All the Times Paul Rudd Tested Conan O'Brien's Patience With the Iconic Mac and Me

During promotion for the series finale of Friends, Paul kicked off what would become one of the longest-running bits in late-night TV. Under the guise of not realising how intensely guarded the secrets of the finale were, he revealed that he had brought a clip from the episode. Instead of Friends, we got the now-infamous clip from the 1988 film.

In honour of his Broadway play, Three Days of Rain, Paul discussed how a lot of people wouldn't get to see it so it was taped for the archives. After talking things over with Actor's Equity, he disclosed that he was able to bring a clip from the show. The sheer look of desperation on Conan's face at the end of the clip says everything.

While Judd Apatow may have prevented him from his Mac and Me bit for Knocked Up, that wasn't the case for This Is 40. Paul recalled how his kids used to think he just worked at a movie theatre before getting to the Mac and Me clip. "How many times have you showed that clip on this show over the years," Conan wondered in the video. Paul, being as cheeky as ever, then responded, "We just shot that."

You'd think Conan would've finally learned after years of Paul pulling the prank that he would never willingly show an exclusive clip from one of his movies. "You've been showing that clip on my show for I think 15 years," O'Brien said after being Mac and Me-ed by Paul. "It's from a movie called Mac and Me. And you always convince me that you're not going to show it again. And you promise me that you're not going to show it again, and you show it again."

Although Paul didn't appear on this episode, he was the inspiration for Alana's prank. Instead of showing her highlight reel, she showed Paul's favourite clip from Mac and Me. "I've been watching your show for years. Paul Rudd is one of my favourite actors," the Paralympian shared. "Paul Rudd shows that clip every time he's on, no matter what movie he's promoting . . . And you decide to do that to me," Conan said.

"You've been coming on the show for many, many, many years," Conan stated before Paul could show the clip. "And you do this one thing consistently which is you say we're gonna see a clip and then I throw to what I think is a clip and it turns out to be a clip from this terrible E.T. rip-off called Mac and Me." Much like with Role Models, Paul explained that the studio wouldn't let him do the bit and he had to show a clip from the movie. This time, Paul as Ant-Man made an appearance in the 1988 film.

On Netflix's Living With Yourself, Paul plays twins. To jazz up the prank, the clip ended with twin aliens instead of a single Mac. "Do you want to show a real clip? You son of a b*tch," Conan said with a shake of his head. "That was a real clip," Paul deadpanned as Conan continued laughing.

Sadly, the Mac and Me bit had to come to an end since Conan is ending its run on TBS. Thinking he'd be able to avoid another Paul Rudd incident, Conan interviewed Bill Hader about the worst Saturday Night Live sketch he'd ever been in. Of course, it included Paul, who appeared in a tuxedo to commemorate the bit. "It's been like 25 years of you coming on the show. You'd always say you've got a clip but every time, for years, I would be convinced that I would see the real clip because you're such a genuinely nice person," Conan explained. "And you would say, 'No, this movie's really important to me' . . . and then you pull that sh*t every time."