Conan O'Brien's Final Guests Revealed Ahead of TBS Series Conclusion

Conan O'Brien will bring live audiences back to Conan for the last two weeks of episodes, TBS and [...]

By Russ Burlingame

Conan O'Brien will bring live audiences back to Conan for the last two weeks of episodes, TBS and Team Coco announced today. The series, which launched in 2010, will conclude with an hour-long special on June 24, ending O'Brien's 28-year career in late night television. In addition to the return of live audiences to the Largo Theatre in Los Angeles, Team Coco also announced the final handful of guests, which include fan-favorites like Mila Kunis and JB Smoove, as well as longtime friends of O'Brien's like comedy legends Martin Short and Dana Carvey. The series launched on November 8, 2010, and stars O'Brien alongside his longtime sidekick, Andy Richter.

Carvey is a particularly notable inclusion, given his ties to O'Brien. Not only did O'Brien meet Carvey during his time as a writer on Saturday Night Live, but Carvey was one of a number of candidates rumored to have been in the running to take over Late Night With David Letterman when its titular star left for CBS. That job ultimately went to O'Brien, but along the way, NBC seriously considered Carvey and the late Garry Shandling, among others.

The final show schedule is as follows:

  • Monday, June 14: Patton Oswalt
  • Tuesday, June 15: Martin Short
  • Wednesday, June 16: JB Smoove
  • Thursday, June 17: Mila Kunis
  • Monday, June 21: Bill Hader
  • Tuesday, June 22: To Be Announced
  • Wednesday, June 23: Dana Carvey
  • Thursday, June 24: Jack Black

This is the first time in O'Brien's 30-year talk show career that he begins a new chapter that isn't surrounded by controversy. When he took over Late Night With Conan O'Brien from the departing David Letterman in 1993, Letterman was moving from NBC to CBS after a lengthy battle with NBC, who passed him over to give The Tonight Show to Jay Leno after the retirement of Johnny Carson. With Leno's retirement, O'Brien got The Tonight Show, but Leno wasn't ready to retire, and instead moved to a 10 p.m. show, which bombed, creating low lead-in ratings for O'Brien. When the series was cancelled, NBC gave Leno The Tonight Show back, citing disappointing ratings from O'Brien and a desire to keep Leno in their stable. O'Brien stepped away from the show, from NBC, and ultimately took on the Conan show at TBS.

Conan airs Monday-Thursday at 11:00pm ET/PT on TBS. The show is produced by Conaco LLC, with Jeff Ross serving as executive producer.

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