Conan O'Brien: when he took over late night from David Letterman, everyone wondered who the gangly redhead was. Ten years later—after some hitches and stumbles—he is arguably the funniest man on television. Here, he switches chairs with fellow sidesplitter Jack Black

Interview, Sept, 2003 by Jack Black

JB: That's true. [O'Brien laughs] I'm proud of myself. I think I ripped the lid off this bitch. Do you do a lot of these interviews?

CO: I'm starting to do some for this 10th anniversary, which is going be a killer show.

JB: Oh! I can't believe I never even brought it up! When is that?

CO: No, it's all right--this September. It's going to be an hour and a half in prime time on NBC.

JB: It starts at 8?

CO: It starts at 9:30 and goes to 11.

JB: I guess that's prime.

CO: [imitates Black] "I guess that's prime." [Black laughs] It's going to be 10 years of our best stuff, and I'm going to do some fun things with our audience.

JB: Let's just hope you make it.

CO: What do you mean?

JB: It's a long time till September. Anything could happen.

CO: That sounded evil. Are you pushing a button right now that faxes ninjas to New York City?

JB: [laughs] I was going to congratulate you, but then I thought, Wait a second, it's not time yet; I have to wait till he crosses the finish line. No man, you deserve congratulations on all you've done so far.

CO: Oh, thanks. [silence] Well, one of us will have to hang up.

JB: Okay. I'm going to hang up right now. Take it easy.

CO: Bye.

Jack Black stars in School of Rock, to be released next month.