When Conan O’Brien hangs up his late-night mic on Thursday, he will arguably be the last of a dying breed of TV hosts who stayed as far away as he could from political commentary.
“I’m very grateful that we had the opportunity to start that show at a time where that kind of silliness was still something that — it needed to be nurtured and needed to find its audience — but there was still a place for it,” Robert Smigel, a longtime friend and collaborator, told TheWrap.
O’Brien is leaving a space that looks markedly different than when he was first tapped to replace David Letterman as host of NBC’s “Late Night” in 1993, one that demands hosts to have an opinion on the day’s news.