purhar • Pop Sugar • Jul 6, 2023
"...conversations range from surprisingly deep to totally off the rails. "
Score: 5
Stuart Heritage • The Guardian • Apr 14, 2022
"...it turns out that Conan O’Brien’s perfect vehicle was podcasts all along. while the segments that bookend the interviews allow him to indulge his more gleefully dickish nature. These moments, which regularly spiral out into him railing against his assistant and producer, are some of the purest comedy that he has ever put his name to."
Score: 5
Emma Dibdin • New York Times • Nov 17, 2020
"The hit series is, unsurprisingly, a total pleasure, beginning with its premise...O’Brien’s self-effacing weirdness always encourages a sense of real intimacy."
Score: 4.8
Stacey Orth • Quill Inc. • Oct 14, 2020
"Not just a simple interview style podcast, Conan and his co-host Sona are really creating comedy. He keeps it accessible, balances comedy and serious talk, and avoids droning on too much or focusing on the dry things we already know about."
Score: 5
Jahla Seppanen • The Manual • Jun 19, 2020
"Conan O’Brien brings his uncanny ability to chit-chat with celebs to the audio space in his podcast…"
Score: 5
Sam Gohra • Vurbl • Mar 11, 2020
"knows how to conduct an interview. By turns a grandiose caricature and a self-deprecating ball of insecurities, always with an unexpected jab or spiel on his tongue, he is as much a draw as his guests."
Score: 4.9
Nicholas Quah • Vulture • Jan 10, 2019
"O’Brien is a really good fit for the medium, as it turns out. His weirdness translates well to the casual intimacy that’s come to define the podcast as a platform for performance, and his default stance of efficient self-deprecation makes the show feel accessible in ways that other comedy podcasts, fronted by needier ids, may not. It also helps that O’Brien is great at the performance of longer-form interviews, effectively balancing the impulse of filling the room with being genuinely curious, and there’s also a lot of charm to be found in the podcast, particularly in the core O’Brien-Movsesian-Gourley workplace dynamic, which goes a long way to providing listeners with a sheen of habitual comfort."
Listener Reviews
Score: 4.5
Imran A. • Jun 13, 2020
"Robe Lowe was awesome. Gawd. The stories he have with Old Hollywood always has my ears. Laugh with the impressions and stay for the stories. Great episode."
