Conan O'Brien: It's hard to list all the late-night talk shows that are on these days

NPR

In a wide-ranging interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross, Conan discusses his battles with depression, his special connection with Stephen Colbert on his Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast, the flirtatious sound he used to make toward attractive female guests and the state of late-night TV. "If you and I try to right now list all of the late-night shows that exist ... we'd be hard-pressed to name them all and would forget some because there are that many. So it's just different," he says. "And I think when it first starts to happen, the natural reaction is, 'How do I maintain my position? How do I keep what I have?' And I think once you realize the foolishness of that, and just what a waste of time it is, and ultimately unproductive, and just say, 'You know what? I like a bunch of these other shows. These people are all very good.' And late-night talk shows have become more specialized. ... The shows are completely different from each other, and everyone's working a certain niche, but a lot of them are really good."