Conan O’Brien hasn’t been hosting a late night show for a while. However, as the landscape changes due to things like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ending on the 2026 TV schedule, I can’t help but wonder how O’Brien feels about it all. Specifically, I was curious if he misses having his show. Well, it turns out he really doesn’t. However, there is one element of late night he does miss.
O’Brien was a late-night staple for almost 30 years. He started with Late Night with Conan O’Brien from 1993 to 2009, he had a brief stint on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien from 2009 to 2010, and he led Conan from 2010 to 2021. Considering he worked on a talk show for decades, it’s hard not to wonder if he misses it sometimes. Page Six asked him that, and here’s what he had to say:
I loved doing late night, I absolutely loved every second of it, and I did it for close to 30 years. But I’ve been so happy doing all these other things. Late night keeps you in that seat night after night after night, and I got to a certain point where I just wanted to go out and try other things, which has been a joy. So, I loved it to death, but no, I don’t really miss it.
Hosting a late night talk show is definitely not easy. Hosting three over the course of nearly three decades probably took a toll. It always seemed like O’Brien was having fun while doing his shows, and it’s nice to know he genuinely loved working on them. However, it makes perfect sense that he wanted to move on. Plus, in the years since, he’s been thriving with other projects.
Latest Videos FromCinemablend
I mean, O’Brien just starred in Toy Story 5, he has his own podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and a show called Conan O’Brien Must Go. Oh, and he hosted the Oscars. He’s been busy, and he’s loved it too.
However, there is an aspect of late-night he misses:
The only thing I miss is I had the greatest band in the world, and I really miss having a band every day playing amazing music. That was a treat, and I miss it dearly.
Jimmy Vivino and The Basic Cable Band was Conan’s house band from 2010 to 2018, until the show switched from an hour to a half-hour format. Before Vivino took over as bandleader for Conan, E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg led the ensemble, which was originally called Max Weinberg 7 in 1993 on Late Night. The band’s name changed to Max Weinberg & The Tonight Show Band during The Tonight Show. In 2020, O’Brien reunited with The Basic Cable Band to raise money for the Get Together Foundation, and it sounds like he’s still close with them.
It’s common for late-night hosts to be tight with their bands. You can see how close Jimmy Fallon and The Roots are. They’ve even played Family Feud together. Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel paid an emotional tribute to his show’s bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III, following his death at age 59 in 2025. The two had known each other since they were kids, and Kimmel took some time off from his late-night talk show for “personal reasons” afterward.
So O’Brien being close with his band and it being the only thing he misses about late-night makes a whole lot of sense. I, for one, miss it all when it comes to O’Brien on late-night.
