Conan O’Brien to end nightly talk show, launch HBO Max variety series

Conan O’Brien’s 28-year run as a late night TV host is coming to an end. On Tuesday, WarnerMedia said O’Brien’s nightly talk show, Conan, will wrap up at the end of its 10th season, in June 2021. The host will instead launch a weekly variety series on the company’s HBO Max streaming platform. 

“In 1993 Johnny Carson gave me the best advice of my career: ‘As soon as possible, get to a streaming platform,'” O’Brien said jokingly in a release. “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.”

O’Brien’s travel special, Conan Without Borders, will continue, WarnerMedia said. Episodes of the series, which feature him traveling to countries including Cuba, Armenia and Haiti, are currently available on Netflix and HBO Max.

The TV host has had a varied, if sometimes rocky, career in late night television. He began on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1993 before making the move to The Tonight Show in 2009, where he hosted for less than a year amid disagreements with NBC over the time slot of his show. He then made the move to TBS, where he’s hosted his Conan nightly program since. In 2019, the hour-long show was reduced to a half hour as O’Brien’s Team Coco worked to expand its online and touring efforts.