Conan Without Borders

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Conan Without Borders
GenreComedy
Travel show
Created byConan O'Brien
Presented byConan O'Brien
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producersConan O'Brien
Jeff Ross
Producers
  • Mike Sweeney
  • Aaron Bleyaert
  • Ruthie Wyatt
Running time60 minutes
Production companyTeam Coco/Conaco
Original release
NetworkTBS
Related

Conan Without Borders is an American travel show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired on TBS in the United States as a series of specials on O'Brien's talk show Conan. The series began in February 2015 and included thirteen episodes when the series ceased production due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and the subsequent ending of Conan. A follow-up series, titled Conan O'Brien Must Go, was announced in May 2023, and has been released on Max.[1]

The episodes do not follow the traditional talk-show format of Conan, instead following O'Brien as he travels outside of the US and attempts to engage the locals and experience the unique cultural aspects of the area.

Background[edit]

O'Brien has a long history of featuring segments that occurred outside the traditional studio environment, dubbed "remotes", ever since his first late-night show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[2] They became some of his best-received segments, including a famous remote when O'Brien visited a historic, Civil War-era baseball league.[3] The piece was one of O'Brien's personal favorites, later remarking, "When I leave this earth, at the funeral, just show this, because this pretty much says who I'm all about."[4]

A medium shot of Conan O'Brien smiling at the camera
O'Brien at the US Embassy in Helsinki in 2006

The apotheosis of the Late Night remotes centered on the realization, in 2006, that O'Brien bore a striking resemblance to Tarja Halonen, entering her second term as president of Finland. Capitalizing on the resemblance and on the 2006 Finnish presidential election, O'Brien and Late Night aired mock political ads both in support of Halonen and against her main opponent, which influenced popular perception of the race,[5] and traveled to Finland shortly after the election.[6] "We took the show to Helsinki for five days," O'Brien recalled, "where we were embraced like a national treasure."[3][7] As part of the five-day trip, which was released as a one-hour special episode of Late Night, O'Brien met with Halonen at the Finnish Presidential Palace.[8]

History[edit]

O'Brien began hosting the show Conan on TBS in 2010. The first international travel special on the show was in February 2015. Following the onset of the Cuban thaw, O'Brien became the first American television personality to film in Cuba for more than half a century.[9] A few months later, O'Brien visited Armenia in an episode that featured his assistant Sona Movsesian, who is Armenian American.[10][11][12][13] While visiting, Conan guest-starred as a gangster on an Armenian soap opera.[14]

In April 2016, O'Brien visited South Korea in response to a fan letter urging him to visit, as well as a growing fan base online. His visit included a trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone, which resulted in O'Brien and Steven Yeun also visiting North Korea on a technicality by stepping across the border line at the DMZ. Conan commented on the significance during the sketch, claiming, "The idea that you and I could be in North Korea, talking and communicating freely, seems like kind of a cool message."[15][16] These and subsequent hour-long international travel specials were branded Conan Without Borders and became part of their own series. Conan eventually travelled to thirteen countries in total.[17][18][19]

In April 2017, O'Brien visited Mexico for "Conan Without Borders: Made in Mexico". The episode featured some of the traditional features of his talk show, including an opening monologue, which he delivered in Spanish, and had an entirely Mexican staff, crew, audience, and guests.[20][21]

The series' final episode before the onset of travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic aired in September 2019, and Conan ended in June 2021.[22] O'Brien traveled to thirteen countries in total.[17] In August 2021, O'Brien stated he was interested in continuing Conan Without Borders in some capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic, with TBS stating in 2020 that the specials would continue to air on their channel.[23][22][24]

The international shows became available on Netflix[25] before moving to HBO Max.[26]

On May 17, 2023, it was announced that a four-episode international travel series titled Conan O'Brien Must Go was in production, to be released on Max. The series will feature O'Brien meeting various fans in person whom he had previously featured via video calls in his podcast series Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan.[27]

Reception[edit]

The series became some of O'Brien's most popular work, winning an Emmy in 2018 and being nominated in 2019.[28][29][17] The first episode in the series, "Conan in Cuba", was watched by around 1.81 million people according to Nielsen ratings, up from Conan's typical average of 642,000.[11][30]

In a 2017 review by Daniel Fienberg for The Hollywood Reporter, he stated "Conan’s global adventures have become his TBS show's greatest piece of differentiation from the dozen other shows in the late night and talk show space."[20]

O'Brien himself reflected in an interview with Stephen Colbert in 2017 that the show helped him fulfill his "greatest joy" in "trying to make people laugh that don't even speak English, don't know who I am. [...] It's a little bit of sort of diplomacy through comedy. I like to show that Americans are curious, we're humbled. We're okay to look ridiculous. It's okay if you laugh at us."[31]

O'Brien received some criticism for visiting Israel in the series, especially by supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and also by progressives within Israel itself,[32] who viewed it as a piece of hasbara, diplomacy which attempts to improve foreign perceptions of Israel and dissuade views of Israel as an apartheid state.[33][34][32] O'Brien discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the episode, which he described as "incredibly complex and polarizing".[34]

Episodes[edit]

O'Brien at Al Udeid Air Base during "Conan in Qatar"
No.TitleGuest(s)DestinationOriginal air date
1"Conan in Cuba"---CubaMarch 14, 2015 (2015-03-14)
With relations between the United States and Cuba improving, O'Brien and a film crew went to Havana for four days around the weekend of February 14–15[35][36] to tape segments for an episode. Conan visited a cigar factory and learned the rumba.[37] The episode marks the first time an American late-night talk show has filmed in Cuba since Jack Paar interviewed Fidel Castro on The Tonight Show in 1959.[38]
2"Conan in Armenia"Sona MovsesianArmeniaNovember 17, 2015 (2015-11-17)
The episode centered around taking his long-time assistant Sona Movsesian back to her ancestral homeland of Armenia to connect with her heritage.[39]
3"Conan in Qatar"Michelle ObamaQatarJanuary 25, 2016 (2016-01-25)
Conan traveled to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar with First Lady Michelle Obama.[40][41] The episode's alternative title was Mission Conan.
4"Conan Does Korea"Steven YeunSouth Korea
North Korea		April 9, 2016 (2016-04-09)
Conan traveled to South Korea along with Steven Yeun; the visit also included a trip to the Korean DMZ, technically resulting in an additional trip by crossing the border into North Korea.[42][43]
5"Conan in Berlin"Flula BorgGermanyDecember 7, 2016 (2016-12-07)
Conan traveled to Berlin, Germany along with Bavarian comedian Flula Borg.[44]
6"Conan Without Borders: Made in Mexico"Diego Luna, Vicente Fox, and Sofia Niño De RiveraMexicoMarch 1, 2017 (2017-03-01)
The visit was made in response to the actions and effort made by President Donald Trump to build a wall across the southern border. Guests included Diego Luna and Vicente Fox, and stand-up performance from Sofia Niño De Rivera.[45]
7"Conan Without Borders: Israel"Lior Raz and Gal GadotIsraelSeptember 19, 2017 (2017-09-19)
The visit was made in response to Trump associate Jared Kushner's attempts to further the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.[46] Within the same episode, he also crossed the Wall and visited Palestine, where he talked to pro-Palestinian activists.[47]
8"Conan Without Borders: Haiti"---HaitiJanuary 27, 2018 (2018-01-27)
Conan visited the island nation in response to President Donald Trump's alleged description of the country and parts of Africa as "shithole countries".[48]
9"Conan in Italy"Jordan SchlanskyItalyApril 11, 2018 (2018-04-11)
Conan and producer Jordan Schlansky visit Italy, with Conan hoping to expose Schlansky as a fraud.[49][50]
10"Conan in Japan"---JapanNovember 28, 2018 (2018-11-28)
After finding out that the Japanese town of Hokuei, Tottori is also well known as "Conan-Town" (named for the popular anime/manga character Conan Edogawa, whose creator, Gosho Aoyama, is a Hokuei native), Conan makes a visit to the country.[51][52]
11"Conan Without Borders: Australia"Steen Raskopoulos, Becky Lucas and Rhys NicholsonAustraliaApril 17, 2019 (2019-04-17)
Conan traveled to Australia in response to a video sent by Hugh Jackman in which he points out that Conan had not gone to his country yet.[53]
12"Conan Without Borders: Greenland"---GreenlandSeptember 3, 2019 (2019-09-03)
When President Donald Trump announced his plans to buy Greenland, Conan decided to travel to the country to secure the purchase.[54][55]
13"Conan Without Borders: Ghana"Sam RichardsonGhanaNovember 7, 2019 (2019-11-07)
Along with Sam Richardson, O'Brien visited following an invitation from the U.S. Ghanaian Embassy to visit the country during "The Year of Return", an initiative to bring awareness to African-American heritage, marked by the 400th anniversary of the African slave trade.[56][57][58][59]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Schneider, Michael (17 May 2023). "'Conan O'Brien Must Go' International Travel Series Ordered by Max". Variety. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  2. ^ Allen, Samantha (April 21, 2015). "The Lost Art of the Late-Night Remote". Paste. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Hirschberg, Lynn (May 20, 2009). "Heeeere's . . . Conan!!!". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 19, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  4. ^ Greene, Steve (April 16, 2019). "Conan's 'Old-Time Baseball' Is the Highlight of Team Coco's Growing Archive Project". IndieWire. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  5. ^ Ritter, Karl (January 14, 2006). "Conan O'Brien's mock endorsement of Finnish president is no joke to her opponents". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  6. ^ Lemola, Johanna (February 13, 2006). "A Trip to Conelandia, Also Known as Finland". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  7. ^ Barish, Mike (January 26, 2010). "5 places Conan should go on vacation". CNN. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
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  9. ^ France, Lisa Respers (February 16, 2015). "Conan O'Brien Takes Show to Cuba". CNN. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
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  11. ^ a b Aslanian, Karlen (15 October 2015). "Late night with Conan O'Brien... in Armenia". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  12. ^ Horn, John (19 November 2015). "Conan O'Brien on Bringing Conan to Armenia, Meeting Syrian Refugees, and Peaking in His 23rd Season". Vulture. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  13. ^ Snierson, Dan (October 12, 2015). "Conan O'Brien is taking his late-night talk show to Armenia". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
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  15. ^ Lee, Jenny (June 25, 2021). "Thank You, Conan O'Brien, for Making Us Laugh Around the World". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  16. ^ Epstein, Adam (April 11, 2016). "Watch American diplomat Conan O'Brien host a talk show on the North Korean side of the DMZ". Quartz. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  17. ^ a b c Goldstein, Ian (8 November 2019). "Every Conan Without Borders International Special, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  18. ^ Deggans, Eric (June 24, 2021). "After 28 Quirky Years, Conan O'Brien Is Leaving Late Night". NPR. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  19. ^ Schneider, Michael (4 May 2021). "Conan O'Brien Announces June Finale Date for His TBS Talk Show". Variety. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  20. ^ a b Fienberg, Daniel (1 March 2017). "'Conan Without Borders: Made in Mexico': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Conan goes to Mexico City for more 'Conan Without Borders'". Chicago Tribune. 27 January 2017. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  22. ^ a b Shanfeld, Ethan (10 August 2021). "Conan O'Brien Says He's Far From Retirement, Teases New 'Conan Without Borders'". Variety. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  23. ^ Otterson, Joe (17 November 2020). "Conan O'Brien to End TBS Late-Night Show in 2021, Sets Weekly HBO Max Variety Series". Variety. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  24. ^ White, Peter (21 October 2021). "Conan O'Brien Talks HBO Max Series & 'Conan' Finale As 'Inside Conan' Podcast Rebooted For Season 3". Deadline. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  25. ^ "10 travel shows on Netflix that offer a virtual escape". USA Today. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  26. ^ Tedder, Michael (20 December 2021). "CNN And HBO Have Very Public Breakup Over Streaming War". TheStreet. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  27. ^ Schneider, Michael (May 17, 2023). "Conan O'Brien Must Go' International Travel Series Ordered by Max". Variety.com. Variety. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  28. ^ "CONAN Without Borders". Television Academy. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  29. ^ Hipes, Patrick (18 December 2018). "TBS' Revamped 'Conan' Gets A Premiere Date". Deadline. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  30. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (5 March 2015). "'Conan In Cuba' Clocks 2 Million Viewers On Opening Night – Update". Deadline. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  31. ^ Perez, Lexy (17 April 2019). "A Look Back at Conan O'Brien's Most Memorable Travel Moments". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  32. ^ a b Culture, Ryan Smith Senior Pop; Reporter, Entertainment (2023-11-17). "Celebrities' Israel visits have long been criticized". Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  33. ^ "In Israel, Conan O'Brien Became a Patsy for Netanyahu's Propaganda". Haaretz. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  34. ^ a b Awad, Amal (2017-09-27). "Conan O'Brien and his fantastic marketing campaign for Israel". www.newarab.com/. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  35. ^ Conan O'Brien [@ConanOBrien] (February 17, 2015). "1/2: I just spent the last four days shooting my show all around the city of Havana. I made countless friends and had one of the best" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  36. ^ O'Brien, Conan (host); Nealon, Kevin (March 16, 2015). Full Episode – Mon. 3/16 – Kevin Nealon, Maia Mitchell, And Musical Guest Tobias Jesso Jr. Conan. Event occurs at 20:40. TBS. Archived from the original on March 20, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2015. [O'Brien:] That was the weekend that I was shooting our Cuba show, but...there was an amazing SNL 40th....
  37. ^ "Watch Conan O'Brien Improve Diplomatic Relations With Cuba". Time. Archived from the original on March 5, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  38. ^ "Conan O'Brien Just Filmed an Episode in Cuba". Time. February 15, 2015. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  39. ^ "Conan Armenia". TeamCoco. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  40. ^ Kreps, Daniel (4 February 2016). "Watch Conan O'Brien Perform 'Seven Nation Army' for Troops". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  41. ^ "Mission Conan". TeamCoco. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  42. ^ "Conan O'Brien travels to South Korea with 'Walking Dead' star Steven Yeun". Chicago Tribune. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  43. ^ Jung, E. Alex (19 February 2016). "Conan O'Brien Made a Cameo on a Korean Romantic Drama Like Some Tall, Magical Cupid". Vulture. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  44. ^ Mandell, Andrea (5 December 2016). "Conan O'Brien takes Berlin in new special". USA Today. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  45. ^ "Conan Announces "Conan Without Borders: Made In Mexico"". TeamCoco. Archived from the original on January 27, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  46. ^ "Conan Announces "Conan Without Borders: Israel" – CONAN on TBS". Team Coco. 16 August 2017. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017 – via YouTube.
  47. ^ Butler, Bethonie. "How Conan's Israel episode confronted the country's 'polarizing' political issues". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  48. ^ Samuels, Brett (January 16, 2018). "Conan to film show in Haiti in response to Trump's 's—hole' comments". The Hill. Retrieved January 16, 2018.[dead link]
  49. ^ Wright, Megh (12 February 2018). "Conan O'Brien Is in Italy Filming His Next 'Conan Without Borders' Special". Vulture. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  50. ^ Chow, Andrew R. (11 April 2018). "What's on TV Wednesday: 'Conan Without Borders' and 'GI Jews'". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  51. ^ "Conan O'Brien announces trip to Japan in negotiation over rural Tottori Prefecture's Conan Town". SoraNews24. August 29, 2018. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  52. ^ Aslanian, Emily (27 November 2018). "Conan O'Brien Says 'Conan Without Borders: Japan' Is 'Humiliating But Hilarious'". TV Insider. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  53. ^ Huff, Lauren (17 April 2019). "Conan O'Brien Survives the Outback and Learns Local Slang in Australia Special". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  54. ^ Altman, Randi (27 February 2020). "Matt Shaw on cutting Conan Without Borders: Ghana and Greenland". PostPerspective. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  55. ^ Legaspi, Althea (4 September 2019). "See Conan Unsurprisingly Find No One Who Supports Sale to U.S. in Greenland". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  56. ^ Beresford, Trilby (7 November 2019). "Conan Travels to Ghana, Comes Face-to-Face With "Fantastical" Conan-Shaped Coffin". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  57. ^ Wright, Megh (June 14, 2019). "Conan to film show in Haiti in response to Trump's 's—hole' comments". Vulture. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  58. ^ Hinds, Julie (7 November 2019). "'Detroiters' star Sam Richardson goes to Ghana for 'Conan Without Borders' special". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  59. ^ Pedersen, Erik (18 June 2019). "Conan O'Brien Heads To Ghana For Primetime 'Conan Without Borders' Special On TBS". Deadline. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
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