Conan O’Brien and LAFD Just One-Upped ‘SNL’s Weekend Update Joke Swap

The entire city of Los Angeles is still reeling from the wildfires that devastated Southern California earlier this year, and yet, no one is feeling more burned than the makers of Joker: Folie à Deux.

In the lead-up to tonight’s Academy Awards, host Conan O’Brien and his writers had to consider how they would thoughtfully honor the first responders who did the dangerous, tireless and too-often thankless work of protecting Hollywood and its neighbors from further destruction. During the ceremony, Conan brought on 12 brave men and women from the Los Angeles Fire Department who served as the first responders’ representatives at the 97th Academy Awards, and the company received a standing ovation from the stars and professionals of the entertainment industry, some of whom recently lost their homes — those box office returns were brutal.

Even on their day off, LAFD had important work to do as Conan recruited them to tell the ruthless jokes that he, himself wasn’t brave enough to deliver, thus firing a warning shot at Colin Jost, Michael Che, Saturday Night Live and “Weekend Update” that they’re not the only ones who can hold a teleprompter hostage:

“Now I know you’re gonna find this hard to believe, but there are some jokes even I’m not brave enough to tell,” Conan said in front of the dozen smiling firefighters. “So on behalf of myself, would you please read what’s in the prompter. And remember, everyone in this audience has to laugh. These are heroes!”

Taking after Che and Jost’s SNL tradition of forcing someone else to tell risky jokes that they wrote themselves, Conan gave LAFD the stage for some playful ribbing, with the first firefighter glibly saying of the recent Hollywood disaster, “All of our hearts go out to those who have lost their homes. And I’m talking about the producers of Joker 2.”

The next LAFD representative then flamed one of the films that actually made it to Oscars night, joking of A Complete Unknown, “To play Bob Dylan, Timothée Chalamet learned how to sing. In fact, his singing was so good, he almost lost the part.”

Finally, the third speaking role in the company said of the Oscars’ host, “It’s great to be back with Conan. Usually when he calls, he's stuck in a tree.”

While these burns certainly weren’t as ruthless, racist and career-threatening as what Jost and Che usually break out during their regular “Weekend Update” joke swap, they’re still better ghost-written bits than what SNL produces, because, as Conan so conveniently pointed out, these are heroes.