Conan O’Brien farewells late night TV after 28 years

His show may not have been on Australian television since about 2013, but many readers will doubtless still be interested to learn that Conan O’Brien has bowed out of late night television in the US after 28 years.

O’Brien ended his 11-year run on Conan, which screened on TBS, by opening with a special clip produced by The Simpsons with Homer Simpson conducting an exit interview.

“That gave me goosebumps,” O’Brien said. “That meant the world to me they went to all that trouble.”

O’Brien ended the episode with several thanks.

“First of all, I’m the beneficiary of literally hundreds and hundreds of really talented, amazing people. And then I’m just the nose cone of the rocket. And there’s so many people to thank. Eleven years ago, I made the decision to come to TBS. At the time, people really surprised that I did that. They didn’t think that would be the move. I did it for one reason: a guy named Steve Koonin came to me, and he’s one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met in show business. He’s what the Irish call a mensch. (We take words that we like!) Anyway, he came to me and he said, ‘I will protect you, I will let you and your people do whatever you want. I’ll never interfere and we’ll support you 100%.’ They did that. They did that in every single way. They never went back on their word. They were extraordinary. And lovely,” he said.

Guests included Jack Black, Will Ferrell appeared over Zoom and a roundup of guests over the years Martin Short, Zack Galifianakis, Nicole Byer, Andy Samberg and Lea Delaria.  A “Conan Without Borders” package featured his trips to Cuba, South Korea, Armenia, Israel, Australia, Mexico, Ghana, Germany, Japan, Greenland and Italy.

He also thanked TBS execs, executive producer Jeff Ross, and announcer Andy Richter.

He noted, “I started as a comedy writer, so I always took it as a point of pride. I always wanted to have the very best comedy writers and I did. Starting in 1993 until now. I cannot express how brilliant these people are. And I don’t often know that writers are appreciated as much as they should be. I know that there are awards for them, but they’re behind the scenes. You have no idea the courage of many of my writers. The ingenuity, the beauty of their minds, how they work, and they’re also really good people. I’ve been blessed with the best writing in television, in my opinion for 28 years..”

O’Brien, who previously hosted Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, has a new weekly variety show lined up for HBO Max next year.

Source: Variety