“Let me just start off by saying, I love you, Conan.”
Those were the first words out of Jack Black’s mouth as the final guest on the final episode of Conan, the TBS talk show that Conan O’ Brien has been hosting since 2010. The Tenacious D singer continued to praise Conan for being funny and kind, all while slumped in the guest’s chair. That’s unusual for Black, who’s usually bouncing around the set (or his backyard). It turns out, he wanted to do a “big musical number” for the final episode that would end with him faking an injury and paramedics attempting to take him to the hospital, but “the crazy thing is, I actually injured myself for real,” he said.
Black rolled his ankle, which is why he came on stage with a cane. Again, this was not a bit. “The funniest part is, we had an ambulance there and so I’m yelling at these two guys, ‘We got to help him. We got to help him.’ And they were like, ‘No, we’re actors,’” Conan said. But the fake paramedics in the fake ambulance still picked up bandages for Black. “It was a really quick run to CVS. They made it in record time,” he joked.
The School of Rock actor was bummed because he “wanted to be the best guest of all time for your final episode. But instead, I’m literally the lamest guest of all time.” Conan had a different take on the matter. “To me, and I’m sorry you got hurt, and I know you’re going to get better soon, I felt so terrible when you fell, but also, I have to say, it felt fitting for our show,” he said. “Here we are, when Carson and Letterman and all these legends go off the air, everything is meticulous. Of course we would think of a bit with Jack, where Jack pretends to get hurt, and while shooting it, Jack gets hurt. We’re the only show that would ever do that.” And that’s why we love Conan — and Jack Black, who mustered enough strength to sing a song for the retiring host. Watch it above.