Conan's Last Show Filled with Class; Ends with Free Bird Performance

Conan's last show aired on Friday night. Conan O'Brien's last show as the host of The Tonight Show ended up being more emotional than they had probably planned, but they went out at the top of their game last night. Conan's last show could have been bogged down with jokes about NBC and how they had "wronged" him in the last few weeks, but instead of taking that route, Conan used his last show to show how much he has enjoyed working for NBC over the years.

Conan O'Brien started working for NBC way back when he was a writer on Saturday Night Live, and then took over the Late Show when David Letterman went to CBS. From there he successfully hosted 16 years on the network before taking over The Tonight Show recently. Though some of the recent days at NBC have been quite rocky, NBC really helped make Conan O'Brien a star, and on Friday night he made sure to mention exactly that.

Rather than use his last show to make fun of the NBC Network, he took time during the latter half of his show to thank NBC. He thanked them for the opportunity to work on the network, talking about how it was his home, and how he had enjoyed his experiences on the network. It almost seemed like he might tear up at times, and he did it all in a serious manner that wasn't intended to create any laughter from his supportive crowd. The classy way to thank the network when he could have so easily chastised them was the move of a real stand-up guy.

The show wasn't all about the good-byes though, as Tom Hanks had a funny interview and Neil Young performed a great song. There was a funny moment near the beginning where Steve Carell came out and gave Conan a joking exit interview from The Tonight Show and NBC that got a lot of laughs as well. In between all of the guests, another funny monologue, and a montage of the best moments The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien has seen, there was an aura that something great was coming to an end. That feeling topped off the very ending of the show.

In an extremely memorable exit to the show, Conan O'Brien took to the stage with an electric guitar as Will Ferrell sang the lyrics to Free Bird. Joining Conan and Ferrell were Ben Harper, Beck, Max Weinberg on Drums, and ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons for a full-length performance of the song that was extremely well done. It marked the perfect ending to Conan's final show, and really put an exclamation point on the time that Conan O'Brien spent hosting The Tonight Show this year.

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Tonight Show Broadcast on NBC