Conan O’Brien will end his late-night series “Conan” on TBS next year, but he’s not leaving the WarnerMedia family. He will then launch a new weekly variety series on HBO Max.
“Conan” will end in June of 2021, concluding a 10-year run. There were no further details on the upcoming HBO Max series or when it would premiere. His “Conan Without Borders” travel specials will continue, as soon as it’s safe to travel again. TBS had previously renewed “Conan” through 2022.
“In 1993 Johnny Carson gave me the best advice of my career: ‘As soon as possible, get to a streaming platform.’ 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,” says O’Brien.
O’Brien has been the longest-serving current late-night host (his idol, David Letterman, is the longest-serving host in TV history), spanning back to 1993 when he took over for Letterman as the host of NBC’s “Late Night.” O’Brien would go on to host “Late Night” until 2009, when he then took over for Jay Leno as host of “The Tonight Show.” We all know how that ended up, with O’Brien suffering from poor ratings and Leno’s refusal to cede the spotlight (he hosted his own 10 p.m. nightly show that also did poorly in the ratings), which led to O’Brien quitting after only 9 months when NBC asked him to move “Tonight Show” to air after midnight. After a hiatus of almost a year, O’Brien landed at TBS.
“28 years is a monumental achievement in late-night television,” said Brett Weitz, General Manager for TNT, TBS and truTV. “We’re incredibly proud of the groundbreaking work that Conan and his team have accomplished during the 10 years at TBS and are so glad that we will continue to have his presence on our air with the ‘Conan Without Borders’ specials. We celebrate his success and are glad to see it grow across our WarnerMedia family.”
“Conan’s unique brand of energetic, relatable, and at times, absurdist, comedy has charmed late-night audiences for nearly three decades. We can’t wait to see what he and the rest of Team Coco will dream up for this brand new, variety format each week,” said Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer, HBO and HBO Max.