Conan O’Brien breaks news of Robin Williams’ death to studio audience

For For those of you wondering where most of the late-night tributes are coming to Robin Williams, the reality here is that the majority of them (or at least the ones one the air this week) taped their shows a little early in the day. Conan O’Brien, however, is one of the last to put his show on thanks to filming on the West Coast, and the news literally broke during his latest new episode of “Conan.”

In the video below, you can see exactly what we are talking about here as Conan, sitting alongside his guest Will Arnett and sidekick Andy Richter, made it clear that Robin had passed away, and that he was very sorry to have to break this news to the crowd. We imagine that this had to be a pretty terrible situation for him to be in, given the sole fact that his job typically is to make others laugh, and not to be the bearer of bad news. However, he also recognized that ignoring the subject altogether would be wrong.

What we are also wondering here is whether or not Conan learned the news earlier in the taping, and somehow soldiered on and put on a good face so that the show could really continue. Either way, this is all proof that Conan is a consummate professional, and someone who knows what is job is, but also how to tribute those who have come before him in some way (even though Williams was never a late-night host). All three of the men on the stage knew him, so this was a particularly poignant moment.

One other somewhat-haunting moment that we’ve thought of a lot the past 24 hours was a season 3 episode of “Louie,” which we strangely just watched for the first time about a week and a half ago. In it, Louis CK and Robin Williams meet after the funeral of a guy they both knew and everyone hated, and after a bizarre little adventure in a strip club, they determine that they will each go to each other’s funeral to ensure that neither of them ever feels alone.

If you missed it yesterday, be sure to click here to read our full tribute to Williams.