Conan O’Brien began his basic cable era 14 years ago today.
The series premiere of TBS’ Conan on November 8, 2010 marked a new act for O’Brien, who famously chose to step away from his short-lived gig at The Tonight Show after NBC execs proposed moving the venerable late-night franchise past midnight to accomodate a new half-hour show starring Jay Leno.
O’Brien had announced his TBS deal that April as he kicked off his “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.” The comedy tour’s name derived from the fact that he was contractually obligated to not appear on TV for seven months following his January departure from The Tonight Show.
O’Brien brought most his Tonight Show team with him to TBS, including his sidekick, Andy Richter, and most of his house band, with Jimmy Vivino moving up to the bandleader position vacated by Max Weinberg.
The first Conan episode opened with a four-minute spoof of O’Brien’s experience with NBC earlier that year. After refusing to move The Tonight Show to a later time slot, he survives a Sonny Corleone-esque assassination attempt after which he is told he will “never work in network television again.”
As he struggles to find a steady job, he contemplates jumping off a bridge, at which point he is visited by his guardian angel (Larry King), who says, “I have two words for you: basic cable.” He then closes a deal in the TBS offices before contentedly stepping outside and being riddled with more bullet holes.
Before welcoming guests Seth Rogen, Lea Michele and Jack White, a bearded O’Brien delivered a seven-minute monologue that was preceded by nearly 90 seconds of thunderous applause, prompting the host to quip, “That lasted longer than my last job.”
“Thank you and welcome to my second annual first show,” he continued. “The truth is, ladies and gentlemen, I have dreamed of being a talk show host on basic cable ever since I was 46.”
He then took a dig at his old network, saying, “I’ve got to be honest… It’s not easy doing a late night show on a channel without a lot of money that viewers have trouble finding. So, that’s why I left NBC.”
“The weird thing is,” he added, “I put myself and my staff through this crazy, huge ordeal all because I refused to go on at midnight… And then I get this job at 11:00… Then, yesterday, Daylight Saving Time ended. Right now, it’s basically midnight!”
Conan ultimately ran for 11 seasons, with O’Brien ending his 28-year career in late-night in June 2021.
He’s since been mostly focused on podcasting. In 2022, Sirius XM bought his podcast network for $150 million and signed O’Brien himself to a five-year contract. His flagship podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend is said to command upwards of 9 million downloads a month.
O’Brien also hosts the Max travel series Conan O’Brien Must Go, which premiered earlier this year and was nominated for two Emmys (including Outstanding Writing For A Nonfiction Program, which it won). The show is currently in production on a six-episode second season.
