What is Conan Obrien?

Conan O'Brien is an American late-night comedian and TV host who ran Late Night on NBC and later Conan on TBS, and became a fan-favorite figure online after his 2010 split from NBC.

Where did Conan Obrien come from?

He started as a Saturday Night Live writer in 1988, wrote for The Simpsons from 1991, and was picked by NBC to host Late Night in April 1993.

What does Conan Obrien mean?

Online, "Conan" usually refers to the host himself and his late-night comedy persona, which Urban Dictionary users summed up as "the funniest guy on Late-night television".

How do you use Conan Obrien?

Fans typically share clips from his shows, reaction shots, and desk bits as GIFs or short videos, drawing on the archive built up across Late Night and Conan.

Is Conan Obrien still popular?

His TBS show Conan ran under a contract extended in 2017 through 2022, and his online following built during the 2010 NBC fallout kept him a recognizable name in internet comedy.

Conan Obrien

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Published August 17, 2026

Conan O'Brien is an American late-night comedian and TV host who ran NBC's Late Night from 1993 to 2009 and TBS's Conan from 2010 through 2022. His public split with NBC over The Tonight Show in early 2010 turned him into an internet-favored figure, sparking fan campaigns and heavy online remixing of his clips.

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Overview

Conan O'Brien is an American comedian and television host known for a long run in late-night talk shows across two networks1. His tall frame, red pompadour, and self-deprecating on-camera style made him a distinct figure in TV comedy, and later a favorite target for internet clip-sharing and remix culture1.

He hosted NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien from September 1993 through 2009, then briefly took over The Tonight Show before moving to TBS's Conan in November 20101. Fans on Urban Dictionary from the era described him simply as "the funniest guy on Late-night television," giving a sense of how he was received online before his 2010 network fallout3.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

NBC television (viral internet spread post-2010)

Creator

Conan O'Brien

Date

1993

O'Brien joined Saturday Night Live as a staff writer in January 1988 after being spotted by Lorne Michaels, then left in 1991 to write and produce for The Simpsons1. In April 1993, NBC picked the largely unknown writer to replace David Letterman on Late Night1.

The pilot of Late Night with Conan O'Brien aired on September 13, 1993, and got rough early reviews, with critics calling the new host "too smart, too East Coast, too sophisticated, too young and even too tall to be successful"1. Ratings climbed slowly over the next decade, reaching around 2.5 million average viewers by 20051.

How It Spread

In 2004, O'Brien signed a contract renewal that lined him up to take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in 20091. When NBC tried to keep both hosts by shifting Leno into a nightly primetime show and moving O'Brien's start time to 12:05 a.m., the plan collapsed and O'Brien walked away from the network in January 20101.

The messy exit turned O'Brien into a rallying point online. In July 2010, he appeared at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre with Patton Oswalt and Andy Richter for a three-hour SF Sketchfest tribute, where he spoke openly about media disruption and said network executives were "scared shitless" of what the internet was doing to old media2. TechCrunch framed the night as an everyman story of the web ripping traditional industries apart2.

On November 8, 2010, TBS launched Conan, which pulled favorable ratings from critics and viewers alike1. In 2017, O'Brien re-upped his TBS contract to keep the show going through 20221.

How to Use This Meme

Conan clips typically circulate as reaction GIFs, YouTube compilations of desk bits and interviews, and short-form edits of his exaggerated facial expressions. The "Team Coco" branding used by his production company is often referenced in fan posts about his late-night work.