O’Brien said he cut the bit after attempting — and failing — to make approximately “5,000” jokes about one Best Picture nominee.

Academy Awards host Conan O’Brien reveals Oscars joke shading Best Picture nominee: ‘Pity applause doesn’t work’

O'Brien said he cut the bit after attempting — and failing — to make approximately "5,000" jokes about one Best Picture nominee.

Joey Nolfi

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes RuPaul’s Drag Race video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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March 12, 2026 11:08 a.m. ET

Conan O'Brien hosting the 97th Academy Awards. Credit:

Rich Polk/Penske Media via Getty

Returning Academy Awards host Conan O'Brien's comedy train has reached its final stop when it comes to attempting to make a laughing matter of Best Picture nominee *Train Dreams.*

The 2026 Oscars ceremony host previewed the tone of material he might use on stage Sunday night, during a Wednesday evening interview with fellow comedian (and former Oscars host) Jimmy Kimmel.

"Do you have jokes that you decided you will not do that you can share with us?" Kimmel asked. Without missing a beat, O'Brien replied, "No, because they're bad. The one I have is *Train Dreams*. It's a* Train Dreams* joke."

Conan O'Brien on stage at the 2025 Oscars.

Frank Micelotta/Disney via Getty

O'Brien suggested that making a quip about the Joel Edgerton-starring film — a slow-burning drama about a logger navigating life in early 20th-century America — was difficult, and that he attempted to write many bits about the project, though most of them didn't land.

"This is the best *Train Dreams* joke out of 5,000," O'Brien admitted, before telling the audience: "*Train Dreams* was nominated for Best Picture. Finally, a movie that proves being a Pacific Northwest lumberjack in the early 1900s wasn't as fun as it sounds!"

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A tepid response from the *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* audience backed up O'Brien's prior assertion, though they eventually clapped.

"No! No! No! No! Pity applause doesn't work!" O'Brien told the crowd. "You waited, you were sad, as I was. That's why you're not going to see this joke!"

Earlier in the interview, O'Brien said he was still working through material, and that "you have to leave room for" late-breaking developments to work into the act any time you take a gig hosting a major, live event on television.

O'Brien's performance as the 2025 Oscars host received positive reviews, with the comedian quickly signing on to host the event once again.

Leading up to Sunday's ceremony, O'Brien told reporters at a pre-Oscars conference earlier Wednesday that hosting the show connected him closer to the essence of his late father.

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"He used to watch Johnny Carson," O'Brien said, "and my dad loved comedy, so I would sometimes get to stay up and watch Johnny with him. And I very clearly remember Johnny Carson hosting the Oscars and watching my father watch Johnny, and watching my father laugh, and thinking,* '*Wow, that's cool, that man is making my father laugh*.'* And so to think that maybe now I'm part of that equation somehow, and in a cosmic way [it] links me to my dad, is pretty amazing."

Sunday's show — which airs on ABC — is set to end months of contentious jockeying in the awards race, with *Sinners* or *One Battle After Another* eyeing up the night's Best Picture prize, while Michael B. Jordan, Jessie Buckley, Amy Madigan, and Sean Penn look at likely acting victories.**

Watch O'Brien discuss hosting the 2026 Oscars above.

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Source: “EW Academy”