Intentionally or not, Conan’s new backdrop looks like it was constructed by a team of Mario level designers, circa 1992. Asked about the homage/coincidence, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime sounded pretty pleased: “That’s great.”
https://gizmodo.com/conans-new-backdrop-sure-looks-familiar-5278719
It was Kotaku who caught up with Reggie, after Seriouslunch made the initial spotting:
https://kotaku.com/nintendo-thinks-conan-obrien-mario-homage-is-great-5279071
We know that he is a fan of what we do, and we’re thrilled to have him as a passionate Nintendo fan. Maybe we’ll have to go play some Wii Sports Resort as well as Super Mario Bros Wii.
Thanks for the free advertising! Now, have some more advertising!
The bonus jokey followup: Will Nintendo be issuing a C&D for NBC’s blatant infringement?
“No. For Conan, we’ll let that one slide.”
[Kotaku]
