"I don’t know if this counts as an official offer, but I really hope he wants to come back." Disney TV exec

Conan O’Brien is welcome back to host the Oscars anytime, Walt Disney TV’s Rob Mills, exec VP of unscripted and alternative entertainment, told Variety Monday morning. Mills was basking in the high marks that both O’Brien and the overall Oscars ceremony received for a show that aimed to bring back traditional Academy Awards staples, like a lush orchestra, while adding plenty of O’Brien’s signature cheekiness.

“Conan absolutely nailed it,” Mills said. “It was this sense memory of 30 years of not only him in late night, but when he would host the Emmys and all the stuff he’s done. This was almost like Conan’s greatest hits. You had a little bit of everything: An incredibly funny monologue that had the hallmarks of what Conan does: silliness, self-deprecation, jokes that are funny — and then 20 minutes later you realize they’re really funny.”

So will he return? “That’s really up to Conan, but I know we would love to have him back,” Mills said. “I don’t know if this counts as an official offer, but I really hope he wants to come back. It was a joy and a privilege, and probably the only sort of methadone I could have for not being able to do the show with Jimmy Kimmel.”