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Conan O'Brien's return to the 'Tonight Show' marked as a triumph among viewers

"This hit me right in the feels."

"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon"/Youtube

Coco is back, baby.

Conan O’Brien had a blink-and-you-missed-it run as “Tonight Show” host. After only a year, he was unceremoniously laid off in 2010 by NBC due to a contractual dispute and replaced by former host Jay Leno, followed by Jimmy Fallon in 2014.

But despite his short-lived reign, O’Brien cemented himself as a wickedly funny and whip smart performer, as well as a master of recurring gags, self-deprecating humor and engaging conversation…not to mention developing a reputation for being a pretty great guy off the air.

Which is why fans were excited to see O’Brien appear as a “Tonight Show” guest for Tuesday’s episode, marking a return to his old stomping grounds for the first time in 14 years. And let’s just say…O’Brien’s comeback did not disappoint.

During parts of the interview, O’Brien exuded that same amount of candid poise that he famously maintained throughout the 2010 controversy. Like when he talked about podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” the project that followed his “Tonight Show” exit, he said he still considered hosting a late-night show “the best job in the world,” but shared his appreciation for the podcast format since it allows for longer, more in-depth conversations with guests.

But along with all the sentimentality were trademark rapid fire zingers and absurdly dramatic outbursts, especially when talking about how “weird” it felt to be back at Rockefeller Center.

"I was here for 16 years doing the ‘Late Night’ show," O'Brien told Jimmy Fallon (both “Late Night” and “The Tonight Show” filmed in the same building.

"When someone else is in your studio it feels weird. So I walked in and said, 'Who's in my old studio?' And they said 'Kelly Clarkson'. And I love Kelly Clarkson, who doesn't love Kelly Clarkson? But still I felt like, IT'S NOT RIGHT! BLASPHEMY! THEY SHOULD HAVE BURNED IT TO THE GROUND!"

"And then Kelly came out to say hi and I said, DON'T TALK TO ME! YOU MAKE ME SICK!!"

Man, O'Brien really knows how to commit to the bit. Watch:

O’Brien’s interview was so well received that fans seemed to fall in love with him all over again.

“Conan returns to the Tonight Show in TRIUMPHHH being one of the greatest of all time.”

“Conan is going down in history as one of the greatest to ever do it!”

“Conan's career is a true testament to the saying ‘Everything happens for a reason.’”

“This hit me right in the feels.”

“The man's a national treasure, give him everything.”

If you’re left wanting even more Coco, O’Brien has a new series, “Conan O’Brien Must Go,” which debuts on April 18 on Max. Talk about a full circle moment.

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Watch this transgender comedian take down Trump on 'The Tonight Show.'

'He probably thinks transgender people are those cars that turn into robots.'

Believe it or not, Patti Harrison, a transgender comedian, can actually empathize with Trump's proposed military ban on people like her.

Sort of.

"Trump says transgender people in the military would be a tremendous disruption, and I get it," she said assuringly during a segment of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on July 26. "If you constantly draw attention to yourself, spend all day distracting everyone, and cost taxpayers millions of dollars, the perfect job for you isn’t the military — it’s the president of the United States."



Harrison was, of course, satirizing Trump's tweets announcing the U.S. military would no longer allow trans members to serve "in any capacity."

The jab was just one of a handful of searing burns, met with thunderous applause from the audience, criticizing the president's decision.

GIF via "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."

"The Tonight Show" wasn't flying solo in its criticism either; several late night hosts lambasted the ban, too, including Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, and Seth Meyers.

But "The Tonight Show" was the only program to feature an actual trans person firing shots at the president's discriminatory proposal.

"I don’t even think Trump knows what 'transgender' means," Harrison quipped. "He probably thinks transgender people are those cars that turn into robots."

Harrison did, however, put the jokes aside at one point to highlight a person who'd be affected by the ban: retired U.S. Navy SEAL Kristin Beck.

"There are amazingly brave trans people that should be allowed to serve," Harrison noted. "Like Kristin Beck, a retired Navy SEAL with a purple heart, bronze star, and countless service metals."

Former U.S. Navy Seal Senior Chief Kristin Beck. Photo by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images.

Beck, whose used her transition to publicly highlight the need for the military to become more inclusive, quickly spoke out against Trump's announcement.

"He's turned his back on a lot of Americans," she told CNN. "He's turned his back on a lot of veterans. And that's just not right."

Beck — who was deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries throughout her two decades as a Navy SEAL —  is calling on Americans to rise up and fight back at the ballot box.

"I'd say [Trump's] famous line: 'You're fired,'" Beck explained to CNN when asked what she'd tell the president. "As the American people, we can say that [to all our elected officials]. And in 2018, we can put out in a big loud voice, 'You're fired.'"

Watch Harrison's segment on "The Tonight Show" below:

Transgender comedian Patti Harrison address Trump's military ban

Posted by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, July 27, 2017
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President Obama had some sympathetic words for the GOP. Every voter should hear them.

After slow-jamming the news with the president of the United States, Jimmy Fallon asked the commander-in-chief if he thought the Republicans were happy with Donald Trump as their nominee.

Image via "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon"/YouTube.

Naturally, the president couldn't resist the obvious dig.

GIF via "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon"/YouTube.

But the message he delivered next was sobering and surprisingly sympathetic to Republicans.

Image via "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon"/YouTube.

"I actually am not enjoying, and I haven't been enjoying over the last seven years, watching some of the things that have happened in the Republican Party because there's good people in the Republican Party," the president said.

And he had a stern message for Democrats who might be tempted to take pleasure in their political opponents misfortune:

"What's happened in that party culminating in this current nomination, I think, is not actually good for the country as a whole. It's not something Democrats should wish for."

"Democracy works, this country works, when you have two parties that are serious and trying to solve problems," Obama told Fallon.

A healthy Republican Party, the president argued, is essential to making concrete, lasting progress, insisting that the last thing Democrats should root for is a weak, poorly led opposition.

"You want folks who understand the issues and where you can sit across the table from them and you have a principled argument, and ultimately, you can still move the country forward."

To some extent, this is simply an extension of what Obama has said countless times before.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

Exhorting political opponents to debate each other in good faith is a theme the president frequently returns to, dating all the way back to his breakout 2004 Democratic National Convention speech.

But it has taken on a new urgency now. As we're seeing, a fractured GOP doesn't lead to a stronger democracy or country but instead leads to greater incivility.

It's how you wind up with a presumptive nominee who argues that a federal judge should be disqualified from adjudicating a case against him on the basis of the judge's race.

It's how you wind up with GOP Sen. David Perdue saying a "prayer" for President Obama but actually quoting a Bible verse, which, in its original context, has frequently been interpreted as a call for the subject's death.

And, on the other side, it's how you wind up with protesters throwing eggs at Trump supporters, punching them, and even allegedly assaulting them with weapons.

The good news? It doesn't have to be this way.

See! There's LBJ! And Eisenhower! Happy! Together! Photo by Abbie Rowe/LBJ Museum and Library.

"There are wonderful Republicans out in the country who want what's best for the country and may disagree with me on some things but are good decent people," the president said.

The more Republicans put their best, most thoughtful, most qualified people in charge, and the less Democrats argue with them vigorously without shouting them down or right-hooking them in the face, the better off we'll all be.

Because, whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, or neither, the president is right: The best version of our democracy is not when we all agree on everything — but when we disagree in good faith.

Watch the full interview below:

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