Team Coco on the Go-Go: Conan Moving from TBS to HBO Max
Late night’s longest-lived host is packing in his nightly gig, but he’s not really going away.
Conan O’Brien, who has hosted a late night talk show since he took over Late Night from the departing David Letterman in 1993, will wrap Conan, his TBS talk-fest in 2021.
Conan’s new gig is a weekly variety show which will premiere on HBO Max, which is owned by Warner Media (as is TBS.) The show is set to launch in 2021.
“In 1993 Johnny Carson gave me the best advice of my career: ‘As soon as possible, get to a streaming platform,'” O’Brien said in a statement. “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.”
Following Late Night, O’Brien was named as the host of The Tonight Show, but that reign was as troubled as it was short-lived, and O’Brien was soon replaced by the host he replaced, Jay Leno.
After The Tonight Show, O’Brien launched Conan on TBS, and has been there nightly since 2010, though the show was downgraded to a half-hour long production last year.
Conan will continue to do the travel field pieces called “Conan Without Borders,” according to Warner Media, even after his show concludes. O’Brien will also continue his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.
Team Coco, his Emmy-winning production team will produce the new HBO Max weekly show. has already collaborated with the streamer, making four stand-up specials featuring comedians like Chris Redd and Moses Storm.
No date has been set for the launch, and no information about the show’s content was released, but obviously Warner is looking forward to working with O’Brien.
“Conan’s unique brand of energetic, relatable, and at times, absurdist, comedy has charmed late-night audiences for nearly three decades,” Casey Bloys, the chief content officer for HBO and HBO Max, said in a statement. “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.”