In comedy, timing is everything. And the arrival of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” to the Max streaming service on April 18 turned out to be excellent timing.
It’s not because the show debuted on the same day as its host’s birthday (although that fact turns out to be true). It’s also not because the show generates some necessary laughs in these especially tense times (although it does that too).
No, I’m glad “Conan O’Brien Must Go” came out when it did because our Max subscription was just a couple days away from expiring. And that gave me enough time to enjoy the show’s four-episode first season.
My wife and I decided to remove Max from our list of streaming services last fall and have been biding our time ever since until our annual subscription ran out. When we originally signed up for the service, it was to enjoy a vast library of movies and HBO originals, but after an ill-conceived rebrand, we discovered that what we wanted to watch was taking a backseat to reality TV programming which Warner Bros. media conglomerate Discovery insists we watch.
In an ironic twist, “Conan O’Brien Must Go” likely landed on Max because it was more in line with the Discovery Channel content that Max loves to shove down your throat rather than older HBO series that have fallen out of favor. profitable. The key difference is that unlike most of Max’s reality shows, “Conan O’Brien Must Go” is actually entertaining.
‘Conan O’Brien must go’: what you need to know
The premise of the show is very simple: each episode features Conan O’Brien traveling to a new part of the world and immersing himself in the local customs and culture of the country he visits. Think about the remote segments O’Brien used to do on his late-night talk show, particularly the version that aired on TBS from 2010 to 2021. It’s very similar, only the celebrity guests and banter with Andy Richter have given way to 100% Conan O’Brien acting like a fool in a foreign land.
Don’t head into “Conan O’Brien Must Go” expecting to discover something new about the places O’Brien visits. If you want that kind of thing, stick with “Rick Steves’ Europe.” Instead, an episode in which Conan O’Brien visits Argentina reveals that that country has a great passion for soccer and tango, things you probably knew beforehand. Instead, the goal here is to shine a camera on O’Brien and see if he can do something silly.
And it works, precisely because O’Brien isn’t afraid to look silly if it means getting a lot of laughs. If you visited a recreation of a Viking village in Norway, you probably wouldn’t show up in full Viking gear; Conan O’Brien does. Or when you practice with an Argentine soccer team, you may be tempted to make a joke about falling dramatically onto the field, as some soccer players often do. But I highly doubt you’ll include blood capsules, dramatic music, and slow motion in your joke like O’Brien does.
Not every segment lands, but the nice thing about the structure of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” is that you don’t stay in one place for long. Doesn’t Conan’s conversation with a Scandinavian dating expert tickle your funny bone? Well, wait a few minutes until I go out to visit a fish farmer in the far north of Norway.
Helpful if you’ve been a fan of O’Brien since his talk show days. I’m old enough to remember the first episode of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” on NBC, so I’m a fan. But even if you’re not familiar with his previous work, “Conan O’Brien Must Go” is a good introduction to his particular style of comedy. This is a guy who doesn’t mind being the butt of the joke and enjoys having people join in on the fun.
‘Conan O’Brien Must Go’ Perspective
There are only four episodes in this first season of “Conan O’Brien Must Go”: in addition to Norway and Argentina, it makes stops in Thailand and Ireland. That’s an easy amount to pay in one or two nights of viewing, whether the clock is ticking on your Max subscription or not.
There is no indication at this time if there will be a second season of “Conan O’Brien Must Go.” Guessing what Warner Bros. Discovery executives might do from one minute to the next is an exercise in futility. But would another batch of episodes of this travelogue make me reconsider reinstating my Max subscription? Give the green light to the second season of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” and we’ll talk.
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