Conan O'Brien Must Go
Genre
CreatorConan O'Brien
Writer
  • Conan O'Brien
  • Matt O'Brien
  • Jessie Gaskell
  • Mike Sweeney
DirectorMike Sweeney
PresenterConan O'Brien
Executive producer
  • Conan O'Brien
  • Jeff Ross
Producer
Num seasons2
Num episodes7
CompanyConaco
LanguageEnglish
NetworkMax / HBO Max
First airedApril 18, 2024
Last airedpresent
Related

Conan O'Brien Must Go is a travel show starring former late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien. The series is a spin-off of his podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend and a successor to his many remotes and the Conan Without Borders travel specials that originally aired as part of his TBS show Conan. Premiering on the streaming service Max in the United States on April 18, 2024, the series features O'Brien meeting various fans in person whom he had previously featured via video calls in his podcast series. In the first season, O'Brien traveled to Norway, Argentina, Thailand, and Ireland. In May 2024, the series was renewed for a second season that premiered on May 8, 2025. In the second season, O'Brien traveled to Spain, New Zealand, and Austria. In March 2025, ahead of the second season's premiere, the series was renewed for a third season. The show has received widespread critical acclaim and received two Emmy Awards.

Background

O'Brien has a long history of featuring segments that occurred outside the traditional studio environment, dubbed "remotes", ever since his first late-night show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[1][2] They became some of his best-received segments, including a famous remote when O'Brien visited a historic, Civil War–era baseball league.[3] The piece was one of O'Brien's personal favorites, later remarking, "When I leave this earth, at the funeral, just show this, because this pretty much says who I'm all about."[4]

The apotheosis of the Late Night remotes centered on the realization, in 2006, that O'Brien bore a striking resemblance to Tarja Halonen, entering her second term as president of Finland. Capitalizing on the resemblance and on the 2006 Finnish presidential election, O'Brien and Late Night aired mock political ads both in support of Halonen and against her main opponent, which influenced popular perception of the race,[5] and traveled to Finland shortly after the election.[6] "We took the show to Helsinki for five days," O'Brien recalled, "where we were embraced like a national treasure."[3][7] As part of the five-day trip, which was released as a one-hour special episode of Late Night, O'Brien met with Halonen at the Finnish Presidential Palace.[8]

O'Brien began hosting the show Conan on TBS in 2010. The first international travel special on the show was in February 2015. Following the onset of the Cuban thaw, O'Brien became the first American television personality to film in Cuba for more than half a century.[9] A few months later, O'Brien visited Armenia in an episode that featured his assistant Sona Movsesian, who is Armenian American.[10][11][12][13] Thirteen specials in total aired before the ending of Conan in 2021. The travel series, collectively referred to as Conan Without Borders, became some of O'Brien's most popular work, winning an Emmy in 2018 and being nominated in 2019.[14][15][16][17]

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend premiered November 18, 2018, when O'Brien's talk show was on hiatus and being retooled from an hour-long format into a half-hour format.[18] The title refers to the podcast's premise that O'Brien is only friends with people who work for him, and the friendly conversations he has with celebrities on his talk show rarely translate to lasting friendships, an issue he is looking to fix.[19][20] In April 2021, O'Brien launched a subseries on the podcast titled Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan, in which he and cohosts Movsesian and Matt Gourley take questions from fans via video calling.[21]

Production and release

In November 2020, it was announced O'Brien would host a weekly variety series for what was then known as HBO Max.[22] O'Brien stated in a 2024 interview that this announcement was a miscommunication, and that he never intended to produce a weekly show or variety show.[1] Conan O'Brien Must Go was announced in May 2023. The show began filming in Norway in March and Thailand in April before production was halted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike which lasted from May to September 2023.[23][24] It was released on Max in the United States on April 18, 2024. The series features O'Brien meeting various fans in person whom he had previously featured via video calls in his podcast series Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan. He travels to Norway, Thailand, Argentina, and Ireland.[25][17][26] The opening of each episode includes an introduction voiced by Werner Herzog.[27][26]

The show is produced by Jason Chillemi, Sarah Federowicz, Aaron Bleyaert, and Jordan Schlansky. It is written and produced by Conan O'Brien, Matt O'Brien, Jessie Gaskell, and Mike Sweeney and executive produced by Conan O'Brien and Jeff Ross through O'Brien's company Conaco.[28][23][29]

On May 15, 2024, the series was renewed for a second season[30] that consists of three episodes and premiered in May 2025.[31] O'Brien traveled to New Zealand, Austria, and Spain for the second season. On March 10, 2025, the series was renewed for a third season.[31]

Reception

The first season received widespread critical acclaim.[30] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Conan O'Brien Must Go has an approval rating of 94% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Less an informative travelogue than a pretense for Conan O'Brien to mug in exotic locales, Must Go is a must watch for fans of the comedian's antic shenanigans."[32] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 77 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[33] Tania Hussain writing for Collider described the show as "what might be the year's most inventive and wildly hilarious series," and that it was "a shame there are only four episodes."[34] Stephen Rodrick writing for Variety gave the show a positive review.[35] In another positive review, Eric Deggans writing for NPR called the show a "funhouse mirror version of a travel show", with Jen Chaney writing for Vulture similarly noting the series "is much more blatant about its interest in riffing on and subverting the tropes of the travel format" than the Conan Without Borders series.[27] In an otherwise positive review from The A.V. Club, Meredith Hobbs Coons noted that, "the vibes can be a bit off at times, and certain scenes seem to drag, as if he's willing with all his might to draw comedy from them", with Variety similarly mentioning that, "some of the stuff goes on a bit long".[35][36]

Many reviewers praised O'Brien's self-deprecating approach to comedy, noting that the choice helped avoid any cultural insensitivity. The episode in Ireland in which O'Brien explores his heritage was especially praised for its profundity and heartwarming qualities.[37][35] At the 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the show won in Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program for the episode "Ireland" and was nominated in Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.[38][39] At the 77th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the show was nominated in the same categories. The episode "Austria" was nominated for "Outstanding Writing For A Nonfiction Program" and the series won in the category "Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series Or Special".[40]

References

  1. ^ O'Connell, Mikey (11 April 2024). "Conan O’Brien’s Excellent Adventure". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  2. ^ Allen, Samantha (April 21, 2015). "The Lost Art of the Late-Night Remote". Paste. Archived December 5, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  3. ^ Hirschberg, Lynn (May 20, 2009). "Heeeere's . . . Conan!!!". The New York Times. Archived March 19, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  4. ^ Greene, Steve (April 16, 2019). "Conan's 'Old-Time Baseball' Is the Highlight of Team Coco's Growing Archive Project". IndieWire. Archived May 19, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  5. ^ Ritter, Karl (January 14, 2006). "Conan O'Brien's mock endorsement of Finnish president is no joke to her opponents". The Seattle Times. Archived May 15, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  6. ^ Lemola, Johanna (February 13, 2006). "A Trip to Conelandia, Also Known as Finland". The New York Times. Archived July 18, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  7. ^ Barish (January 26, 2010). "5 places Conan should go on vacation". CNN. Archived June 15, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
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  9. ^ France, Lisa Respers (February 16, 2015). "Conan O'Brien Takes Show to Cuba". CNN. Archived October 21, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  10. ^ Butler, Bethonie (18 November 2015). "Here's what happened when Conan O'Brien went to Armenia". Washington Post. Archived 7 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  11. ^ Aslanian, Karlen (15 October 2015). "Late night with Conan O'Brien... in Armenia". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  12. ^ Horn, John (19 November 2015). "Conan O'Brien on Bringing Conan to Armenia, Meeting Syrian Refugees, and Peaking in His 23rd Season". Vulture. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  13. ^ Snierson, Dan (October 12, 2015). "Conan O'Brien is taking his late-night talk show to Armenia". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
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  23. ^ Cavanaugh, Patrick (26 April 2024). "How Conan O'Brien Must Go Came to Life on Max". TV Shows. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  24. ^ Swisher, kara (11 September 2023). "Conan O'Brien on Late Night's Decline and Trump's Greatest Crime". Intelligencer. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  25. ^ Schneider, Michael (17 May 2023). "'Conan O'Brien Must Go' International Travel Series Ordered by Max". Variety. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  26. ^ Pandya, Hershal (9 March 2024). "Conan to Be Borderless Again in Conan O’Brien Must Go". Vulture. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  27. ^ Deggans, Eric (18 April 2024). "'Conan O'Brien Must Go' is side-splitting evidence of life beyond late night TV". NPR.org. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  28. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (9 March 2024). "'Conan O'Brien Must Go' Travel Series Gets Max Premiere Date As Comedian Cracks Up SXSW". Deadline. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
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  30. ^ Otterson, James (May 15, 2024). "Conan O'Brien Must Go Renewed for Season 2 at Max". Variety. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  31. ^ White, Peter (March 10, 2025). "Conan O'Brien Must Go Renewed For Season 3 at Max". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  32. ^ "Conan O'Brien Must Go" (tv). conan_obrien_must_go. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  33. ^ "Conan O'Brien Must Go" (tv). conan-obrien-must-go. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  34. ^ Hussain, Tania (12 April 2024). "'Conan O'Brien Must Go' Review: Please Inject More of This Uproariously Funny Show Into Our Veins". Collider. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  35. ^ Rodrick, Stephen (18 April 2024). "'Conan O'Brien Must Go' Is a Keeper: TV Review". Variety. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  36. ^ Coons, Meredith Hobbs Coons (15 April 2024). "Conan O'Brien Must Go review: Max's travel show will delight Coco fans". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  37. ^ Surrey, Miles (18 April 2024). "'Conan O'Brien Must Go' Is the Best Version of Conan". The Ringer. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  38. ^ Cosgrove, Jennifer (10 September 2024). "Conan O'Brien wins Emmy for Ireland episode of travel show featuring Ros na Rún". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  39. ^ "Outstanding Informational Series Or Special Nominees / Winners 2024". Television Academy. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  40. ^ Lewis, McKinley Franklin,Hilary (8 September 2025). "Creative Arts Emmys, Night Two: Full List of Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 September 2025.