--- title: Oscars 2025 Review: A Win for Conan O'Brien and Team Coco description: There was a sense of old wrongs righted in seeing late night's perennial underdog back on a Big 5 network canonical: https://time.com/7263695/oscars-2025-review-conan-obrien/ author: Judy Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-03-03T04:40:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:01.556Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Conan Nailed the Oscars Hosting Job Simply by Being Conan og:description: There was a sense of old wrongs righted in seeing Conan O'Brien, late night's perennial underdog, back on network TV. og:url: https://time.com/7263695/oscars-2025-review-conan-obrien/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34dc1da18ae4905e/6998c48f25f3eecc916446a8/GettyImages-2202399127.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TOPSHOT-US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-AWARD-OSCARS-SHOW og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Conan Nailed the Oscars Hosting Job Simply by Being Conan twitter:description: There was a sense of old wrongs righted in seeing Conan O'Brien, late night's perennial underdog, back on network TV. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34dc1da18ae4905e/6998c48f25f3eecc916446a8/GettyImages-2202399127.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Conan Nailed the Oscars Hosting Job Simply by Being Conan > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: The Biggest Moments of the 2025 Oscars [Watch (HLS stream): The Biggest Moments of the 2025 Oscars](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/a9wj3WHc.m3u8) (2:53)  _Published 2025-03-03. Anora won five of the six awards it was nominated for including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay. Mikey Madison also pulled off a surprise Best Actress win in a race that many thought would come down to a photo finish between Fernanda Torres and Demi Moore. Adrien Brody took home the Best Actor Oscar for his role in The Brutalist, his second win in that very same category. Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldaña both nabbed supporting acting awards for their work in A Real Pain and Emilia Pérez, respectively. The Brutalist, Wicked, Emilia Pérez, and Dune: Part Two all took home awards as well._  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Mar 3, 2025 4:40 AM UTC  Conan O'Brien performs onstage during the 97th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 2, 2025. Conan O'Brien performs onstage during the 97th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 2, 2025.Patrick T. Fallon—AFP/Getty Images  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Mar 3, 2025 4:40 AM UTC No one does self-deprecation like Conan O’Brien. His inexhaustible capacity for cracking jokes at his own expense is what made him so delightful to watch in the messy early years of NBC’s _Late Night With Conan O’Brien_, when the show’s low ratings were his favorite running joke and an excuse to air some of the weirdest talk-show gags ever. And it’s why he proved to be such an appealing host of Sunday’s [97th Academy Awards](http://time.com/7262764/oscars-academy-awards-updates-2025/). Whenever O’Brien was onstage, balancing impish humor with a palpable love for movies and compassion for an industry where so many recently lost so much to the [wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles](https://time.com/7205547/los-angeles-wildfires-how-to-help-victims/), the ceremony felt light and loose. A host who doesn’t take himself too seriously gives every guest permission to relax and have fun. The Oscars were a broadcast television homecoming of sorts for O’Brien, who hosted _Late Night_ from 1993 through 2009, when Jay Leno kept a five-year-old promise to retire and give him _The Tonight Show_. But early viewership numbers were weak. As rumors of Leno’s return swirled, O’Brien fans united in a viral [“I’m With Coco” campaign](https://time.com/archive/6597023/why-team-coco-matters/). Instead of giving the host time to grow into his new timeslot, as he had done with _Late Night_, NBC negotiated with the O’Brien camp for his departure. Leno did indeed un-retire, ultimately handing the show to its current host, [Jimmy Fallon](https://time.com/8130/the-smartest-thing-jimmy-fallon-did-on-his-first-tonight-show/), in 2014\. And although Conan’s [$32 million exit deal](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/conan-obrien-oscars-host-jay-leno-feud/?ICID=continue%5Fwithout%5Fsubscribing%5Freg%5Ffirst) came with the caveat that he had to stay off the air for six months, he found ways to make his bitterness known. O’Brien re-emerged quickly, with a series of stand-up dates he dubbed “The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour,” which also yielded the documentary _Conan O'Brien Can't Stop_. Before the end of 2010, TBS had hired him for a new late-night show, [_Conan_](https://entertainment.time.com/2010/11/09/conan-returns-stop-me-if-youve-heard-this-one-before/), which ran through 2021\. For the past six years, he’s also hosted a hit podcast, _Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend_. And last spring saw the release of an acclaimed Max travel series, _Conan O’Brien Must Go_. He’s had a more interesting and varied career since leaving NBC than he probably would’ve had if he’d kept his post at the desk where [Johnny Carson](https://time.com/4771136/1967-johnny-carson/) once held court. Yet for those of us who have always found Coco’s underdog persona endearing, there was still a sense of old wrongs righted in seeing him back on a Big 5 network, however briefly, emceeing what he called in his opening monologue “Hollywood’s biggest night that starts at four in the afternoon.”  Conan O'Brien speaks to Adam Sandler during the opening monologue. Patrick T. Fallon—AFP/Getty Images It was a solid monologue, memorable less for individual jokes than for the good-natured ease with which O’Brien delivered them. Every Best Picture nominee got its backhanded compliment. While shots at [_The Brutalist_](https://time.com/7016712/the-brutalist-review/)’s length and [_Wicked_](https://time.com/7177832/wicked-movie-review/)’s premise felt obvious, the [_Conclave_](https://time.com/7098657/conclave-review/)one-liner was a winner: “Its logline is: A movie about the Catholic Church, but don’t worry.” O’Brien also effectively defused some tension by acknowledging the presence of [scandal-stricken _Emilia Pérez_ star Karla Sofia Gascón](https://time.com/7209545/emilia-perez-controversy-oscar-frontrunner/) (“If you’re gonna tweet about the Oscars, remember: My name is Jimmy Kimmel”). And when the gentle roasting was over, he elegantly navigated a transition into an earnest message of support for members of the Hollywood community affected by the fires. “In moments such as this, any awards show can seem self-indulgent and superfluous,” O’Brien said. “The Oscars also shines a light on an incredible community of people you will never see.” Too many skits, gags, and staged interactions with celebrities typically drag down awards ceremonies; this is among the most common complaints about the Oscars. But zany bits are Conan’s forte, and he nailed just about all of them. He closed the monologue by picking an amusing fight with a mock-indignant [Adam Sandler](https://time.com/6837014/spaceman-review-netflix-adam-sandler/) over his casual attire, then wasted precisely the right amount of time with a production number promising not to waste time. An extremely late-night-style parody ad for “CinemaStreams,” a product that fuses hundreds of smartphone screens to make what sounds suspiciously like a movie theater, would’ve been funny even without the very on-brand [Martin Scorsese](https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/6311403/martin-scorsese-killers-of-the-flower-moon-interview/) cameo. (“His cut of that commercial was six hours long—and very violent,” O’Brien cracked.) Instead of just bringing LA firefighters onstage for solemn applause, as other awards shows this year have done, he gave them slightly edgy jokes to read (“Our hearts go out to all of those who have lost their homes—and I’m talking about the producers of [_Joker 2_](https://time.com/7034684/joker-folie-a-deux-review/)”), because who could possibly get angry at _heroes_? The evening’s safe-for-prime-time answer to _Late Night_’s immortal [Masturbating Bear](https://teamcoco.com/category/tags/masturbating-bear) was a sandworm from [_Dune_](https://time.com/6589871/denis-villeneuve-dune-part-two-interview/)that played “Chopsticks” on the piano and then returned, a couple hours later, for a harp solo. Still, the best moments of this hosting gig were just Conan being Conan, letting the winners enjoy their spotlight and laughing at himself to make everyone else feel comfortable. It didn’t matter when a joke bombed, because he was quick to make a funnier one about that failure (“Not gettin’ paid a lot!”). And when things got awkward, he broke into a goofy jig—a familiar quirk from his late-night heyday—that implied he was just a simple clown, making a fool of himself for our entertainment. Well, it takes a heck of a clown to make a four-hour ceremony feel like anything but a slog. “If you're still enjoying the show, you have something called Stockholm syndrome,” O’Brien joked, deep into the evening. Maybe so. 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