Patton Oswalt Has a Very Real Conversation About Deceased Wife on ‘Conan’

Patton Oswalt recently won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, but when he stopped by Conan he couldn’t talk about his Emmy without discussing his deceased wife, Michelle McNamara, who died in her sleep from unknown causes.

Oswalt is open about his grieving process, and his visit with his old friend, Conan O’Brien, was no exception. Oswalt said, “She was the reason that my comedy got better, she got me to the point where someone would consider me for an Emmy.” The comedian added, “I’m happy to have won an Emmy, but it’s very abstract because it’s the flavor of happiness but there’s no calories or nutrition there. It’s like it tastes like happiness but there’s nothing.”

Oswalt now is a single father, which he says is an all too familiar plotline. “I’m like every bad ’80s sitcom where there’s a dad raising a kid by himself and the mom is somehow… Except my ’80s sitcom sucks. There’s no punch lines.” Instead, Oswalt says, “There’s a lot of insomnia, there’s a lot of me eating Cheetos for dinner. I’m waiting for my daughter to turn to the camera and go: No wonder I’m in therapy.”

While the comedian did make the audience laugh throughout his discussion, it was bittersweet because anyone could see that he lost the love of his life.

Conan airs weeknights at 11:00 p.m./10:00 p.m. CT on TBS.

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