Conan O’Brien Must Go Review

Conan O’Brien Must Go Review

Ahead of Conan O’Brien Must Go, Conan O’Brien established himself as one of the most influential hosts in late night for three decades. He was to his generation’s audience as David Letterman was to the previous generation, and Johnny Carson was to the generation before that. What set Conan apart was his willingness to swing big and do things outside of the box of the typical late-night format. Chief among his big swings were his remotes.

The trips outside of the studio, from his journey to Ireland to an outing to an American Girl store to cruising for Tinder matches with Dave Franco, were iconic and still draw millions of views on YouTube. In the later years, with a reformatted show, Conan travelled abroad to countries like Cuba, Greenland and Japan for specials entitled “Conan Without Borders.” Fast-forward to today, where Conan and Team Coco have retooled their format to create a new series for MAX: Conan O’Brien Must Go.

Conan O’Brien Must Go Review

The premise of Conan O’Brien Must Go is fairly simple: Conan, through his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, but even more specifically, the Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan episodes, he speaks to fans from all over the world, inspiring a trip to that fan’s location where Conan travels and interacts with the locals in the silly, self-effacing way that only Conan can do.

Conan famously keeps his projects as family affairs, retaining the bulk of his staff from the late-night days to be able to develop shows like this as well as run the Team Coco production company, consisting of numerous titles. For Conan O’Brien Must Go, his trip is coordinated by a team of his famous writers, including Jessie Gaskell and Mike Sweeney, hosts of Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast, alongside Matt O’Brien (no relation)

Conan O’Brien Must Go starts with a lengthy opening sequence that, while it is repeated each episode, cannot be skipped thanks to the choice of voice talent. The introduction is read by famed director Werner Herzog, whose specific tone sets you up to understand that you are not in for a typical travel show. It is followed up with clips from the podcast, where Conan is joined by his cast, consisting of his assistant, Sona Movsesian and his producer/prolific podcaster, Matt Gourley, where they feature the discussion with the fan that set them on their voyage.

Conan O’Brien Must Go Review

Once Conan and his camera crew set off for their destination, he meets up with that fan in a surprise appearance and spends time with them in their home or place of work. He then proceeds to move on to a number of locations within the country and immerse himself in their culture with a classic, fish out of water-style while often playing the fool. That’s not to say that there aren’t sincere moments within the show, but when you are coming for Conan, you are coming for comedy, and you won’t be disappointed.

In the first four episodes of Conan O’Brien Must Go, Conan travels to Norway, where he interacts with his fan/Nordic Rapper to record a new song as well as bring out his inner-viking. He goes to Argentina, where he discusses wine and food culture with a popular Conan mainstay and learns to tango. Then Thailand, where he joins a popular TV show and dips his toes into their fashion. And finally, Ireland, where he learns about his roots and sings along with some of the country’s most celebrated singers.

“Conan’s energy and the joy he finds in the ridiculous fuels him in Conan O’Brien Must Go, and subsequently his crew…”

Long-time Conan viewers will recognize the basic remote format of his previous late-night shows, only with the ability to stretch out the length of the segments (or make extra stops) thanks to the lack of a TV time slot to which to adhere. While Conan has been off of TV since June of 2021, and with a writer’s strike slowing down the process of producing this show, not to mention the fact that he is now 60 years old, the man has not lost a step.

Conan O’Brien Must Go Review

Conan’s energy and the joy he finds in the ridiculous fuels him in Conan O’Brien Must Go, and subsequently his crew, through what must be gruelling trips around the world to get the content they need to put just one episode together. One addition to the show comes with a little bit of what I am assuming is an increased budget, fleshing out some of their segments with more cinematic production quality without making it feel over-produced, letting the comedy speak for itself.

Conan O’Brien Must Go is every bit as funny as anything you’ve seen Conan do on television, but one thing that I felt was sorely missing in this iteration of seeing him on the road was the lack of a studio audience reaction, which was always a part of his old remotes as they were screened to his audience. It doesn’t make the show less funny in the way that it might for a sitcom, where that laugh, often prompted, is a cue that something humorous occurred.

“Conan O’Brien Must Go is every bit as funny as anything you’ve seen Conan do on television…”

However, I do miss the shared experience of laughing along with other people who are also experiencing the show. I’d suggest to the producers that screening for an audience to obtain laughter could enhance the program, but failing that, try to enjoy the show with some friends or loved ones so you aren’t laughing alone.

Conan O’Brien Must Go Review

The only other gripe I have with the show is that season one is four episodes long. While there is no continuous narrative that a short run like this could hurt, I just want more Conan. The strike looks to be the most likely culprit for a truncated season, and I am sure that more episodes will be coming in the future (Max would be a fool not to order more); my own anticipation for new Conan content left me disappointed that I couldn’t see more.

Conan O’Brien Must Go releases on Max in the US and CraveTV in Canada on April 18. It’s a show that any loyal Conan viewers can’t miss, and any fan of travel shows who has a decent sense of humour needs to check out. O’Brien’s comedic prowess and his personal approach as a presenter make this one of the most fun travel shows in the genre’s existence.