Conan O'Brien doesn't subscribe to the notion that dark humor is a sign of arrested development. In fact, the comedian embraced this quirky mode of expression to navigate a particularly trying time in his life. Just a year after his parents, Dr. Thomas F. O'Brien and Ruth Reardon O'Brien, passed away within three days of each other last December, Conan and Arrested Development alum Will Arnett shared a humorous anecdote about blaming Jason Bateman for their sudden deaths.
On the December 8 episode of O'Brien's "Needs a Friend" podcast, Arnett, 55, recalled: "I heard about your dad's passing and I texted you that day or the next day and said, 'Hey, I'm sorry to hear about your dad's passing, sending love from our family to yours.' And you wrote back, 'Thank you, Will. To be honest, I blame Bateman.'"
He continued with their off-kilter conversation: "I wrote back, 'It's not a terrible theory.' And Conan texted me back, 'He killed my dad.'" The former late-night host, 62, defended his gruesome retort, noting that his late father—who died at 92—would have "loved this" moment. True to their long-standing friendship, Arnett revealed that he later shared the joke with his Arrested Development costar. And without hesitation, Bateman, 58, joined in the fun.
Arnett continued: "Bateman texts you and says, 'Arnett tells me you're on to me.' Conan says, 'Bateman, do yourself a favor. Turn yourself in.'" The trio revisited their banter after O'Brien's mother also passed away less than a week later at 95.
"I texted [Bateman], 'Um, Bateman is asking for your sister's street address. Okay to give?'" the Bojack Horseman alum reflected on their conversation. "Like a day and a half later, you texted back, 'Just seeing this now. Fantastic...tell Bateman to make it look like a robbery.'"
When asked about the inspiration for his continued lighthearted approach to grief, O'Brien explained: "You know what's weird? I swear to God, this is how I grieve. It was so comforting for me to screw around with you guys at that moment. It just was. And if that makes me a madman, then so be it."
When not finding solace through humor, O'Brien remembers the compassion of his parents for their loved ones. "I think what my mother and father saw in each other was that they were kindred spirits," Conan told the Boston Globe last December, weeks after their passing. "They were incredibly hard-working and disciplined." He added, "If anyone was unhappy around my mom in a 50-mile radius, she thought it was her duty to fix the problem. It didn't make her life easy, but it was very much a part of her Catholic drive—that 'I have to be of service to people.' And good God, she was."
