After nearly three decades of keeping people entertained way past their bedtime, Conan O’Brien ended his run as one of the greatest late night talk show hosts of his time and concluded his self-titled TBS series on June 24, 2021. His momentous exit came with the promise that he would return to television in the form of a Max original TV show that would go untitled and under wraps for years, keeping his biggest fans in eager anticipation. Now, we finally know what the comedian has in store following the formal announcement of Conan O’Brien Must Go.
A few questions that still remain regarding this new project include: what kind of program will this be exactly, will it be funny, and is there anything else that we can expect one of America’s favorite redheads to appear in in the near future? We answer those questions and more in our following guide to everything fans should know about Conan O’Brien Must Go.
What Is The Conan O'Brien Must Go Premiere Date?
Conan O’Brien Must Go is set to premiere on April 18, 2024, when it will be available to stream with a Max subscription. The date was announced months after we learned the title and premise of the the comedian's new program and even longer since he ended his 28 years in late night television.
The Docuseries Follows The Talk Show Host Around The World
A title as self-effacing as Conan O’Brien Must Go is perfectly on brand for the host’s self-mocking style of comedy. It also sounds like a reference to the 2011 documentary, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, which followed him on a cross-country tour performing comedy after his disastrously short-lived stint on The Tonight Show that led him to cut ties with NBC and burdened his relationship with Jay Leno. However, the title has a deeper, more international meaning.
According to a press release from Warner Bros. Discovery, Conan O’Brien Must Go is a documentary series that will follow the comedian traveling the globe, bringing his signature humor to a different country in each of its four episodes. The show appears to also be an extension of his Emmy-winning, acclaimed travel show, Conan Without Borders, which itself was an extension of his talk show on TBS. However, its roots are actually based in O’Brien’s most popular, ongoing endeavor as of late.
The Show Is A Loose Spin-Off From His Podcast
In 2018, O’Brien launched his career as a podcast host with Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend — an audio interview series comically framed as a ruse to get famous people, such as Harrison Ford, to talk to him. Eventually, he and his co-hosts — his longtime assistant, Sona Movsesian, and producer and podcasting veteran, Matt Gourley — introduced side episodes called Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan, which invited non-celebrities who admire the comedian to speak with him, with some calling in from overseas. The new series is now giving those international guests the chance to meet him face-to-face.
In addition to experiencing new locations and diverse cultures from around the world, the conceit of the docuseries is watching O’Brien reconnect with some the foreign friends he has made through his podcast. As they act as the comedian’s unofficial tour guide to their home country’s most essential sights and customs, he will also continue to build on his acquaintanceship with them, learning more about each on a more personal level.
The Trailers See Conan Commit International Tomfoolery
Any fans of the aforementioned Conan Without Borders — streaming on Max now — know that O’Brien goes deep in his attempts to immerse himself in the culture of his tourism spots. Such will also to be the case for Conan O'Brien Must Go, as evident by the latest trailer, which begins with narration from Werner Herzog and also confirms that O'Brien's associate producer, Jordan Schlansky, is coming along for the ride. Check out the full clip below:
The first teaser for Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend also saw the comedian make a more epic entrance of “Conan the Red,” before showing him surprising some his previous Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan guests — such as Norwegian rap artist, Ola — and experiencing Thailand's intensely spicy street food. The hilarity only grows as the montage of clips grow more extravagantly bizarre, making us glad that he settled on a series that shows him out-and-about — the source of some of his best material — instead of another variety show like we anticipated for his return on Max.
Conan O'Brien Is Also An Executive Producer
As has been the case with most of his projects in the last several years, O’Brien is also executive producing the docuseries. He is doing so with his production company, Conaco, which has also backed his previous talk shows, one of the best stand-up specials on Max (Moses Storm: Trash White), the Adult Swim original action-comedy, Eagleheart, and a couple of scripted sci-fi comedies for TBS — namely the live-action, prematurely cancelled People of Earth, and the animated Final Space.
Also receiving an executive producer credit for the travel series is Jeff Ross (not to be confused with comedian Jeff Ross, who has poked fun at celebrities as “Roast Master General” for years). The Emmy winner (for producing Conan Without Borders) has had a working relationship with O’Brien since his days hosting Late Night on NBC, as the pair recalled on a special episode of Inside Conan — another Team Coco-powered podcast.
Other Recent Conan O’Brien Projects
For those who cannot get enough of the witty redhead, Must Go is not the only project of his to look forward to or check out now. Following his many hilarious cameos in movies and TV shows over the years, he appeared in Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, which was written by and starring the eponymous trio of Saturday Night Live writers. The film became available to stream exclusively with a Peacock subscription in November 2023.
According to Carmel Monthly Magazine, the Harvard history graduate was interviewed by young filmmaker Ashton Gleckman for his upcoming docuseries about a president O’Brien has imitated many a time on his show: John F. Kennedy. He was also a talking head in director Rob Reiner’s Max exclusive documentary, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, which profiles the life and career of the Academy Award-nominated comedian and filmmaker known for Finding Nemo and Drive and is now available on Max. In the meantime, while fans wait for these titles to come out, they can expect new episodes of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend or any of the other podcasts he produces on a semiweekly basis.
As someone who has admired the once-reigning King of Late Night for years, Conan O’Brien Must Go cannot arrive anytime soon enough, as far as I am concerned.
