Conan O’Brien has been in the late-night TV game for more than 25 years, so if you want to nail down the dubious honour of his worst ever guest, you better be pretty damn awful.

He reckons he has interviewed more than 12 000 guests during that time, but when asked on actor Dax Shepard’s podcast, ‘Armchair Expert’, one name stood out from the rest.

That would be controversial and eccentric director Abel Ferrara, who appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien back in 1996.

Before we get to that interview, here’s Huff Post:

O’Brien said Ferrara, whose films include “Bad Lieutenant” and “Dangerous Game,” ran out of NBC’s building in New York shortly before his scheduled 1996 appearance. The show’s staff had to drag him back in.

“He came on camera against his will,” O’Brien said. “And then came out, and I think he started yelling at me.”

O’Brien said Ferrara may have been intoxicated, but added that he couldn’t be sure. Regardless, the chaotic interview on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” ended up being what the host calls “compellevision” ― a train wreck from which you cannot look away.

I love a good trainwreck interview (remember Mmamathe Makhekhe-Mokhuane, SARS’ Chief Officer for Digital Information Services and Technology?), so let’s enjoy this disaster together:

Yup, pretty much a trainwreck.

If you want to hear Conan’s account of that night, you can skip ahead to around the 1:26 mark below:

Maybe it would make for some good telly if they had Abel back for a second chance?

[source:huffpost]