Conan O'Brien Must Go: Spain Roundtable Discussion | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

Hey, Conan O'Brien here and we are doing. something a little different today. Uh, my Max Travel series is back and uh, the. first episode, this is the second. season. First episode drops, that's what. the kids say, on May 8th, which I believe is today. Uh, we're. taping this in 1978. and, uh, I haven't even started high. school yet. Um but uh sitting in with us.

is a special guest. He's been with me. many many years. He has been with me on. every single travel show. And his name. is Mike Sweeney. Mike. Hi Conan. Good to see you. Hi Sona. Hi. Matt. Hi Mike. And I will point out you are a fan fave. They do like it when Mike Sweeney graces. our presence. It's the first time hearing that. Room. fave. Room fave. I like being a room. Yeah. Uh, I went a little crazy on fan. fave. I have to say we.

started out many, many, many years ago, and in my early iterations of the travel. shows, you were always with me, and then. it just became you were my right-hand. guy on those shows. Uh, and, uh, all the. different iterations. Conan without. borders. Con without borders. Oh, we did, how many of those did we do? 13. 13 countries. And then uh we started. doing these for Max and they were called. uh and are called Conor O'Brien Must Go.

and we did four last year and we have. the second season dropping. It starts. today. Yes. And uh let's just talk about Spain. because Spain is the first show. Correct. Um. this is not a police interview. You. should uh continue. Continue. You're being recorded. I don't recall. Uh I don't recall. You still don't want your attorney with. you? Okay, go ahead. Spain. Spain. We went to Spain. Uh we went to.

Madrid and um that episode drops today. We have a a special guest star on that. episode and I'm just going to say it. It's Javier Bardam. Oh man. And um. you thought it was me. It was pointed. It's Javier. Now, there. are two other writer producers who uh. were unable to join us for this session. And when I say unable, I didn't invite. them, right? Um. probably because of the 10 minutes. notice before. Exactly. Yeah. We just decided to do. this, right?

Oh my god, it drops today. Okay, sweetiey's here. Let's get him in. Guys, what's up? Jose Royo and Jesse Gascal, who are. brilliant writers and uh funny and uh. helped put this whole thing together. Invaluable. Uh they're not with us. today, but I think you can fill the. bill. They were extra invaluable in. Spain because well Jose grew up in Spain. and uh and Jesse grew up all over the. world and is very fluent in Spanish as. well. So. yeah, very hopeful and of course I too. And you were have a knack for Spanish.

You have a knack. He's good at it. You you Yes, you you. have you can. I think sometimes he talks you talk you. speak very quickly. So if you need to go. to a library or excuse me, right? or you. watch order an apple at a restaurant, Cohen is your guy. An apple. Um, and uh, it's una. It depends. I like a male apple. A male masculine apple. Uh, it's the only kind of apple I'll.

bite into. A big meaty stem. Yeah, give me that. So, oh my god. But I um, let's talk about let's talk. about the uh, the Spain episode. This is. something that people are going to be. able to watch. I know. We'll talk about. it eventually. Well, we're going to get into it right. now. Jesus, what a. I I'm a fan fave. I can do whatever I. want. You should. DW dick. You should not have told me I was a fan. I was. I made it up to try and grease the.

skids. All right, I'll go back to my regular. Go ahead. Spain. Yes, Madrid. We I I thought this was a. wonderful trip. I had never been to. Madrid before. and uh we went. Of course, the premise. of the show is uh people call in from. around the world. They zoom in, I chat. with them, you can hear those uh during. the week. Those drop on the Conor. O'Brien needs a fan episodes, right? We noticed that we had a couple of fans. in Madrid and we decided to go and visit. them and get involved in their lives.

And uh. we have three fans in this episode which. is. one more than usual but because they. were they were all. I'm going to say four cuz I think Javier. well Javier is a big fan. Oh and can I. tell you something about Javier uh or. Javier uh is that he um. we were so worried. He's a huge star. Yes. And he's always been lovely when he's. come on the show when he's come on the. podcast. He's I I adore this guy and. he's uh universally beloved for his.

talent and his incredible looks and his. magnetism and his machismo. But. um so I was concerned about oh my god, you know, I around during these. shows. I got to kind of keep it. together. I don't want to waste his. time. And I kept saying to Javier, okay, we've done a we've done one or two. things. if you need to get going. And he. was like, "Nonsense, Conan. We must. continue onward. There's more to do.". And he had this like he had this Zorba.

like energy to keep doing more. And man, did he dive in. He's he's the star of. the show. He's great. Unbelievable. The whole week we we'd. check back in with him and be like cuz. he's you know TV's great. What a medium. But he's a movie star. Yes. So we were he was like it was like. handling plutonium. We were like, "Oh my. god.". When we're with that TV star, we will we. will waste their goddamn time like you. wouldn't believe. I don't care. I don't.

care what tier you're on in television. It doesn't matter. I will cover you in. caramel. I'll uh. I'll waste weeks of your time. But if. you've made it in the movie biz in film, uh no, I am I respect that cinema and. bilingual. He's the master of the. Spanish cinema as well as now uh the. English language. So he we'd be like are. you sure. cuz also it was physically demanding the. things and we were going to shoot with.

Javier Bardm. Oh yeah. And he was like wait to see this. He finally just was like listen I am. yours for the day. Yeah. I will go start and we started at 7 a.m. At 7 a.m. we met the museum. They would only let us in before they. open their doors. So, and right through. till the evening. He was uh he's my hero. Our last day there, too. Love that guy. One of the highlights for. me was we're in the Praau and we're. taking the escalator down onto the next. shoot. and his cell phone rings and he looks.

down and he's getting a. um FaceTime message from his beautiful. wife. Oh, no. Penelope. Penelope. And he's like, "Oh, hello my love." And. she's like, "Hello." And I'm standing. next to him on an escalator. And I was. like, "Huh?" He's like, "I'm with. Conan." He said, "I'm with Conan." And. she goes like, "Oh, hello." And I just. I'm like, "Hi." And talk about. Well, they have kids, so it wasn't a big. deal. No, she's I mean, even on a iPhone FaceTime,

she's the most beautiful woman in the. world. The phone had this glow that I. don't think iPhones are supposed to. have. Only when Penelope and um I uh so. that made me more nervous about wasting. his time. Yes, because he could choose. Well, actually, no. Penelopey was out of. the country and I accused him of I said, "I thought Penelopey was going to be. here." And he said, "Oh, she had to be. out of the country." And I said, "Admit. it. Admit it.". Right down the block. Admit it. She quote had to be out of the country. when you told her you'd be with Conan.

O'Brien for the day. cuz I believe what happened. But um No, they're there. Uh. he was more than enough though. Good guy. for me. Yeah. No, he take it easy. He was. incredible. But also, uh, it wasn't all about. Javier. Madrid was spectacular. And I. have to say, I I always play in the back. of my head with where could I live is a. game I play. Where could I live? And. Madrid did seem like a city.

that's. that I could live in. It's a cool city. Not that that they would welcome me, but. I thought, oh, this the the architecture. is beautiful. The food is fantastic. the. people are very warm. Um I kind of know. the language enough to get to the. biblote and um and I so I was I I came. away very impressed with Madrid and we. have a lot of uh silliness in the show. A. lot of silliness. A lot of silliness. Three fans. There were they were all.

great. And I again I'm sticking to my credo. which is I know there are a lot of. travel shows out there. I do not want to. educate anybody in any way. In fact, success. I want you to know less about the. country afterwards. All I care about is. if you laugh. And I think uh I I I I I'd. like to think we did that this season. Yes. This really fun episode. Yeah. If you have pre-existing knowledge. of Madrid, it will be gone after you. watch the show. This is this is like a.

protein that eats away at the brain. I have a question. as an outsider, how. much stuff, like the ratio of what you. shoot, cuz a lot of it is found in the. moment and improvised. Do you guys end. up distilling down and using? like. what's the. to be fair uh and hats off to Mike. Sweeney and Jose Aoyo and Jesse Gascal. do a lot of research and then we have. meetings where they'll talk about we can. go here we can go there different first. of all there's the fans and what we're. going to do with them but there's a lot.

of stuff we think up beforehand that. they think up beforehand and we have. talks about it so. um the best shows are the ones where. we're we're always going in with a plan. and then we're keeping our eyes open for. little silly falderall along the way. that we're going to find, right? But um there's no way you could. improvise this and go from location to. location to location and have it work. out. It would never happen in a million. years. So the work that Mike and Jose.

and Jesse do is invaluable. They're. creating this. uh sort of a script without an order. because we don't know what the order is. going to be till we get into editing. But there's they do a lot of footwork. before we go to the country and then uh. Jason Chalemi is. well Jason finds our local fixers every. country. Yeah. Since the I mean since. the very beginning Jason started as an. intern on the late night show and here.

it is. I mean, this is shortly after the. end of the Civil War and he we hired him. via telegraph and he still and he. produces everything in the field, everything on the ground and it's a my. favorite one of my favorite things is. when we zero in on potential countries. So, he'll call, you know, uh, Spain, uh, he'll call the fixers there and he'll. talk to two or three. fixers, the people that aren't. producers. He he there's a registry of. television produc where he'll get.

recommendations and he has this I always. like talking to because he has this. unairring sense of it and he's like. I talked to three people I got a really. good sense a really good feeling about. you know the second one. Yes. And he's always they're always. great. Wow. Yes. They're always they're always. great. So when you have someone like Bardm in. there you're saying like you don't want. to waste his time but he's so funloving. Do you find yourself going like, let's. just mess with this off the cuff or. more?

Yes, there he's such a funny improviser. I mean, you could tell when he was here. on the podcast. So, there's stuff in the. park. There's tons of improvising. where I'm, you know, I came up through. improv and I'm improvising with this guy. who's as good an improviser as anyone. I've worked with. and we're mirror. there's a scene where we're mirroring. each other like. taking little mini cues off each other. to act who can be the stupidest and um. he'll never work in this town again with. this thing and a quick shout out too uh.

because he's there for all of these is. Blle Ble comes along and does a heroic. job on all of the. social media stuff. Give give us your. take Bl on on Madrid. Heroic is very kind. Thank you. No, I know I just said it. The minute I. said it, I knew it was a mistake. Exactly. Uh Madrid was what a wonderful. uh town and everyone was so nice. Uh and. I I think that it had such a cool vibe. Uh which was really great. Bardam was. couldn't have been more down to earth.

and generous like he was hanging out and. knew all the crew members names which. would just hang out. which I don't first of all frankly I. don't know your names. That's you're all wearing name tags. Um. he did my laundry. I brought in his. laundry. I missed the drop at the hotel. and I he's like, you know, you kind of. live in the town. I assume you have a. washer and dryer. In the episode, you can see it, but. Javier takes me to the oldest restaurant. in the world. The oldest restaurant in. Bin,

which is um and and it's been in. continuous. since. the the the oven has been stayed lit for. since it was opened in like the 1700s. And Goya used to wash dishes there. Goya washed dishes there. Hemingway had his own corner that he. used to go and hang out there which is. but the idea that the oven has been on. since 17. even during CO they went in specifically. to keep it going really and that kept. going had just about died out worldwide.

1725. I was off by two years 25. Um and the the food is very good. They're famous for their suckling pig, which um and so there's an actual room. where they're mass cooking suckling pigs. and they're all up on these little. plates all around this room where they. get re they kind of heat them up again. right before they go out. So, one of the things that drives these. episodes of the of the fans, and we are. blessed that this goes for people I meet.

on the street all the time, but our fan. base, they're. routinely very uh nice people who are. also funny and smart and natural. improvisers. seems to be our fan base, which is a lucky thing because. all the fans in in Spain are very funny. and they've got good ideas and they're. great at Yes. And the the rules of. improv. And that goes for these travel.

shows. They're just they're really. fueled by I'm interested in. people and I I like to talk to funny. people and we have this constant stream. of funny fans. Well, you know, a lot of. the leg work's done when you talk to. your fans here in the podcast. So, we. all get a really good I mean, you know, like in Spain, Bruno, the airplane. pilot. You remember him? Bruno. See? Well, so then it's kind of.

like, uh, duh, let's go visit Bruno. He like really dashing or something. He was such a handsome pilot. Well, guess what? I'm his co-pilot. No, actually, he's my co-pilot. I outrank him because you were in the. captain. I um I we made up a uniform. that has one more stripe than him. Literally just put an extra stripe on. mine so I could order him around. But I. I've I'm flying. I'm in the cockpit with. him. And uh it's it's he's terrific. He's great. He was unflapable. Yeah,

he he was a good advertisement for uh. for him as a pilot. He was very large. and in charge. If he can handle me in the cockpit, you. know, he can handle any low pressure. system that suddenly arises. Um I I have. to say one thing which is I I think as a. fan my favorite thing about Conan. O'Brien Musco is it really feels like. you've tied together the whole spectrum. of your career from like doing things at. late night that are just absurd and. silly and ridiculous and really fun all. the way through the podcast meeting fans.

and and and actually having some really. great conversations that are very funny. but also very meaningful. It's cool. Especially, I love seeing the first time. you surprise them and they're always. like and they then always kind of come. in for a big hug. So, it's just it's. really cool. It really feels like you're. you're kind of tying all these things. Did you say you're a fan? Yeah. You said as a fan. Okay. I just. There's a photo, by the way. I don't. know if I'm. trying to get on the show. No. Yes. I would love to. But there's a. photo of me in my dorm room two years.

before I started interning for you of. And you are on the TV. Oh, you're kidding. Which is really cool. Yeah. Yeah. It's. really I've kept it from you, but uh. yeah, it's really cool. The fun thing is that we'll be in. another country and I mean I think this. season and it's I'm not giving anything. away cuz I think it's in the official. trailer that's that's out there, but in. the Austria show um a woman comes up to. me on the street and she's talking about. how she's a fan of the podcast and a fan. of the different clips and and then. she's uh she's from Kazakhstan, right?

And then I start chatting with her and. then she says, "Well, anyway, I have to. go. It's a really funny moment. This is after she's been polite for a. while. She's been polite for a while and it's. just but it's so. excited. What I love initial excitement. of like oh my god initial excitement and. me wanting to talk and talk and talk and. her saying I've got to go and I just. turn to camera and go when when your fan. in Kazakhstan wraps things up. You you know it's time to end things. And I like when those moments come out.

because they're very, you know, my wife is always with me when. people will stop me to chat with me and. I'll chat with them and then I'm giving. them career advice and then she can tell. they need to go. like, "Okay, all right, Conan. Thank. you." Well, where are we going now? But and it goes back to what you're. saying, too. Um, just talking about that. moment on the street, but also with. Javier Bardm. Yes, we'll do all this. research and like, okay, you're going to. go to Boutine and and have a meal with.

him and but then you really take it from. there and improvise. Yeah. Within each segment, so much of it is. improvised. There's it's a mix. I would say it's a. mix of it's like uh any kind of I mean, I know this is using a sports analogy is. is for me ridiculous, but I do think the. closest thing it's akin to is you have a. play in mind in football. you execute it. and sometimes it falls apart and you. have to do something else in the se in a.

moment and sometimes that ends up being. fantastic sometimes it doesn't luckily. we have an edit room and we have great. editors. but I also think I've said it many. before but just from having a late night. talk show where you worked in six minute. segments I I think and and shot tons and. tons of remotes out on the street you. bring all that when every one of these. situations you go into it going, "All. right, I'm having having dinner with.

Javier Bardm in this restaurant. This. will probably be a five, six minute. piece." And your brain, you just know. you're like also directing it at kind of. as you go. And and we're all looking for. a dismount. Yeah. But but you're you are as well. And. we always trying to think of, oh, what's. what's the out? This always reminds me. of the time uh one of the very earliest. things that we did was when we went to. Finland, right? And we decided to go way up north up. towards the Arctic Circle. So Sweeney.

and I are up in the Arctic Circle and we. found this guy that um just basically. there was a reindeer herd nearby and I. think he was. the Sammy. Samies. The Sammy live up there. the. indigenous uh peoples and uh I. remembered you sat you stood me next to. this guy who I don't think spoke English. and you said okay and action and I. remembered I looked around and there.

wasn't a tree for maybe 600 yards and. there was a. and there's ice on the ground and I'm. standing next to this uh this Sammy this. indigenous this uh tribes person who's. who's. Herd's reindeer. Yeah. Herds reindeer for a living and. and I turned to Sweeney and I said, "You've put me in the perfect comedy. vacuum.". Tundra is funny. Yeah, we're in a tundra. There is, you.

know, so yes, there are times where. you're with there are times where you're. with Javier Bardm and you're. it's just if you move a muscle, he's. going to do something really funny and. he's going to add and enrich and it's. just fantastic. And then there are other. times where I've been placed literally. on an ice flow and. it's like punching yourself out of a we. put you in a bag with with wild dogs and. cats and threw you in a river. Action. action and go.

I'll never forget that. I I can still. feel. I can feel the comedic solitude to this. day. Uh anyway, this is going to be out. May 8th. That's when the first episode. uh drops and uh. there'll be three of them and um we're. happy with it and that's that's about as. I swear to God that's that's our highest. praise. That's the ringing endorsement for me. I. can't go any. That for me is a ring.

endorsement. Yeah. On a low balling. I I. watched it and as somebody who was not. really involved in it. and not a fan of Conan. and not a fan of yours at all and you. know we have these staff screenings. It. everybody was just laughing. It's a. really really funny show. It's great and. I love it. And I did learn something. about Spain. Paid employees loved it. Also had also has one of my favorite. jokes ever which is outside of the uh. the Museum of Ham which is you need to. watch. It is my favorite joke. Okay, so please watch everybody for that joke.

I can't wait to see. All right, now you got me mad. All right. Uh, that's all we got. M Mike. Sweeney, thank you for coming. My. favorite. My pleasure. Turn. Let's go and check it out.