After 28 Years On The Air Conan O'Brien Has Officially Announced His Retirement From Late Night Television
Source - Conan O’Brien is no longer a night owl. The comedian is ending his run as a late-night talk show host after nearly three decades.
O’Brien, 57, announced Tuesday that he’ll finish his TBS series “Conan” at the completion of its 10th season in June 2021. However, he has signed on for a new, weekly variety series on HBO Max. No specific details were released about the upcoming show.
“In 1993, Johnny Carson gave me the best advice of my career: ‘As soon as possible, get to a streaming platform,’ ” the flop-topped redhead joked in a statement released by WarnerMedia. “I’m thrilled that I get to continue doing whatever the hell it is I do on HBO Max, and I look forward to a free subscription.”
“Conan” premiered on TBS in November 2010. He had hosted his namesake NYC-based “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” from 1993 to 2009, when he relocated to Los Angeles to take over hosting NBC’s “The Tonight Show” from Jay Leno. But he lasted for less than a year on the job and handed the reins back to Leno in 2010 following an acrimonious departure from the network.
O’Brien’s popular travel specials, “Conan Without Borders” — which have visited such far-flung locales as Greenland, Korea (including the Joint Security Area, or JSA, separating North and South Korea), Cuba, Ghana and Qatar — will continue on TBS.
“Conan” currently airs at 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday on TBS.
Well that's that. It's the end of an era. The last true late night host is retiring and to be honest I think it's time. Selfishly I'd like to have him on air forever, but you could tell his heart wasn't in it. He was over late night the second he got fucked over by Leno in 2010. He remained funny but the spark was gone. Then once when he went to thirty-minutes four-days per week in 2018, you knew it was only a matter of time until he called it quits. I don't blame him either, the way he was treated by NBC was embarrassing. Part of me wishes he would just ride off into the sunset. I don't want to see him on HBO because I know it won't be the same. If the format is loose and he's able to conversate with guests that'll be one thing, but I feel like it's going to be teleprompter heavy. Hopefully I'm proven wrong.
It's tough to articulate just how influential Conan has been in terms of late night television. He came up under the tutelage of David Letterman for Christ's sake- that's how long he's been in the game. His field pieces are almost as legendary as his interviews and his monologues are second to none. I don't really have any else to say other than thank you, Conan. Thank you for the years of entertainment, thank you for the laughs, and thank you for being your genuinely funny self day in day out. I'm not sure which of his clips to post because there are so many, so I'm going to post one of my favorites. It's him on Letterman immediately after losing the tonight show. An instant classic. Enjoy...