In January 2008, after his show was put on hold for two months owing to the strike by the Writers Guild of America, he reemerged on late-night TV sporting a beard, which guest Tom Brokaw described as making him look like "a draft dodger from the Civil War." After leaving "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" in 2010, O'Brien again grew a beard, which he kept until May 2011, when it was partially shaved on the set of "Conan" by Will Ferrell (and completely shaved off-screen by a professional barber).