Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
Encyclopedia
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is a 2011 documentary film
featuring Conan O'Brien
and focusing on his comedy tour, The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
, which took place in 2010 following his departure from The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
due to a scheduling dispute
.
The documentary continues with Conan explaining that the idea for the tour came to them while thinking of things they could do in the 6 months they were legally prohibited from appearing on television. The following segments show glimpses of the thought process for the tour, and then an extremely nervous Conan and team members as they wait in realtime to see the results of whether or not their show would sell. All the venues begin to sell out at a fast pace and the stage is set for them to proceed with the planning of the tour.
The rest of the documentary details the creative process behind various jokes/musical acts by Conan's team. In between segments of the live show a lot of fan interactions, attendance of functions, hosting at Bonaroo and encounters with celebrities (such as Jon Hamm, Jack McBrayer
, Jon Stewart
, Stephen Colbert
, Jim Carrey
and Eddie Vedder
- the latter four appearing on the show) are shown - not all of them are pleasant for an exceedingly exhausted and tired Conan as the tour progresses. Conan held a secret show for his fans at the studio of Jack White
, with White participating in the show itself. During the film there is little interviewing between Conan and the director himself, though the few questions that are captured are answered in great detail. A constant during the entire documentary is Conan O'Brien's personal assistant with whom he shares humorous (yet at sometimes passive aggressive) banter till the close of the film.
The documentary ends with a title card displaying the end date of the tour and that Conan had a few weeks off before starting his next assignment as the host of his cable talk show at TBS
, a shot of Conan walking out onto the studio stage after the Conan theme has been played by the band is shown after the title card. A recorded performance at Jack White's studio is played while the credits roll.
, the film has received an aggregated score of 77% from 66 reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert
gave the documentary three out of four stars stating "To be sure, NBC paid him $40 million in a send-off package, but the Conan O'Brien we see in the film wasn't in it for the money. He was in it because he can't stop."The New York Times
movie review by Stephen Holden
was critical of the film's subject and its direction which left much of the tour's performances off camera stating "The film spends too much time with Mr. O’Brien and his team backstage, where he is the needy focus of attention at all times." Holden did state though, that as a whole, the documentary is "consistently watchable".
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
featuring Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
and focusing on his comedy tour, The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour was a comedy tour featuring Conan O'Brien. The title of the tour is a reference to the 2010 Tonight Show host and timeslot conflict which resulted in O'Brien resigning from his position as host of The Tonight Show in January 2010...
, which took place in 2010 following his departure from The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009 to January 22, 2010 as part of NBC's long-running Tonight Show franchise...
due to a scheduling dispute
2010 Tonight Show conflict
In early 2010, American television network NBC and two of its late-night talk show hosts, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno, engaged in a media and public relations conflict over the host and airtime of The Tonight Show, the network's long-running late night program...
.
Synopsis
The film opens with a short segment explaining the events which transpired to culminate in Conan's launch of the Legally Prohibited Tour. It focuses on the rift with NBC and the outpouring of support shown by his fans while the fiasco played out.The documentary continues with Conan explaining that the idea for the tour came to them while thinking of things they could do in the 6 months they were legally prohibited from appearing on television. The following segments show glimpses of the thought process for the tour, and then an extremely nervous Conan and team members as they wait in realtime to see the results of whether or not their show would sell. All the venues begin to sell out at a fast pace and the stage is set for them to proceed with the planning of the tour.
The rest of the documentary details the creative process behind various jokes/musical acts by Conan's team. In between segments of the live show a lot of fan interactions, attendance of functions, hosting at Bonaroo and encounters with celebrities (such as Jon Hamm, Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"...
, Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
, Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
, Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
and Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
- the latter four appearing on the show) are shown - not all of them are pleasant for an exceedingly exhausted and tired Conan as the tour progresses. Conan held a secret show for his fans at the studio of Jack White
Jack White
Jack White may refer to:* Jack White , with the rock bands The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather* Jack White , UK soldier* Jack White , German producer of disco music...
, with White participating in the show itself. During the film there is little interviewing between Conan and the director himself, though the few questions that are captured are answered in great detail. A constant during the entire documentary is Conan O'Brien's personal assistant with whom he shares humorous (yet at sometimes passive aggressive) banter till the close of the film.
The documentary ends with a title card displaying the end date of the tour and that Conan had a few weeks off before starting his next assignment as the host of his cable talk show at TBS
TBS
The acronym TBS may refer to:In broadcasting:*Tokyo Broadcasting System, a TV station in Tokyo, Japan*TBS Radio & Communications, the flagship radio station of the Japan Radio Network *TBS , a US cable television channel...
, a shot of Conan walking out onto the studio stage after the Conan theme has been played by the band is shown after the title card. A recorded performance at Jack White's studio is played while the credits roll.
Reception
The documentary was given a limited release, and it was generally well received by film critics. At movie review website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, the film has received an aggregated score of 77% from 66 reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the documentary three out of four stars stating "To be sure, NBC paid him $40 million in a send-off package, but the Conan O'Brien we see in the film wasn't in it for the money. He was in it because he can't stop."The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
movie review by Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
was critical of the film's subject and its direction which left much of the tour's performances off camera stating "The film spends too much time with Mr. O’Brien and his team backstage, where he is the needy focus of attention at all times." Holden did state though, that as a whole, the documentary is "consistently watchable".