Paul Rudd Pranks Conan O’Brien With ‘Mac and Me’ Clip Again, This Time on Conan’s Podcast (Video)

Just because Conan O’Brien doesn’t have a late night TV show anymore doesn’t mean Paul Rudd can’t keep pranking him with a clip from the infamous 1988 “E.T.” ripoff “Mac and Me.”

Rudd was a guest on O’Brien’s “Conan’ O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast recently, and after a lengthy discussion in which Rudd talked about a new Audible podcast he had created (complete with a plot synopsis and cast info), Rudd played a clip… which turned out to be a clip from “Mac and Me.”

“Oh for Christ’s sake,” O’Brien exclaimed as the clip began. “Why? Why? You can’t do this on a podcast!”

When O’Brien asked if there was any truth to the setup, Rudd said no – he made it all up. He has no Audible podcast.

The bit began in 2004, when Rudd was a guest on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” to talk about his role on “Friends.” When it came time to run a clip from his episode, he instead played an infamous clip from “Mac and Me” in which a child in a wheelchair rolls down a hill, off a cliff and into a lake. Pretty much every time Rudd came back on O’Brien’s show – be it “Late Night,” “The Tonight Show” or “Conan” – he played the “Mac and Me” clip instead of a clip from the thing he was promoting. Rudd even admitted studios had gotten angry at him for not playing a clip from his film or television series, and yet the joke persisted.

We thought the last time we’d see the bit was when Rudd was a guest on the penultimate episode of “Conan,” in which he and guest Bill Hader found a way to surprise O’Brien with the clip. But Rudd gave it a shot on the podcast, and you really have to admire his commitment to this joke.

“I thought it was worth the attempt to just see how it goes on a [podcast,]” Rudd said.

Watch the clip in the player above, and watch Rudd and Hader surprise O’Brien with the clip on the second-to-last-episode of “Conan” below.