Conan O’Brien’s new international travel series Conan O’Brien Must Go will premiere on Max on Thursday, April 18, the comedian, podcaster and longtime late-night host unveiled today at SXSW. All four episodes will be available to stream.
Max and Conan announced the show last spring. “My fans around the globe never asked me to visit them, so I did,” the Emmy-winner quipped at the time.
It follows Conan as he travels far and wide, setting himself down in Norway, Thailand, Argentina and Ireland, to meet some of the people he had previously interviewed for his podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan — a spin-off of the popular podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.
Some trailers and teasers of the global goofiness have emerged but today’s session “fireside chat” in a packed ballroom at the Austin Convention Center, rolled out “never before seen” footage — of him skewering stale food in the kitchen of a Norwegian rapper, kissing a python at a market in Thailand, and presenting an Argentinian Larry David-lookalike for a young woman there who has a crush on the Curb Your Enthusiasm star. He already knowns the people he visits from conversations with them on his podcast.
“I’m a connection junkie,” he said in a Q&A with Nick Kroll. “I like to get my fix.”
The show marks O’Brien’s return to the small screen since his TBS late-night show Conan ended its run in 2021. The former host of Late Night With Conan O’Brien and The Late Show With Conan O’Brien has a 28-year run in late night, one of the longest.
Conan O’Brien Must Go is produced by Conaco with executive producers O’Brien and Jeff Ross.
Asked about the possibility of additional episodes, he said: “We have a backlog of fans we want to get to. We made these four, then we’ll see … There are some hilarious people around the world that I’ve talked to.”
“I have a sense our country may sometimes be seen as not caring about the rest of the world. We can be seen like we just want to take care of America. I like going places where my status is low, people are free to make fun of me. I can feel silly. I like to go to other countries and be a little bit aware, a little bit uncomfortable. with my surrounding … Seeing what I can do, if I can make people laugh.” He called it “comic diplomacy.”
Status is a big thing in comedy and I like tot be in the lower status, and I am comfortable there … [They’re] making fun of me, and I kind of deflate in a comic way, and that’s where I’m comfortable.”
On his seque from late night television, he said: “I did it for about 28 years and realized that um, ok, I did this, and I really love doing the podcasts, I have a lot of passion for that, and I love doing the travel. And we don’t know how much time we get in life and I really want tot double down on the things I’m passionate about.”
