The following is a list of recurring sketches and characters which debuted on Conan, which aired from November 2010 to June 2021 on TBS. Conan is a talk/variety show starring Conan O'Brien and sidekick Andy Richter. Writers Deon Cole, Brian Stack, Andres du Bouchet, Dan Cronin, and members of The Basic Cable Band (especially Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg), as well as propmaster Bill Tull, appeared in sketches as well. Some sketches featured celebrity cameos. After the reboot of the show in 2019, most of the skits were retired and the band was no longer present.
Characters
Returning characters
The classic Late Night with Conan O'Brien characters The Interrupter, The Masturbating Bear and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog have made appearances on Conan. In some cases, due to complaints, the Masturbating Bear is referred to by an alternate name, "The Self-Pleasuring Panda."
Punxsutawney Dr. Phil A hybrid of Dr. Phil McGraw and Punxsutawney Phil, this puppet talk show host groundhog first appeared after Groundhog Day in 2014. He appears as a groundhog with a bald head, Dr. Phil-style eyes, and a mustache. At the beginning of the sketches, Punxsutawney Dr. Phil rises up out of grass, and says "Thanks so much!" two or three times. After dispensing nonsensical relationship advice and theories about certain things, such as the mafia being responsible for celebrity relationships ending, Punxsutawney Dr. Phil then accuses Conan, who always criticizes him, of various false issues, such as prostitution, alcoholism, and cocaine addiction, using cut-together voice clips from the actual Dr. Phil show. Conan is stunned by the accusation, strongly denying it, but Andy confirms it, much to his chagrin. Punxsutawney Dr. Phil then promises to help Conan with his anger problems, prompting Conan to ask what will happen if he refuses to take his help. Punxsutawney Dr. Phil responds "Then I will kill you," while brandishing a switchblade knife. Then after going back into the grass, Conan ends the sketch by saying to catch the Punxsutawney Dr. Phil Show weekdays at 4:00. One of Punxsutawney Dr. Phil's appearances on the show was during the real Dr. Phil's guest appearance. Dr. Phil criticized the groundhog's ridiculous advice, which prompted Punxsutawney Dr. Phil to start insulting him. After getting his advice shut down by Dr. Phil once again, Punxsutawney Dr. Phil tried his murder threat with the switchblade, only for Dr. Phil to pull out an even bigger knife. Having not expected that to happen, Punxsutawney Dr. Phil, shaking in fear, said goodbye in true Dr. Phil style ("We'll see you next time!") and then retreated back into his burrow, marking the first (and only) time he was defeated.
The Flaming C Conan and Bruce Timm created The Flaming C, a character based on Conan's appearance and jokingly referred to it as DC Comics' next superhero. The character has a comical appearance due to wearing things not associated with superheroes, such as a steaming ovenmit, a jai alai glove, ski goggles, a Star of David patch, socks with garters, fishnet stockings and loafers. Faux videos have been made where the character appears on the show Young Justice.Watch "Conan: The Flaming C" [Young Justice New York MagazineConan O'Brien's The Flaming C Meets Superboy Comics Alliance February 11, 2011 His voice was provided by Bruce Greenwood in the Young Justice videos, partially because the character replaced Greenwood's character Batman in the first of these videos. Conan also played a faux trailer for an animated feature film about the character. The character also had a dedicated segment at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con. Conan later brought in a lifesize Lego statue of the character made by a viewer. On Conan's Clueless Gamer segment, he played as the Flaming C (as a Superman skin developed especially for the sketch) in Injustice: Gods Among Us. After the 2015 Comic-Con, it was turned into a weekly series on the show.
The New York City Heckler A man (Eddie Pepitone) stands up and angrily yells at Conan in response to jokes in the monologue. He always dies of a heart attack at the end of the skit.
Basketball Mascots That Should Never Dunk Conan mentions his favorite part of basketball is the dunking mascots at halftime. He then introduces us to some weird mascots who should never compete in a slam dunk contest. As he lists them, a guy dressed as that mascot attempts to dunk the ball, usually resulting in failure. Some of these mascots include: The Solar System, Cop at a urinal, Congressman Anthony Weiner's underpants, and the Human Starfish. As of November 17, 2011, only 3 mascots have completed this feat successfully.
Minty, the Candy Cane That Briefly Fell on the Ground Timed for the Christmas season, Minty is a giant candy cane (originally played by Brian McCann, and replaced by Deon Cole after McCann left the show; the lyrics to his theme song changed after Cole replaced McCann.) who walks through the crowd throwing mini candy canes to the audience members as a 1940s crooner-style jingle plays in the background. According to the jingle, he fell on the ground for "just a moment or two", which was enough for him to be covered in "excrement". Actually, his costume is covered in the typical kind of garbage that might be found on a sidewalk, such as dead bugs, hair, a penny and a cigarette butt. One loyal fan created a video game based on the character,Minty The Candy Cane – THE GAME Team Coco December 22, 2010 which was posted to the show's website.
Ted Turner TBS founder Ted Turner, played by Will Forte,Conan Berated By Will Forte As Ted Turner The Huffington Post November 11, 2011 appears on a stuffed buffalo named Teddy Jr. to harshly criticize Conan and his audience and claiming the show will ruin the reputation of TBS. Conan eventually brought out his own buffalo and challenged Turner to a duel but the buffaloes instead began mating, with Teddy Jr. being the "receiver".
Wikibear Wikibear is a talking teddy bear (voice by Brian Stack) that is meant to answer any question by connecting to Wikipedia via a Bluetooth connection. After correctly doing so, it will then talk about topics that are extremely inappropriate for children, i.e. terminal diseases, famine, natural disasters, cannibalism, mass violence, serial killers, war battles, deadly animals, suicide and murder. Conan always points out these facts, and says a software overhaul should fix the problems, but Wikibear proves that claim to be false by continuing to do so.
Wikibear's incorrect claim that Al Capone died of syphilis was challenged by a viewer on a Fan Corrections segment, who stated he actually died of cardiac arrest. Conan supported Wikibear's statement with fake archived video of Capone's private physician affirming the false cause of death.
Old Korean Guy
When Conan mentions an actor has been picked for a new superhero role or an athlete has signed with a new team, an elderly Korean man with poor English in the audience tries to tell Conan why he would have been better for the job, usually wearing an outfit to match.
Comic Khan At the show's visit to the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, Conan introduced Comic Khan (Andres du Bouchet), the Star Trek villain, now a stand-up comedian, whose jokes are all insults directed towards Captain Kirk and his own weight gain. He returned in 2017.
Leslie the Wahlburgers Warrior Leslie (Andres du Bouchet) is an ostensible fan of the HBO show Game of Thrones who touts the "superiority" of his favorite show, Wahlburgers. He always appears in leather armor and fur, and whenever probed by Conan as to why, he explains, "This is what I wear to sex parties."
Recurring segments
Alex Trebek Has Gone Insane Conan shows clips of Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek reading nonsensical clues of which contestants cannot answer, all the while questioning the long-time host's mental state. The clips are actually spliced from several different clues to form one bizarre giant clue. Trebek later appeared in a cameo and did the same to Conan, and left by saying a bizarre statement in person.
Andy's news stories Andy previews some fake news stories he's working on for the next week complete with fake previews or stock footage, all of which are ridiculous.
Andy Richter's Sports Blast Andy hosts what seems like a traditional sports show, but instead gives off the impression that he has no clue about sports and is very ill-prepared. Examples of this would be when he goes over the week's NFL games and picks the winners based on a real life matchup, (Redskins vs. Cowboys, he picks the Cowboys because he's seen enough western movies to know how it turns out.) and the Clip of the Week in which he shows a clip that has nothing to do with sports. He also lists some recent scores, but excludes not only the teams involved but the specific sports and leagues. He also takes questions from viewers who criticize his ignorance, and answers them with only "Good question, [viewer's name]." Richter is also very repetitive in this sketch, as in this introduction: "Welcome to Andy Richter's Sports Blast. I'm Andy Richter, and this is Sports Blast!" A version aired in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic which ended or postponed most sports seasons showed him airing pictures of empty stadiums with wildly inaccurate names, as well as referees with funny descriptions like "I'll wait" or "I am a tree", and virtually tossing balls back and forth with Conan (via video chat), one hitting Andy in the face.
Audience Craigslist ads Conan shows audience members along with bizarre (fake) Craigslist ads they have posted, in the categories man seeking woman/woman seeking man/missed connections, job offers/seeking work and for sale/wanted to buy. The ads are usually embarrassing or perverted.
Bill Tull's Budget Holiday Tips Propmaster Bill Tull gives examples of how to make holiday decorations and gifts out of things found around the house. Tips are always the form of "Take a..., add a..., BOOM!..." Example: "Take a piece of red tape, tape it to a pine cone; BOOM!, Christmas ornament." Between tips, Conan often makes faces of displeasure that more tips are coming, before indicating that another will come.
Basic Cable Name That Tune Conan plays Name That Tune with audience members. However, under the pretense that the show can't afford the royalties because they're on basic cable, the band and homeless lounge singer Brian LaFontaine (Brian Stack, whom Conan frequently expresses his contempt for) perform sound-alike versions of songs with alternate lyrics instead, and the contestant must guess the original song. Conan also provides unsubtle hints towards the correct answer.
Boomers With Too Much Time On Their Hands Conan mentions that 10,000 baby boomers retire a day, and shows actual YouTube videos of how some who recently have are spending all of their free time now, which involve them doing things much younger people would do, including gymnastics, trying new dance moves, and racing go-carts in the street.
Buzzfeed is running out of lists Conan talks about the site BuzzFeed, best known for its unusual lists. Conan claims that the site is running out of ideas for lists and he even tries to prove this thesis by showing bizarre faux lists that are supposedly on BuzzFeed.
Celebrity Income Breakdown Conan shows pie charts of how celebrities earn their money, first with real sources then fake ones that insult the subjects.
Celebrity Survey