Dave responded to Jay's "Don't Blame Conan" 

I loved the way Dave protected Conan, just like Johnny Carson protected Dave.

Conan is one of the greatest late night hosts of all time. The fact that he kept all his staff on payroll during the network switch really speaks volumes about his character. A true class act, and an amazingly funny guy. He may not be getting as big numbers on TBS, but at least he has more creative control

I'll have you all know that in 2022, I'm not blaming Conan. Thanks for keeping it real, Dave.

I love Letterman for sticking up for Conan and Norm Macdonald. Incredible show of true decency.

Conan having CONAN instead of Late Night is even better, imo. It’s more... Conan. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Letterman not knowing Fallon's name has to be one of my all time favorite things.

I loved it when Conan first got the deal and Howard Stern came on Conan and told him, "You know Jay is never going to let this happen, right?", and Conan was just stunned that he might be getting effed.

Dave isn't known as a great impressionist but that little "I'll be in the lobby" he nailed. I like Jay when he's doing the car gig but man he schmucked this whole situation up. It all worked out fine. Nobody blamed Conan and Lonny Donnigan still has a job somehow.

For the longest time I didn't know what was wrong in my life, until one day my therapist pointed out that I shouldn't blame Conan

This bit was probably Dave's biggest F you to Leno, and he didn't say anything bad about Leno. Genius

Dave using the name of an obscure British skiffle singer to reference Jimmy Fallon is the most underrated of all his jokes.

I’m pretty sure Dave was never happier in his life then when he wrote this segment

I almost blamed Conan today, but I decided to come back here and watch this. Crisis averted.

update from 2021: still not blaming Conan.

I love the Leno impression: “ _Okay_ , _but_ _if_ _you_ _need_ _me_ _I’ll_ _be_ _in_ _the_ _lobby_ .”

“ I’ll be in the lobby you know if you need me” is probably the most unexpectedly good impression

How does jimmy Fallon get a late night spot and Conan gets put on TBS. Conan is a genius, he has the funniest skits on tv

This is brilliant. It’s cool that Letterman had Conan’s back.

Dave always came across as insightful. Combined with his rebellious streak, that's why he had had a bit more sarcasm than his contemporaries. And that's exactly how comedians should behave.

Dave is a master. When he did the tonight show, you feel like he is sitting there in your living room talking to you personally. All the other talk show hosts, except Conan, are putting on a performance that doesn't feel personal. They're presenting themself to the crowd.

“That...what’s his name? Lonny Donagan...? Jimmy Fallon” ouch hahahahaha

David forgetting Jimmy Fallon's name is one of the best things I've ever seen.

3:45 The Leno impersonation is spot on. 🤣

I miss Dave every day, and am grateful I don't have to hear Paul twice as often

Pretty cool that conan came back better than ever on tbs

God I remember when I almost blamed Conan. I'm so glad I didn't.

I love every second of this takedown. But Paul confirming that Dave in fact has his own problems might be my favorite bit.

So sad that i was too young to appreciate Daves humor. Only into my 20s and now almost 30 can i look at his time on TV and his time at the Comedy Store and fully appreciate his humor and schtick.

Leno may have had higher ratings, but Letterman was the unquestioned master of late-night TV in the post-Johnny Carson era, and this bit shows why.

It's 2019. Still not blaming Conan. (Edit): Hey, folks! It's 2020 and we are in the age of the coronavirus in April. Just wanted to tell everyone to PLEASE stay safe and...still not blaming Conan in 2020. (Edit): First of all, to any and all who are blessed to be here, in order to read to read this in 2021...I am STILL not blaming Conan. Secondly, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! (Edit): God bless all who are still here in 2022! We are STILL NOT BLAMING CONAN!!! Didn't blame him in 2023... Currently, not blaming him in 2024. God bless, all.

God bless Letterman, I kept carrying this weight around with me, this blame for Conan. Thank you David for freeing me.

I miss Dave. His presence is a major part of my childhood.

At first I blamed Conan. Then I saw this video and thought to myself: "You know, Dave's right. Don't blame Conan." But seriously, don't blame Conan.

This morning I woke up distraught but not knowing what put me in a bad mood, my first reaction was to blame Conan. But thankfully, this video magically appeared in my recommendations and I was quickly swayed!

"Well I feel I've gone too far yet again"....and we thank you for that Dave

I love how he sets up the whole joke, (jay says conan shouldn't be blamed but his managers should, jay points out he has no managers or agents of his own) with the obvious punchline being "so blame Jay!", but stops just short of it because the answer is so palpably obvious to absolutely everyone.

"I said...no one IS blaming Conan." Godamn he is a national treasure and FUCKING SAVAGE.

All these years later and I still resent Jay Leno. That guy is a snake.

It’s one of his finest written and expertly delivered monologues.

I always come back to this clip, maybe once in a year or so. And always in that year, I forget how insufferable Paul is by ruining Dave’s jokes and timing.

The fact that Lonnie Donigan still has a job is kinda sad.

I love this friendship between Conan and Dave!

A master at his work, excoriating Leno but still bringing out comedy.

Wow. All I can say is wow. The fact that David Letterman addressed this issue and what a douche Jay Leno has always been is one of the classiest things I've ever seen. He knew that Leno has ALWAYS been a dirt bag and that what he did Conan Andy, and the rest of their crew was despicable and he let his viewers too While other hosts or celebrities wouldn't have and did not want to get their hands dirty or do anything that might have a negative backlash on them- David Letterman unapologetically spoke the truth. What a stand up guy Letterman is abd what a class act Conan is. And Jay Leno can suck it.

It’s still a crime against humanity that Fallon not Conan has the Tonight Show.

It's 2021, almost 11pm and here I am, watching vintage Dave, not blaming Conan (Thanks to you folks for the upvotes❤️We all know that Conan's not that kind of a guy😄

3 months into 2022 and here I am up at 1am, and I needed to be reminded to "Not Blame Conan". Thanks Dave

Coming back anytime I need a laugh to hear Lonny Donagan. Love it.

I’m so glad that dude Paul was there to translate what Dave was saying!

I read the book about this. The book taught me too things. 1) Leno had the better contract for The Jay Leno Show and the better contract always wins, and 2) Conan had much more integrity than Leno ever will.

0:38 That smile when he says "but I just can't help myself," is the reason I love Letterman so much.

NOBODY has timing to drop a punch-line like Letterman… flawless.

Oh my God, Letterman's Leno impression is priceless. I wish he had let that one out more often.

I'm so glad Conan is still going strong. He's an awesome host and his writers are funny as hell. Definitely the best host and the best late night show currently on TV.

I’m from the UK, so Late Night television has never been as big a deal over here. However from what I can gauge, this Johnny Carson guy presided over the coveted gig of hosting the Tonight Show for 30 years starting in 1962. In 1992 he retires and NBC crowns Jay Leno as Carson’s replacement, thus prompting a disgruntled David Letterman to take a new show, late night with David Letterman, from NBC to CBS, a move that kickstarted an ongoing feud between himself and Leno. In 2001, when Conan O'Brien's contract neared its end and he was being courted by other networks, NBC agreed to extend his contract and eventually make him the fifth host of The Tonight Show. However the network neglected to tell Leno about this arrangement. In 2004, when they did finally get round to informing Leno that O'Brien would take over as host of the Tonight Show in 2009, NBC tried keeping both of it’s late-night stars by offering Leno a nightly primetime show before O'Brien's Tonight Show. Conan fronting the Tonight Show didn’t receive strong ratings, and NBC moaned about a drop in ratings, so they returned Leno to his 11:35pm start time and bumped O'Brien half an hour later to 12:35am. An understandably indignant O'Brien, much like Letterman a decade earlier, furiously declined and left the network entirely and went on to successfully host his own late night TV talkshow, Conan, which aired on TBS for 11 seasons. Leno was therefore reinstated with a second tenure hosting the Tonight Show in 2010. However, by 2014, Leno was eventually replaced by Jimmy Fallon and, after a 22 year run, CBS aired the last episode of late night with David Letterman in 2015. Is that, more or less, a vey longwinded summary of events, with the upshot being that Jay Leno (“the one who’s not funny”) has absolutely zero professional integrity, with the court of public opinion strongly being in favour of David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. Secondly, and I’m going completely off-topic now, but was Joan Rivers’ account about leaving the Tonight Show as Carson’s permanent guest hostess to compete with him on The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers honestly only down to her feeling unsettled when Carson's contract was renewed for two years, but hers was only renewed for one, despite Joan getting better ratings than Carson? The first person Joan allegedly called to say that she was leaving the Tonight Show was Johnny, and he hung up on her and never spoke to her again, even after her husband Edgar Rosenberg’s suicide, which happened after Joan challenged Fox executives, who originally wanted to fire Edgar as the show's producer, but instead fired them both in 1987. Jay Leno, in keeping with his predecessor, maintained an unofficial embargo on Joan Rivers for 27 years until Jimmy Fallon, feeling that the statute of limitations against Rivers had long expired, invited her back as a guest for his show’s debut? I do hope that whoever reads this can understand, and perhaps even appreciate, my fascination with American late night TV shows, particularly as the most interesting thing about the U.K.’s most popular chat show hosts is that one is actually Irish, the other one has Rhotacism, another one quit and his replacement’s now dead….

Thank you Dave, for your beautiful words that still resound today.

I looked up Lonnie Donegan and he's a 50s "skiffle singer" who does look kinda like Fallon and I laughed even harder.

You can tell who's never watched a single episode of David letterman by them commenting on how Paul butts into David talking.

I always felt that Lonnie Donegan was an underrated TV personality.

Dave's contempt for Jay cleared my acne, straightened my teeth, and improved my credit!

One of Dave's greatest bits of all time: "Uhhh, I'll be in the lobby... Don't hang around!"

Classic! Brutal! Love it! I met David Letterman when I lived in Massachusetts. He's a nice guy.

I blame myself.

I will always love how David Letterman treated Jimmy Fallon exactly how we should’ve all treated Jimmy Fallon

Conan's last couple of weeks at NBC while they were letting his contract run out were the best shows of late night ever. Conan had an expense account for the show, and he expended that account to the extreme. Introducing the newest late night character, Bugatti the mouse,accompanied by it's theme music, the original master for the Rolling Stones Satisfaction.

April 2024: Still Not Blaming Conan. 😎

I enjoy replaying this every couple of years 😁

There is a Universe where Conan did get The Tonight Show and technology and humanity advanced faster than this timeline

I miss the good ol days of Letterman on late show and Craig Ferguson on the late late show.

the bass slide after "but I just can't help myself" is an underrated moment

I always wished Paul's mic had a kill switch.

The venom Dave has for Jay is just amazing in the best way possible.

I personally blame Lonnie Donegan.

This is one of Dave’s shining moments.

Letterman's finest moment. I'm still pissed at Jay.

"I got my own problems." Not enough people in this world acknowledge this about themselves.

I will never understand how Jay Leno had the audience he did. I couldn’t stand him and his brand of humor. I feel like he grabbed all of the 55 and over crowd. Anyone that I knew found Conan to be much cooler and funnier.

I love the way he refers to Jimmy fallon as Lonnie Donegan lol

“Lonnie Donighan….” 🤣🤣🤣

Paul sounds like Rain Man in this just repeating every last couple of words Dave says

9 years later and this is still "Vintage Letterman". Funny as hell!!!

This makes me miss Dave so much. He's out there now having the time of his life in peaceful tranquility, fly fishing, & relaxing in the bosom of Mother Nature's beauty...a truly happy ending for a celebrated icon. Yet there are some days where things are rough, tensions flare, expectations dashed with disappointment - and I think of how many times David Letterman & his show put those awful days to bed. I can't watch contemporary late night; too much politics & far more left-wing than I can stomach. There's no disillusionment that Dave didn't have his own views which I'm sure differ from mine, but that was never an issue watching his show. He understood what a priviledge it was being welcomed into America's homes every night & didn't take it for granted. What Johnny Carson was to my parents, Dave was to me. Conan was undoubtedly the best in modern late night. It's amazing to see these old clips & smh at how NBC managed to drop the ball yet again.

Carson, Letterman, Conan. The three best to ever do it…

That "I hope you're not planning on blaming conan, are you?" always kills me. 3:13

Late night shows died when letterman and Conan left.

Dave is the National example of IDGAF. National treasure.

“Lonnie Donnagan”

Love him or hate him Letterman is the only talk show host with any balls to speak the truth he never ever sucks up to any celebrity he just says it as it is.

Over the past 3 years, I got divorced, my business failed, and I my health deteriorated. I was so tempted to blame Conan, but thank goodness I stopped myself when I realized he had nothing to do with my problems… All along it was Jay Leno.

"Lonnie Donnigan has a job too!" 😂

Worried about Lonny Donagan here

About this ongoing Coronavirus thing... please, don't blame Conan.

3:45 leno impression cracked me up

It's funny because Jay Leno's second stint on The Tonight Show only lasted for four years or so, but this Leno pushes out Conan story is still going strong almost 15 years later 😅

Oh my gosh. I had forgotten how good Dave was.

Letterman > Leno All day, every day.

There have been times I liked Letterman and times when I didn't, but I will always respect him for this.

"well I feel I've gone too far, yet again, tonight"

This was 14 years ago and can’t believe jinny gallon is still in this business

There's no one like Letterman. That said, I love Conan.