What could have been: Creator rejected a Conan O’Brien episode set entirely in Minecraft

By Will Fulton January 29, 2015

mojang shot conan minecraft episode hes not happy — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Conan O’Brien wanted to do an entire episode of his talk show animated in the style of Minecraft, but developer Mojang wasn’t having it and rejected the idea. He gave the audience a little taste of what that might look like in a bit on his show, likely in an attempt to rally fan support for the idea.

Exactly why Mojang demurred from a Minecraft Conan episode is unclear. Conan says that the developer initially said yes to the idea, but then got cold feet. He points out that the wealth of fan-made machinima content made in the game, which the developer has at least tacitly encouraged, seems to contradict the Swedish studio’s desire to quash the episode.

Conan then goes on to demonstrate a little taste of what could have been, replicating his set within the game with a blocky Conan, Andy Richter, and Cameron Diaz hopping around in it. He then shows the fun that they could have with different locations, hopping between a pirate ship, a castle, and a fiery cave.

Conan previously spoofed the indie classic in a sketch about Microsoft’s acquisition of Mojang. He also expressed his curmudgeonly confusion at the game in one of his Clueless Gamer reviews. If a Minecraft episode of Conan O’Brien sounds like the kind of thing you would like to see, take to Reddit or whatever your favored trolling grounds are and start making a stink — maybe Mojang will have a change of heart once the legions of Team Coco fans make their disappointment known.

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Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

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