The Max travel show proves life after late night : NPR

Conan O’Brien dresses as a Viking in Norway.

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Conan O’Brien dresses as a Viking in Norway.

Conaco/Max

To be honest, when I first heard that Conan O’Brien was ending his TV talk show in 2021, I assumed that the news that he might turn to variety shows and programming online to further his career was a combination of face-saving and wishful thinking.

But after watching the four episodes of his new series Max Conan O’Brien must go, it’s now obvious — even to a stubborn critic like me — that leaving late-night television truly was liberating for O’Brien. He’s parlayed his unique sensibility into several different podcasts, a deal with Sirius he made for the cable channel TBS at the time.

And as the late-night television genre collapses under sagging ratings and the decline of traditional media, O’Brien’s revival also provides an example for the future – where fertile comedic minds and talented performers can spread their work onto a much larger canvas.

Learning a lesson from “Hot Ones”

O’Brien already caused a stir recently with his brilliantly manic appearance on the interview show while eating hot wings. The hot onesdrooling over hot sauces while claiming, while being examined by a fake doctor, that “I’m fine! I’m perfectly fine!”

This is where O’Brien shines – he calls it “this strange phantom intersection between smart and stupid” – and it’s a complete, bizarre, super silly display in every episode of Conan O’Brien must go.

The concept of the show is quite simple. O’Brien travels abroad to visit ordinary people in Norway, Argentina, Thailand and Ireland who had previously Zoomed in to speak to him on the podcast. Conan O’Brien needs a fan. Sometimes the visits seem like a surprise — he catches an aspiring Norwegian rapper in shorts and Crocs after showing up at his door — and others seem a little more planned, including his visit to a radio show with about four listeners at Buenos Aires.

Each episode begins with a solemn monologue that seems to be delivered by the most eccentric voice in the world of cinema, German filmmaker and actor Werner Herzog (he is uncredited in the series and when asked, a publicist for Max shared a quote from O’Brien: “I can neither confirm nor deny the voice in question.”)

“Herzog’s” torturous accent makes every line absurdly hilarious, describing O’Brien as “the defiler… with tiny, dull eyes… the eyes of a crudely painted doll… he searches in countries distant, uninvited, fueled by an inexhaustible thirst for recognition and occasional selfies.

Now that’s smart. And oh so stupid.

A fun mirror version of a travel show

O’Brien performs on stage with a fan in Norway

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O’Brien performs on stage with a fan in Norway

Conaco/Max

O’Brien’s fans Conan Without Borders TBS specials already know what his style is when tackling a travel show — throwing himself into outrageous reactions and situations while working his original brand of impromptu conversations with hapless viewers.

In the Max series Conan O’Brien must go, which includes O’Brien providing shrill vocals on stage during a performance by a Norwegian emo/rap group. Or ask provocative questions of a couples therapist/sex expert. Or getting beaten up in a “fight” with a 10 year old boy in a bar.

It’s all just an excuse for O’Brien to unleash his energetic wit, his taste for silly absurdity, and his ability to make sympathetic – if often confused – strangers laugh. Whether you enjoy this special will depend on what you think of O’Brien’s style, which can seem a bit like the world’s high-class clown doing everything possible to make you smile.

(Rent a family in Norway so they can say goodbye when he boards a SeaCraft? Check. Have local artists paint a mural of O’Brien, a soccer star and of the Pope on the side of a building in Argentina?

But what’s surprising in a broader sense is how O’Brien has transformed his sensibility into a brand of comedy to fuel his work across many different platforms. And, at 60, with over 30 years of experience as a comedy star, he has broken free from the shackles of any genre to shine wherever he wants – whether it’s an episode of The hot ones or a streaming service that sometimes feels like a collision between True Detective And 90 Day Fiancé.

Leave the TV late at night like the night left it

I’m old enough to have started covering television shortly after O’Brien took his first steps out of the shadows of life as a comedy writer – he worked on Saturday Night Live And The simpsons – to succeed David Letterman in 1993 as host of the NBC show Late at night (now hosted by Seth Meyers). At the time, NBC gave O’Brien years to figure out the series, perfecting his smartly serious comedy in a way that would inspire teenage fans of the era like Seth Rogen and Bill Hader.

O’Brien left NBC after a disastrous deal in which the network attempted to have him host its revered late-night show. Tonight’s show and also keeps its former host Jay Leno within the network. He moved to a late-night show on TBS in 2010, but even then there was a sense that his creativity was a bit limited by the format.

The moment he left his TBS show Conan For good, it seemed like O’Brien was already caught in a trend that would hobble other late-night shows — as younger viewers consumed his content online and cable ratings fell.

Today, with a multi-million podcast and digital media company and a growing status as a TV comedy legend always willing to do almost anything for a laugh, O’Brien proves that there is a successful life in beyond late at night.

In particular, if you have the talent to act crazy while leaving no doubt, you are also the smartest person in the room.