Why Conan O’Brien—And Every Other Late-Night Host—Will Never Really Retire

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32 comments

  1. In Conan’s case it’s because my man is *needy as fuck* and he’ll be the first to admit it.

  2. Conan, like some crabs are both red and show indeterminate growth and continue to molt throughout their lives.

  3. I’m glad Conan still makes content. He is great at long-form interviews and you can’t showcase that talent with the time constraints of late-night TV.

  4. I think Carson would have done podcasting if that was a thing back then. These days with Hollywood you rarely retire anymore. You just keep going until you can’t anymore

  5. Kimmel will retire in the next few years. Conan has never actually quit, but has just been pushed around into different things. Stewart is back on a limited basis because the stakes are so high. 

  6. Why is Conan the subject here? He’s actually funny and talented. Kimmel would have been a better choice

  7. Jimmy Fallon will never retire because the dread pact he made with Satan to become a star came with the curse of eternal life.

  8. Jon Lovitz continues to perform despite his death reported nearly ten years ago.

  9. Jay Leno bounced, didn’t he? Or is he doing a podcast or something I’m not familiar with?

  10. That said, can we do a wellness check on Craig Ferguson? He worries me. All by himself. No one to flirt with…

  13. > Perhaps the only late-night TV host to most closely follow Carson’s path out the door? Craig Kilborn, who has followed up his runs on The Daily Show (1996-98) and The Late Late Show (1999-2004) with only the most occasional onscreen cameo.

    Kilborn had a syndicated talk show that ran after the local evening news with the girl from Step by Step.

  14. Why is Tilda Swinton the picture lead for this article?

  15. Fight me, but Conan is the funniest late night host of all time.

  20. IMO all the creative jobs are the ones to die in. Everything else seems to kill you a little faster.

    This isn’t building houses or bridges, and it has it’s own awful health challenges, too – but making things kicks ass and it’s one of the huge perks of being alive.

  21. Conan has to be the funniest late host the last decade with team coco.

  23. Conan is a rare example of staying both funny and relevant. Preparation is the name of the game.

  24. He should do a version of Jay Leno’s Garage except it’s shitty old Chevrolet Lumina’s and Pontiac Sunfire’s.

  25. Don’t you dare compare Conan to “every other late-night host”

  28. Conan is unmatched in just how hard he commits to comedy. Total legend

  30. His new max series was great. I’m sad it was only 4 episodes

  31. Tbf Conan is way more versatile than Fallon, Kimmel, and Colbert. Maybe less so Colbert but Conan is at such a different level of creating content than almost every other late night host.

  32. Conan did retire…
    So did leno…. eventually.
    So did letterman
    Turns out they pretty much all did…….

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