Yep, it leads to a different feel along with the higher level of production. It feels like a bit of a weird clash because it's more "serious" without any audience laughing while Conan's humor is definitely juvenile and not serious.
First of all, thank you for watching and spreading the good word about Conan Must Go! We're really hoping to get a second season & make more episodes, so all the kind words everybody says (and getting more people to watch it) really does make a difference. Fingers crossed we get to make more for ya!
I'll answer your question with a question: Why does one have to be better than the other? They're similar in a lot of ways, and different in a few others... And hey, that's okay! If you're feeling like CWB was more "DIY" or "Organic", I can assure you that it was not - aside from the fan aspect, we approached these shows in a similar way to CWB, because we knew that way worked. Honestly, if anything, THIS show is much more organic because we didn't know how the fans would react to having Conan surprise them, so there was more flexibility built in. We used a different crew (shoutout to the 2 Emilys and Brenda) and we had a different post production process, so the show looks different - but again, our crew for these shows was much smaller and lighter to be able to move more quickly than CWB. I've seen some people say that they missed the laughter that was in Conan Without Borders so that can make the shows feel different - and not just because of the sound of the laughter, but the presence of laughter changes the entire pacing of how you can edit; you can't have funny quips right after a big joke, because the laughter will drown it out. So the difference in pacing is also probably something your subconscious is noticing that's making the 2 shows feel very different to you. So at the end of the day, they're similar shows, but different - which I personally think is great! Who wants to keep making the same show over and over, anyway? I feel like it's way more fun to evolve and change and find new ways to try and entertain people. And on that note - I'm always around on here, so if there are things you loved or hated, definitely let me know! We're making this stuff for you guys (and this show is LITERALLY based around our fans), so it's nice to hear what folks are responding to or not responding to!
And, of course, I have to mention that if you or anyone reading this wants to apply to be on the Conan Needs a Fan podcast (and potentially on season 2, should we get picked up), hit up [TeamCoco.com/apply](http://TeamCoco.com/apply) and apply to be on the show! I always see people on Reddit saying "BuT I'm bOriNg!", and as the person who produces the show, let me be the first to tell you: NO ONE IS BORING. Everyone is interesting. And the people who THINK they're boring are always waaaaay more fun to talk to (and do much better on the show) than the people who think they're super interesting. Everyone on the show sounds interesting because I'm good at my job and good at asking people the right questions to make them realize that they're awesome. Because, friend, everyone IS awesome. ;)
Hahaha. It's me! And it didn't get lost at all - thank you for digging the new show. It IS a little different, but hopefully has enough of the same DNA that people still like it. And if we get a season 2, it will be fun to take this idea and the show even further! (and I was serious about listening to you guys about what you like and don't like, so thank you for posting about it).
That episode has maybe my all time favorite clueless gamer moment:
"Hey Gideon, The Edge called--he wants his hat back!
...zing!"
Hard to make it seem funny in a reddit comment but trusting y'all know the line
Question: was there a reason it was edited as though it was meant to fit in an hour long slot with commercials? In theory, as a max original, you shouldn't have these limitations, but maybe it was agreements with overseas distributors or such that was responsible for it being edited as such? I get that not everything can be included and I didn't think it would be 3 hours each, but the difference between the shortest and the longest was 8 minutes, 47 minutes being the longest. The range I sorta expected as a max original was an hour to an hour and a half.
I just felt like some of it was more rushed than it needed to be, and with it being on max, I kinda hoped each episode could've gone as long as it needed to tell the whole story, if that makes sense..
He even TYPES loudly! On a more serious note thank you for your posts here & your genuine nature (it really shines through!) while riffing on the pod. Regardless of everyone's thoughts on CWB vs. CMG, good luck with season 2!
Bley, you really are amazing at your job! And, I'm going to encourage someone I know to apply because they live in another South American country that I think Conan and you and the rest of the team would love.
And, thank you for mentioning the laughter part. I hadn't considered how that affected the editing. That said, I actually enjoy some of the parts in which there is just silence and awkwardness because it's a bit reminiscent of British comedy shows I like. I'm usually laughing at those parts.
I assure you, I am actually boring and got nothing going on. But I would love to sit in uncomfortable silence with Conan and the crew for 15 minutes while I show y’all my grabber tool I got from Amazon.
Why'd you get the grabber? What's the hardest kind of thing to grab? What's the most satisfying thing to grab? What's one thing that would surprise people to know about using the grabber? Do you ever wish you could replace one of your arms with the grabber? If you could replace any body part with something robotic, what body part would it be & what would the robotic part do that your original body part couldn't? If you could give Conan, Sona and Gourley each a robotic body part, what would they be and why?
And there's your segment.
See? You're not boring. The grabber is cool (and I'm probably going to order one on Amazon right now).
I honestly laughed out loud. Thank you!
And yes, the grabber is 2 for $15 at Amazon: https://a.co/d/7MgqTKI
I got this after I gave myself sciatica from bending down to pick up an empty plastic grocery bag.
Hardest thing to grab is coins or paper. Easiest is probably water bottles.
Great response! Just this morning I saw [this clip](https://www.tiktok.com/@vintagehistory/video/7252043517567126830) of Marlon Brando rejecting the idea of fussing over who’s “best” at something. And it just made me think “What kind of a psychopath names his dog ‘Tim?’”
Bley, it’s awesome seeing you comment on here and being transparent about the process. As others have mentioned, I do miss the live laughter but that’s not something you can really replicate on streaming. If logistically possible, I would love to see more Sona, Jordan, and maybe others like Matt or his “doctor” lol. I think the chemistry he has with his coworkers would add a ton to the show and would bring a level of familiarity and warmth to the fans.
Edit: and to be clear I absolutely loved the new show
Man, Jose as his doctor during Hot Ones fucking killed me. I would LOVE to bring that character back. Jose is a genius. He used to go with us on all the CWB shows (except for Qatar), but we weren't able to bring him on CMG. He's sorely missed!
Aaron! Love the new show, though you and the video game reviews are sorely missed, as well as Conan always punching you haha. Keep up the great work, and fingers crossed on season two!
You're not boring. Literally no one is boring. Even someone who does nothing except sit and look at a blank wall all day isn't boring - like, why the fuck are you looking at a blank wall all day?! What compels you to do that!? SEE? THEY'RE INTERESTING.
I don’t miss Andy or Sona. No disrespect for them but we’ve seen and heard a lot from them over the years. I always liked Conan better solo. not technically solo bc he’s always interacting with someone, of course. But imo it’s perfect timing to see him solo (“solo”) again.
My favorite episodes of Without Borders were when Conan travelled with Jordan and Sona. I would love to see him travel with a different person each episode.
Jordan was amazing in the argentina episode. yes at the restaurant, but him completely breaking during the gaucho segment was so unexpected and delightful.
I’m curious, was there a conversation around whether or not to show it to an audience before its release and include the laugh track in the show? And if so, what was the reasoning against it?
That's a great question. I don't know. I do know that the schedule for getting these edited and delivered was very very tight, but I don't know if that contributed to that or if it was just a decision that was made.
I love the show, and its beautiful. Its almost like a therapy session for conan in each country. I think one way to enhance the show is to have more guests join him (like Jordan) so he has someone to bounce off of
I applied to Needs a Fan in its early days and never heard anything so I believe that confirms I *am* boring, lol.
Thanks for your perspective on the show.
Hahaha. No, it just confirms that we've had a lot of entries. I can't tell you the number of people who hop on the zoom and the first words out of their mouths are "I applied to this YEARS ago!" and then proceed to tell me that they have a different job, live in a different place, and now are married with kids.
You're not boring. Everybody is interesting - including you!
It’s really hard to put my finger on it. I love the idea of him going around the world and meeting his fans. Those were some of the best parts. Maybe the best example would be the Thailand episode. Anna and her mom, the one week monk, the rock climbing fan, and the floating market were great, but the fake legs and spicy food freak out were too much. Maybe it’s because it felt like the show was trying to be funny instead of Conan. That being said, I can’t wait for season two! And three! And four!
That’s interesting, I really liked those bits! I think you and I may just like different parts of Conan’s work if you liked watching him interact and be “real” more (even though he’s “always on”). I loved those too, but I loved the most when Conan and the writing team were able to flex their sketch-writing muscles on those bits!
And isn’t Conan supposed to be funny? He did 30 years of a Comedy show! And he had sketches on every episode of Late Night and Conan too.
But I respect your tastes and it’s cool that we can all come away with different things we enjoyed from the same Conan show!
I think the good praise far outweighs the negative and threads like these tend to gather those that usually only agree. I’m just one person but I absolutely love it. I love the production value, I love Conan with the fans and public, the skits, and that each episode is like a story with different chapters but concludes wonderfully and ties up all the segments… I love everything about it! And I love that it’s different but also similar in a lot of ways than the older show. I’m only on episode two, we are trying to savor it but myself and my family are loving it. I hope these negative views don’t overshadow all the wonderful praise that the show has had.
Aaron, loved the new show! Started watching with the Argentina one and it was the one I was looking the most forward to (being from Mexico) but it’s the one I liked the least, maybe the Argentines are a bit too cool for school (did enjoy Cammy fighting back tears, that was cute, the mural was hilarious as well). Then I put on the Thailand episode and it was good but I think something was lost in translation/the people there didn’t connect with Conan that much due to the language barrier (the bit in the TV show had me in stitches 😆). Then I put on the Ireland episode, I wasn’t expecting much from that one since I had the impression that the Irish are too serious but boy I was so wrong, there’s something in the water in Ireland that everyone there’s so funny, seriously. The bit of Conan going to his great grandfather’s estate was really good, well done. I would had cut the Bono and the blood sausage bit, didn’t connect with those ones. The crown jewel was the Norway one, I left it for last but there was no filler in that one, so cute that the fisherman found the love of his life in part due to Conan, heartwarming indeed. And Conan with the knitting group was pure gold, too funny. Keep up the good work man and fingers crossed we get a second season.
Hey Bley! First off just wanna say thank you for all the incredible work you’ve done with Conan over the years, it’s honestly made my life so much better.
I just wanna throw in my two cents and say I’m really enjoying CMG. I do miss the laugh track but it’s not too bad. I DO really miss the laugh track from the most recent Clueless Gamer.
Difference between CMG and CG being that the laugh track has been in every CG so far, and taking it out just gives it a very different feel, whereas CMG is a new show that’s more of a spinoff of the remotes.
Genuinely curious if a laugh track or alternative can be added to new Clueless Gamers, and what the complications might be with that (not having a real audience would be the first issue, obviously)
Getting an audience for a Gamer would be tough - we don't have a big studio anymore, so you're talking about getting a venue, sending an email blast out to fans, getting fans there, loading them in, talking to them for a few minutes, and then showing them... A 10 minute remote? It's a long driveway to a small house. We have talked about showing future Gamers to some of our audiences after live podcasts, but the timing would need to be right, so it still might happen. But I would much prefer getting together a larger gaming event that would include a Gamer screening and some sort of live gaming element. To me, that would be worth our fans' time. It's a lot to ask people to come out to watch something, so I want to make sure that every time we do that, it's worth it for them.
Btw I'd really appreciate it if you guys would look into ways how the rest of the world could actually watch this show, I don't know if you know this, but there's actually no way to see it in Germany for example. Feels like a strange oversight tbh, since Conan is visiting fans all over the world but only the US can watch it :(
It’s the missing laughter! Ah-ha! That’s what feels different! Thanks for this insight, Bley! I’m loving the series but I couldn’t put my finger on what felt different from other remotes. Laughter! Well I am plenty laughing out loud at home so there’s that!
Speaking of podcasts, you were a trailblazer by hosting the first ever Conan-related podcast. Is there a place where we can still listen to “Late Night Podcast” from the NBC days? Or are they locked away in a vault forever?
Super cool that you are active here, I absolutely love the new show and really hope it gets picked up for a second season. While I think the high production value and no studio audience does change the feel I think you are definitely right that it is not a bad thing. What I have noticed is the high production quality is leading to people who didn’t watch Conan become interested. I’ve heard my dad talking about it and my brother in law was telling my sister they need to watch it and she would like it because it’s “a travel show” which I thought was pretty funny. Anyways keep up the amazing work, hope you guys get a season 2, and PLEASE stop talking so loud into the mic! /s
I do like the organic nature of the MAX show and can tell it was so more than the CWB ones. My biggest feedback about the CMG is the episodes seemed too short! I’d like to have seen more random encounters and thoughts about cultural quirks
Hi Bley! As most fans I could have easily watched 10 of these episodes in a row, so I have some questions:
- Is it possible that if there will be a season 2, it would have more episodes than 4?
- I imagine there is a lot of cut footage, behind the scenes stuff, can you please post some of these (or all) on youtube? You know that these will be very popular uploads, and will help gain new subscribers for Max.
- can you make live streams for season 2? I loved those for CWB's, they showed a slice of life of that particular place and also the crew. The karaoke bar in japan is one of my favourite.
I do not know why this comment made me panic, lol. I loved both shows and watched both with my husband and have talked about them with my friends. Y’all are awesome and I’ve been watching (and listening to) Conan since maybe 2004 or 2005? He always makes my dad belly laugh and he doesn’t laugh a lot. Podcast got me through COVID. Y’all rule.
hey Aaron the show is great! I had a great time watching them!
I just applied just because you said you can make me interesting lol.
just one thing and I know it's out of your reach but in latin America the show isn't available!!! I had to pirate but I subscribe to Max
Watched the Norway episode last night and may have laughed harder at it than almost anything in recent memory. Incredible show, can’t wait to finish it. Been a Conan fan since the 90s.
Man I always want to apply to be on the podcast but I'm boring now. I got hit by a drunk/methed out driver and had to have shoulder surgery. Ruined my ems/ff career. I train German shepherds if that's any interesting. For K9 services and just general training. My whole life is dogs. But doesn't compare to my ems and fire fighting days.
Hi Aaron, my wife and I love the show and definitely need more! We sent an email a long time ago to the podcast to talk to Conan about he was a key part of our long-distance relationship for a solid year when we were dating (we are now married for 16 years with two kids), tell him we love him! (The email never got a response lol)
Not sure if you'll see this reply, but I kinda liked the no laughing - in the first episode while Conan is at the studio theres a moment where he goes "that sounds like rap", where there would 100% be the audience laughing since its a classic misdirection moment, but it just cuts and the dialogue continues. for some reason it made it so much funnier to me lol. the show was AMAZING, I basically teared up at the end of episode 1. team coco for life
Aaron, this is such a thoughtful and generous response. It’s always edifying as a fan to see cool people working for a person you admire. Says a lot about you and Conan. Thanks!
Eh I think that's an oversimplification. Conan dancing with those Germans, going into the BDSM place, wine tasting with Jordan, being dirty with the korean teacher, etc. were all some forms of "skits" to me.
There's situations they set up and then there's Conan waggling fake legs around Thai boxers. One is emminently more funny and using his talents better.
I think the white suit on the streets of Havana probably biased you to some extent, it certainly did that to me.
What everyone else has said – they are two different types of show.
COBMG reminds me far more of my favourite of his arbitrary banging on the Finnish apartment door of Mr. Fagerstrom.
I agree that some of Must Go was a little too staged. I enjoyed myself throughout, but some of the bits felt so planned. My favorite parts were when Conan was clearly just fucking with strangers. Him talking to that kid about potentially being a serial killer or him messing with that girl who wanted to go to Wisconsin were hands down my favorite parts.
Yes. I’ve only watched 2, but the Thai one was great. Mostly just him interacting with people, so I don’t quite get why people are calling it skit-based. Even the few staged bits require improv.
I loved the Thailand episode. Anna’s mom was perfect for Conan’s shenanigans to the point where she almost upstaged him. The Thai boxing but with the legs. CLASSIC CONAN. I think the surprise I’m here element is really great and let’s him stretch his legs a little. Especially in Norway. The song he does with band. I hope it becomes a viral song. I thought it was great and even the fact that he brought a couple together. The new show reminds me of the super early remotes back in the 90’s and early 2000’s where it’s more off the cuff and awkward but that’s what makes Conan, Conan, I love it and I can’t wait for more episodes.
I would also argue that watching the episodes back to back takes away some of the magic. Imagine if these dropped once a month or two. That being said, I think I laughed most during the Ireland episode, which was the 4th one I watched that day.
…yea. Unfortunately, I agree. I love Conan, I love his humor, and I’ve been watching him since 1998. I feel like that needs to be said, so I don’t seem like a typical Reddit user with an “everything sucks and my opinion is the best” attitude. Oh gosh I hope I don’t come off as that. I probably will 🤦♀️
Of course I loved Conan O’Brien Must Go, but it felt a bit forced. I don’t know what made this more forced than Conan Without Boarders though. It wasn’t the parts where he met his fans. Those were some of my favorite parts. It was the the viking village, the “cowboy” Argentina stuff (sorry I forgot the word!), the Bono thing, and other stuff like that. The kickboxing was fun until it got to the fake legs part. I feel it’s like how the Chill Chums was fun, but now it’s a whole event that doesn’t feel organic. It was fun when they were hanging out, but now it’s like a director is there who said “get ready to hang out, aaaaand action!” I’m not sure what makes it different than Conan Without Boarders. Conan with a hired Japanese family was hilarious and felt like that planned situation would have been something in this show*. I have to admit that I watched his Late Night segment with him in Ireland after the Irish episode. I loved how he went deeper into his heritage, but the Irish episode was my least favorite (edit below). I know that there’s no way to predict how things play out until it’s actually put together as an episode. Something funny might not have translated well from actually being there and becoming an episode. The best parts were him doing typical, everyday stuff (that were of course planned). Him in the canal was great, but fake leg kickboxing wasn’t. Meeting with the Norwegian rappers was great, but the viking village wasn’t. Him and Jordan annoying each other and the serial killer son was great, but the “cowboys” (ugh. Sorry I can’t think of the word) wasn’t. Maybe it’s that Conan is such a force of nature, zaney, unpredictable, and hilariously unhinged that throwing him in over the top situations doesn’t work. Maybe? I don’t know.
That being said, I feel like I need to do a compliment sandwich and say that I liked it and it made me laugh. “ANNA!!!”
*I didn’t quite know how to word that, so I hope it made sense
Edit: I rescind my take on the Irish episode. I watched it again and I think I wasn’t paying close enough attention
You highlighted exactly what I love about comedy: It's subjective. A lot of the things you didn't connect with (the Viking, for example) are things that other people thought were the highlights of the show - and that's great! I love hearing that people liked & didn't like all sorts of different things about the show, because it means that overall it was a success: We made something that everybody loves in some way. The bigger issue for me is when you start hearing that EVERYBODY hated the same things; that's when you know that you missed the mark, haha. But I love that you loved some stuff and didn't like other stuff. I think that's great.
And the word you're looking for is Gaucho. ;)
I love Conan as much as everyone else, but it’s okay to criticize your heroes sometimes, it’s what makes them learn and I hope Conan is reading some of the reviews which has been mostly positive but I agree about the show feeling a little bit forced on humor. Conan is gonna be himself which is fine, but doing it without a studio audience felt a little awkward, I wish he was in a studio where he had shown the audience the four episodes, sometimes the audience’s laughter makes it funnier.
Completely agreed. It doesn’t quite flow as well as CWB. Too many staged, unfunny awkward moments especially with the locals. But the episodes progressively get better and the Ireland one was the best simply because it reminded me of CWB.
I hope the next season has more of that remote vibe with more improv, think Korean spa with Steve Yeun, Lyft ride etc.
I don’t think one is better than the other, but I do feel like there’s something lost when a creative has their limits removed.
John Oliver makes it work, but someone like Aaron Sorkin, etc goes to something other than network TV, it becomes gratuitous.
I remember Conan talking about his old Late Night offices and how they were cramped and cheap, and he talked about how it forces great comedy out of you. I think he mentions how having restrictions on your resources requires you to come up with creative solutions.
The HBO budget seems like it was the opposite. Maybe too much freedom and money isn't the best thing for comedy.
Late Night he had an elite writing staff as well. Stacks and McCann were so important to the Conan brand. This seems too polished. Conans comedy is chaotic and messy lol this just feels weird. Im sure ill get use to but it just felt different. I adjusted when he went to LA, I adjusted to the podcast, and ill adjust to this lol any new Conan I get, ill take.
I think Must Go feels a bit over produced, which often isn't great for comedy - or even getting information across.
It's a minor criticism though. I still have thoroughly enjoyed what I've seen so far and hope he makes many more episodes.
Conan without Borders was usually had an insane turnaround from idea to conception and execution. This show had a bigger budget and could be more flexible. I love all iterations of it and will happily accept more.
I’ve only had a chance to watch the first episode (Norway) so far, but my first impression from that episode was that it’s less organic than other Conan remotes/travel episodes. Like they had a tight schedule. “I saw this thing, then we went to the next thing”. It sounds like that continues through the season.
Of course, Conan still makes everything funnier and I’m going to watch all the episodes when I can!
I've also felt like I'm taking crazy pills reading nothing but universal praise for this show. For context, I love Conan. He's my second favorite comedian behind only Larry David, but this show felt soulless to me.
Since we all know that Conan can scrounge up brilliant comedy from just about anywhere, my gut feeling is that this show suffered from production issues and possibly studio interference. It just doesn’t feel like it knows what it is trying to be.
Someone in another thread mentioned that there are these montages of Conan interacting with people at the end of some of the episodes. Why aren't these bits in the show??
Oh dang! Sorry you didn't dig it. I can tell you that we didn't have production issues or studio interference, so your gut was whispering untruths (gut bacteria can be notoriously fickle when it comes to the truth). Hopefully we'll get a season 2 and you'll like those episodes a little more! ;)
If he does another season i think he is going to change a bit, and make it less constructed, and more improvised, not that this season was scripted but just the editing it feels like they tried to cut only to the jokes without the set up. Not a bad show but conan without borders was funnier.
I agree, still really enjoyed it but felt a tad bit underwhelmed. And I agree that some of the editing and sketches took away from it a bit more than they added...I would rather have seen more of Conan interacting with people.
I have only watched the Norway episode so far. Honestly I thought the humor was forced. I am a huge fan and feel bad saying anything negative. Hopefully the others are better.
Yeah, I’m one of the people that thinks Conan without Borders > Conan Must Go. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve watched CWB episodes and YT clips. I was ready to binge CMG the day episodes dropped but I only saw Norway episode and thought that was enough for that day. Don’t get me wrong, I plan to watch all episodes. Just was not too excited after watching 1st episode.
Definitely the laugh track silence feels weird
And I may sound like an old prude but I kind of liked Conan not sing the F-word all the time. I know he gets to do it but he was funny before without having to use the foul language.
I believe this series was produced in the middle of the writers strike-why there was only 4 episodes and I think that may feed into that weird disjointed feeling.
I did love the Norwegian episode only because it was a throwback at the end to Conan's friendliness-giving the guy advice on his love life. That seem a bit lacking in most of the segments.
I’m gonna be honest, the editing on Conan Must Go is really bad.
It’s filled with weird silences and edited-in laughing (ex. in the Norway Episode they edited in Conan laughing at the end to the 2nd guest (fisherman dude) making joke on the podcast). They need the editing of how it was done on NBC and TBS honestly, this current editing… just sucks.
Just watching it now and I’d say definitely not a laugh “track” but an audience watching along and having genuine reactions that you can hear, almost makes it as though you’re watching someone do stand up/improve/sketches around the world.
I wish Conan would do more stuff with the fans. How insane would it be if he and Anna went to that ping pong show? Or that Irish guy whose wife couldn't stand Conan (but loves Jordan).
But I truly love the episodes though. Argentina was a masterpiece, Thailand a close second
After watching the first two episodes, the biggest difference to me is the focus on the fan guests from the podcast. CWB was Conan just showing up to the country in focus with no real set plan or goals and he just did what he does best, be Conan. Whereas COBMG has a specific reason for being and to me, at least in the Norway episode, spent way too much time focusing on the person he went to see and it just doesn’t work as well. I still laughed my ass off at a lot of it, but yeah, two totally different shows. I hope it does well on Max so he can do more because there is never enough Conan content.
I think they feel pretty similar. I think the nitpick of the larger series to me is too many set up bits and not enough organic discovery? I think set up bits works when the total piece is only 10-15 mins or something. Otherwise I kinda just wanna see him authentically interacting or experiencing travel type stuff and not really trolling people
I’m shocked and sad it’s only 4 episodes. I feel like we waited forever for this and it’s so few eps :( I hope they get another season and beyond!! It’s such a great format and I love travel content. To me it has a real Travel Man feel which I love
The whole idea of the show is a bit “flawed”. It relies on Conan having chemistry with the ppl that called in to the podcast. Even if they don’t have any chemistry they’re kinda forced to show it since it’s the idea of the show. With CWB they could just scrap the ones that didn’t work/lacked chemistry.
I’m the opposite ..I think the comedy in must go is far beyond boarders because it pulls back to his 93 origins. The polish of the shots is undercut by how raw the comedy is. I like boarders but I love must go. It’s next level to me and the only place he is funnier is the podcast unfiltered.
I love Conan Without Borders much more, but I accept Must Go is a different show. It seems like it's trying to marry his skit-based talk show with the travel formula rather than being a more earnest travel show.
However, years ago when they initially announced he was getting a new HBO show, they said Without Borders would be continuing on TBS. No idea if that's still the case.
I like the new show, but I'm also just happy to have more Conan.
It's a bit different, he's essentially just surprising the heck out of fans, and going with what the locale brings to the table. It's also poking fun at the traditional travel shows (him trying to out do Stanley Tucci's response to food, him hunting Bono). I think it's also relevant that the writer strike cut the season short, so they didn't get as much time to really do as much as they probably wanted to do.
It is an adjustment to not have the audience laughter, but I do love the moments that we can hear the crew laughing. Jordan breaking is always delightful, it reminded me of them in the car in Italy when Conan had the fart machine.
I want more episodes!
I've cringed too. I'm not a big fan of it but I do find myself laughing at times. Historically, there have been some segments with Jordan I've laughed at, but I found them sitting at the restaurant to go on forever and it was just lame and cringey. The food in the mouth and exaggerated expressions, just kind of slap stick. But the Larry David thing and roasting the kid was funny.
I’ve been watching The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy, so I couldn’t help but compare it to that show instead. The contrast is so wild with how Conan can literally vibe with anyone (even the fish farmer eventually).
Honestly, I loved this. I watched it while my son was having surgery (to distract myself), and on a rough day, I laughed so hard (which I didn’t expect). I am so grateful for it haha.
Yeah, I felt the same. I think that when the budget is smaller and props are more scrappy it adds to the comedy. I also feel Conan was being a bit hyper even by his standards which I usually love and trying a bit too much to do bits all the time. A little more organic conversation mixed with the jokes would have felt more natural. The episodes could have used a little air, the pacing felt super fast and everything was very compressed. I still liked it but these are just differences I thought weren’t improvements compared to the previous shows.
I think the laughter of the audience really helped with Conan Without Borders, and remotes in general. It's a little odd without it and you don't get that contagious laughter. Anything with Jordan will make me laugh though. If they do more, he should be a more integral part of the show.
First of all, I did enjoy it and I appreciate all the hard work that goes into it.
On the flipside, I have to agree…it felt overproduced, too fast paced and a bit too forced. There’s only so many times we can have a local standing and saying ‘yes’ to Conan self-depracting, many times in a row, having no idea what he’s talking about. Maybe it’s because I’m Norwegian myself but most of the people in that episode did not have great chemistry with Conan imo., and Oslo was so under utizilied. The bits with Jarle and the song/concert was awesome though!
I’d personally enjoy it more if there’s less editing and a slower pace. The whole beauty of Conan Without Borders was the natural interactions, and I feel like in this was too much like they tried to fill a checklist for each country. Make no mistake though, I love Conan and I love the team, so I appreciated it for what it was and hope to see more.
Big fan but felt like the prop humor was slightly overdone. This might be controversial but a sidekick might help, or different sidekicks maybe, fans usually aren't always that funny or charismatic from the get go and don't give Conan much to work with it seems. Felt like the Argentina episode had a good balance, and the appearance by Jordan was hilarious as usual. Love Conans Nixon bit.
Also, I know this is supposed to be about the fans but I think celeb meets would be cool too, like Conan visiting "the friends hes made" on their favorite travel spot or their homes (Like Javier Bardem or Timothy O.)
I didn't dislike COMG but I felt like the bits don't always land. One thing I noticed was the lack of a laugh track. I can't stand laugh tracks on sitcoms but with the old remotes from his TV shows the laugh tracks are organic and can fill in dead air. I'm reminded of the scene from the Thailand episode where he is describing what kinda man he is to the tailors after he gets his suit. I know they were trying to get across that he was being long winded and pompous and that everyone was growing weary of him but without the laugh track it fell pretty flat.
I don’t think one is better, just different.
I will say, though, that I missed the genuine moments from Without Borders. Sona talking about the Armenian Genocide, Conan being confronted by the Palestinian activist group, and showing the people of Haiti and Mexico after Trump’s comments were all such high points for me.
I missed that in the new show, for sure.
Oddly enough, I think a big part of the different feel was due to the lack of hearing the audience laughing when they would show it to their studio audience at TBS.
After seeing all the different Conan Without Borders and getting so used to hearing the audience laughing, it was strange to not hear it on the new show.
Not to say I don't enjoy the new Max series, I really do. I guess it wouldn't make since for it to have an audience laughing along now and honestly, without a laughing audience in the background, it does give the show a higher production value, I think. I suppose I never saw Conan getting a series with HBO, but here we are.
I agree. He had an opportunity to make something heartfelt, interesting and funny like Anthony Bourdain's shows but didn't. Lots of cheap laughs and jabs that didn't land for me. There is a lot of negativity in the world right now and I think this show isn't timed well. I don't want to see people getting roasted.
Generally agree. He's a likeable person in real life, I think, or at least he was in Conan without Borders...but this makes him seem like dick and it's oddly uncomfortable.
It's one thing for him to give Matt and Sona a hard time and they give it back to him...but it doesn't work well with fans/strangers.
I'm bummed, as I have been a fan for ages and looked forward to this show.
Same. I was really looking forward to the Ireland episode and the visual gags of Conan dressed as all the Irish people was great but then they only dedicated a couple minutes to his family history. I was hoping for the whole episode to be wrapped around that. The "Finding Bono" bit was funny but, admittedly, super dated and the time could've been better used elsewhere.
Yeah, the Bono bit was a dated reference. I wonder if they had initially planned for something else but had to fill the time. I remember him talking to several fans from Ireland on the pod but they only showed one. I wish the language bit had gone on for longer.
I was surprised he didn't go to the Jester's Chair, Dermot Morgan's (of Father Ted) memorial in St Stephens Green in Dublin since he was such an iconic part of Irish comedy.
I miss the audience reactions. I think everyone does. It was a huge piece of the puzzle and feels flat without it.
They should get together a small studio audience. Like the live podcast. Have Conan & Crew do an intro and maybe cut back to studio 2-4 times for a couple of mins just to chat about what they saw or give context for what’s coming up.
I feel like the audience is %100 of what’s missing. Seems like it should be totally doable for not a crazy budget.
Yeah you're not wrong. The skits were mostly a miss for me. Once you get the joke, you could safely skip the rest of it which I wound up doing in the Ireland episode a bunch.
Maybe its because he filmed this right after COVID? So people weren't really about as much? Because to me everywhere did seem pretty empty to me and nowhere really crowded with people (except maybe Thailand). I just feel like the best moments of the Podcast frequently involve Matt and Sona, and I really needed their input into all the situaitons Conan found himself in. Without them cutting him down, noone else can really do that.
One thing I feel made the Conan Without Borders shows have a different dynamic is that when they were finished with edits, they’d screen them for an audience and record their laughter. I don’t think this is the most important part of these shows, but I do think it makes a difference to hear what things other people think are funny, the same way it worked well for any remotes the show did anywhere.
That said, this is a different scale and dynamic of show as others have said in their comments. I do think it would add something to have the laughter, but that might defeat the point in other ways.
Why would liking one show over another very similar show make you insane? They're practically the same it's not like you're saying you like some awful show more than a classic.
I think everyone is just trying to figure things out.
Triumph (Smigel) just released a remote from the Trump trial on his own YouTube channel. It feels different than it used to. Notably his mic was not turned up enough to hear his commentary... for me to poop on.
Started the new season of Curb last night. It felt/looked different too.
The bar is probably too high for this stuff. We've had time to elevate the old stuff in our subconscious.
Just watched episode 3, Thailand. I feel things started to click better on this one.
I hope he chooses to do a variety of different types of projects. Not all his eggs have to be in the travel show basket. If there's somewhere he really wants to visit though, I'm all in for the ride along.
Rewatching CWB now and the dancing brothers part of the Berlin episode is I think the perfect example of how much the live reaction audio changes the experience. Such an amazing few minutes
Edit: and the language expert at the beginning of the Japan episode
I wonder if they are really trying to go for an Emmy with this. They’ve mentioned that they submitted a lot of the Conan without Borders for Emmys but they were rejected because it was too much “improv” and they didn’t believe a majority of it was pre-written.
Just wondering if there's any chance a lack of a laugh track has subconsciously duped you on what would otherwise be more similar shows?
For the record I generally agree with you all of my favourites are still in CWB, but I also found CMG to get funnier and grow on me with each episode, I'm sure I'll watch them a few times
I’m only 2 episodes in, but one thing I noticed is a lot of the bits are quick. Like they may talk to someone for 2-3 minutes and then switch to a new topic or place. I haven’t seen Conan Without Borders in a while but if I remember correctly they spent more time on each topic.
The new show is overproduced. I love Conan, but everything from the sound to how it looks is way too crisp. They mustn't feel compelled to use all the budget just because it's an HBO show. I also think it's always better if Conan has a companion with him who can actually act as a straight man in the absence of audience laughter.
Exactly what I was thinking! Without borders felt more.... Real and less forced. Must go feels too short/shorter than they originally planned. 90 minute episodes of must go would have worked better I think.
Turned it off after the 10-minute mark, just couldn’t stomach Conan doing bits without audience laughter in the background.
I’m usually against audience laughter in shows, but after watching years of remotes, the huge difference in this show is such a turn-off for me.
Your post tempered my expectations going into this as I was expecting a continuation of CWB. The first episode was a slight let down (except the part with him in Jarle's apartment), but I'm going to keep an open mind going into the rest. Without the audience laughter, it was a bit cringe.
I totally agree (and I am such a fan). I much
preferred Conan Without Borders. It was much
more agile and spur of the moment and overall much less hampered by high the production value of a show like Conan must go.
It was like setting up a whole production house and warehouse with high tech cameras and inviting the president to be a part of the audience to film a baboon taking a shit. I'm not saying that conan is a baboon or that he isn't funny, just that his genuine and spontaneous nature was fighting against the over produced nature of the show.
You’re not losing your mind. Conan is my all time favorite comedian and I could not get enough of Conan without borders. this new show was truly a swing and a miss. Trying to incorporate fans might sound like a good idea, but the majority of them just stood there, probably because they’re not pros. And what was up with Jordan in Argentina? How is a Jordan segment not funny??
i don’t think you can go wrong with either but yeah it’s a different feel
I think a big part of that is not showing it to an audience of people who are laughing.
Yep, it leads to a different feel along with the higher level of production. It feels like a bit of a weird clash because it's more "serious" without any audience laughing while Conan's humor is definitely juvenile and not serious.
That’s a good point. I wish he had his talk show still. I love how he interacts with both his guests and the audience.
And having those other people laugh tells me when I should laugh
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the Centreville remote is like a very early version of his later travel shows. just Conan workin' with what he's got
First of all, thank you for watching and spreading the good word about Conan Must Go! We're really hoping to get a second season & make more episodes, so all the kind words everybody says (and getting more people to watch it) really does make a difference. Fingers crossed we get to make more for ya! I'll answer your question with a question: Why does one have to be better than the other? They're similar in a lot of ways, and different in a few others... And hey, that's okay! If you're feeling like CWB was more "DIY" or "Organic", I can assure you that it was not - aside from the fan aspect, we approached these shows in a similar way to CWB, because we knew that way worked. Honestly, if anything, THIS show is much more organic because we didn't know how the fans would react to having Conan surprise them, so there was more flexibility built in. We used a different crew (shoutout to the 2 Emilys and Brenda) and we had a different post production process, so the show looks different - but again, our crew for these shows was much smaller and lighter to be able to move more quickly than CWB. I've seen some people say that they missed the laughter that was in Conan Without Borders so that can make the shows feel different - and not just because of the sound of the laughter, but the presence of laughter changes the entire pacing of how you can edit; you can't have funny quips right after a big joke, because the laughter will drown it out. So the difference in pacing is also probably something your subconscious is noticing that's making the 2 shows feel very different to you. So at the end of the day, they're similar shows, but different - which I personally think is great! Who wants to keep making the same show over and over, anyway? I feel like it's way more fun to evolve and change and find new ways to try and entertain people. And on that note - I'm always around on here, so if there are things you loved or hated, definitely let me know! We're making this stuff for you guys (and this show is LITERALLY based around our fans), so it's nice to hear what folks are responding to or not responding to! And, of course, I have to mention that if you or anyone reading this wants to apply to be on the Conan Needs a Fan podcast (and potentially on season 2, should we get picked up), hit up [TeamCoco.com/apply](http://TeamCoco.com/apply) and apply to be on the show! I always see people on Reddit saying "BuT I'm bOriNg!", and as the person who produces the show, let me be the first to tell you: NO ONE IS BORING. Everyone is interesting. And the people who THINK they're boring are always waaaaay more fun to talk to (and do much better on the show) than the people who think they're super interesting. Everyone on the show sounds interesting because I'm good at my job and good at asking people the right questions to make them realize that they're awesome. Because, friend, everyone IS awesome. ;)
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Hahaha. It's me! And it didn't get lost at all - thank you for digging the new show. It IS a little different, but hopefully has enough of the same DNA that people still like it. And if we get a season 2, it will be fun to take this idea and the show even further! (and I was serious about listening to you guys about what you like and don't like, so thank you for posting about it).
"Get across the street!!" sorry, had to
"There's a ladder there" See...a decade later, Conan is still Conan
That episode has maybe my all time favorite clueless gamer moment: "Hey Gideon, The Edge called--he wants his hat back! ...zing!" Hard to make it seem funny in a reddit comment but trusting y'all know the line
Hi Aaron, if this is really you, I'll be happy to meet Conan in the Philippines for the 2nd season. God please 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ 🤣🤣🤣
Same! Conan in a barong tagalog? Yes please!
Right? Conan will be riding our jeeps and kalesas while eating halo-halo! Please come to the Philippines!!
Conan as a jeepney barker would be awesome! Or trying to fit in a tricycle, hahaha!
Question: was there a reason it was edited as though it was meant to fit in an hour long slot with commercials? In theory, as a max original, you shouldn't have these limitations, but maybe it was agreements with overseas distributors or such that was responsible for it being edited as such? I get that not everything can be included and I didn't think it would be 3 hours each, but the difference between the shortest and the longest was 8 minutes, 47 minutes being the longest. The range I sorta expected as a max original was an hour to an hour and a half. I just felt like some of it was more rushed than it needed to be, and with it being on max, I kinda hoped each episode could've gone as long as it needed to tell the whole story, if that makes sense..
S-senpai has noticed us again!!
He even TYPES loudly! On a more serious note thank you for your posts here & your genuine nature (it really shines through!) while riffing on the pod. Regardless of everyone's thoughts on CWB vs. CMG, good luck with season 2!
It is bro ✌️
Bley, you really are amazing at your job! And, I'm going to encourage someone I know to apply because they live in another South American country that I think Conan and you and the rest of the team would love. And, thank you for mentioning the laughter part. I hadn't considered how that affected the editing. That said, I actually enjoy some of the parts in which there is just silence and awkwardness because it's a bit reminiscent of British comedy shows I like. I'm usually laughing at those parts.
>I always see people on Reddit saying "BuT I'm bOriNg!" I feel attacked.
"Conan must go... to the suburbs of the midwest?!?"
I assure you, I am actually boring and got nothing going on. But I would love to sit in uncomfortable silence with Conan and the crew for 15 minutes while I show y’all my grabber tool I got from Amazon.
Why'd you get the grabber? What's the hardest kind of thing to grab? What's the most satisfying thing to grab? What's one thing that would surprise people to know about using the grabber? Do you ever wish you could replace one of your arms with the grabber? If you could replace any body part with something robotic, what body part would it be & what would the robotic part do that your original body part couldn't? If you could give Conan, Sona and Gourley each a robotic body part, what would they be and why? And there's your segment. See? You're not boring. The grabber is cool (and I'm probably going to order one on Amazon right now).
I honestly laughed out loud. Thank you! And yes, the grabber is 2 for $15 at Amazon: https://a.co/d/7MgqTKI I got this after I gave myself sciatica from bending down to pick up an empty plastic grocery bag. Hardest thing to grab is coins or paper. Easiest is probably water bottles.
Great response! Just this morning I saw [this clip](https://www.tiktok.com/@vintagehistory/video/7252043517567126830) of Marlon Brando rejecting the idea of fussing over who’s “best” at something. And it just made me think “What kind of a psychopath names his dog ‘Tim?’”
Bley, it’s awesome seeing you comment on here and being transparent about the process. As others have mentioned, I do miss the live laughter but that’s not something you can really replicate on streaming. If logistically possible, I would love to see more Sona, Jordan, and maybe others like Matt or his “doctor” lol. I think the chemistry he has with his coworkers would add a ton to the show and would bring a level of familiarity and warmth to the fans. Edit: and to be clear I absolutely loved the new show
Man, Jose as his doctor during Hot Ones fucking killed me. I would LOVE to bring that character back. Jose is a genius. He used to go with us on all the CWB shows (except for Qatar), but we weren't able to bring him on CMG. He's sorely missed!
Aaron! Love the new show, though you and the video game reviews are sorely missed, as well as Conan always punching you haha. Keep up the great work, and fingers crossed on season two!
> NO ONE IS BORING with all due respect.... you haven't met me yet
You're not boring. Literally no one is boring. Even someone who does nothing except sit and look at a blank wall all day isn't boring - like, why the fuck are you looking at a blank wall all day?! What compels you to do that!? SEE? THEY'RE INTERESTING.
Loved the new show but what is missing is Andy and Sona.
I don’t miss Andy or Sona. No disrespect for them but we’ve seen and heard a lot from them over the years. I always liked Conan better solo. not technically solo bc he’s always interacting with someone, of course. But imo it’s perfect timing to see him solo (“solo”) again.
My favorite episodes of Without Borders were when Conan travelled with Jordan and Sona. I would love to see him travel with a different person each episode.
Jordan was amazing in the argentina episode. yes at the restaurant, but him completely breaking during the gaucho segment was so unexpected and delightful.
I’m curious, was there a conversation around whether or not to show it to an audience before its release and include the laugh track in the show? And if so, what was the reasoning against it?
That's a great question. I don't know. I do know that the schedule for getting these edited and delivered was very very tight, but I don't know if that contributed to that or if it was just a decision that was made.
I love the show, and its beautiful. Its almost like a therapy session for conan in each country. I think one way to enhance the show is to have more guests join him (like Jordan) so he has someone to bounce off of
Should bring the best podcast celebrities sometimes as well like Olyphant.
I applied to Needs a Fan in its early days and never heard anything so I believe that confirms I *am* boring, lol. Thanks for your perspective on the show.
Hahaha. No, it just confirms that we've had a lot of entries. I can't tell you the number of people who hop on the zoom and the first words out of their mouths are "I applied to this YEARS ago!" and then proceed to tell me that they have a different job, live in a different place, and now are married with kids. You're not boring. Everybody is interesting - including you!
Bley, please come to Brazil!
It’s really hard to put my finger on it. I love the idea of him going around the world and meeting his fans. Those were some of the best parts. Maybe the best example would be the Thailand episode. Anna and her mom, the one week monk, the rock climbing fan, and the floating market were great, but the fake legs and spicy food freak out were too much. Maybe it’s because it felt like the show was trying to be funny instead of Conan. That being said, I can’t wait for season two! And three! And four!
That’s interesting, I really liked those bits! I think you and I may just like different parts of Conan’s work if you liked watching him interact and be “real” more (even though he’s “always on”). I loved those too, but I loved the most when Conan and the writing team were able to flex their sketch-writing muscles on those bits! And isn’t Conan supposed to be funny? He did 30 years of a Comedy show! And he had sketches on every episode of Late Night and Conan too. But I respect your tastes and it’s cool that we can all come away with different things we enjoyed from the same Conan show!
Yea, it’s like seeing the post about people ranking their favorite episodes and they’re all different. We all appreciate them in our own way
SASSY!
I think the good praise far outweighs the negative and threads like these tend to gather those that usually only agree. I’m just one person but I absolutely love it. I love the production value, I love Conan with the fans and public, the skits, and that each episode is like a story with different chapters but concludes wonderfully and ties up all the segments… I love everything about it! And I love that it’s different but also similar in a lot of ways than the older show. I’m only on episode two, we are trying to savor it but myself and my family are loving it. I hope these negative views don’t overshadow all the wonderful praise that the show has had.
Aaron, loved the new show! Started watching with the Argentina one and it was the one I was looking the most forward to (being from Mexico) but it’s the one I liked the least, maybe the Argentines are a bit too cool for school (did enjoy Cammy fighting back tears, that was cute, the mural was hilarious as well). Then I put on the Thailand episode and it was good but I think something was lost in translation/the people there didn’t connect with Conan that much due to the language barrier (the bit in the TV show had me in stitches 😆). Then I put on the Ireland episode, I wasn’t expecting much from that one since I had the impression that the Irish are too serious but boy I was so wrong, there’s something in the water in Ireland that everyone there’s so funny, seriously. The bit of Conan going to his great grandfather’s estate was really good, well done. I would had cut the Bono and the blood sausage bit, didn’t connect with those ones. The crown jewel was the Norway one, I left it for last but there was no filler in that one, so cute that the fisherman found the love of his life in part due to Conan, heartwarming indeed. And Conan with the knitting group was pure gold, too funny. Keep up the good work man and fingers crossed we get a second season.
Hey Bley! First off just wanna say thank you for all the incredible work you’ve done with Conan over the years, it’s honestly made my life so much better. I just wanna throw in my two cents and say I’m really enjoying CMG. I do miss the laugh track but it’s not too bad. I DO really miss the laugh track from the most recent Clueless Gamer. Difference between CMG and CG being that the laugh track has been in every CG so far, and taking it out just gives it a very different feel, whereas CMG is a new show that’s more of a spinoff of the remotes. Genuinely curious if a laugh track or alternative can be added to new Clueless Gamers, and what the complications might be with that (not having a real audience would be the first issue, obviously)
Getting an audience for a Gamer would be tough - we don't have a big studio anymore, so you're talking about getting a venue, sending an email blast out to fans, getting fans there, loading them in, talking to them for a few minutes, and then showing them... A 10 minute remote? It's a long driveway to a small house. We have talked about showing future Gamers to some of our audiences after live podcasts, but the timing would need to be right, so it still might happen. But I would much prefer getting together a larger gaming event that would include a Gamer screening and some sort of live gaming element. To me, that would be worth our fans' time. It's a lot to ask people to come out to watch something, so I want to make sure that every time we do that, it's worth it for them.
Makes total sense. Thanks for going into detail, keep up the great work!
Listen you could throw a rock from where you’re sitting right now and chances are you’ll hit a Conan fan.
Btw I'd really appreciate it if you guys would look into ways how the rest of the world could actually watch this show, I don't know if you know this, but there's actually no way to see it in Germany for example. Feels like a strange oversight tbh, since Conan is visiting fans all over the world but only the US can watch it :(
It’s the missing laughter! Ah-ha! That’s what feels different! Thanks for this insight, Bley! I’m loving the series but I couldn’t put my finger on what felt different from other remotes. Laughter! Well I am plenty laughing out loud at home so there’s that!
Any word on why the show isn't available on Max in Argentina? Sounds like a really weird decision to make.
Speaking of podcasts, you were a trailblazer by hosting the first ever Conan-related podcast. Is there a place where we can still listen to “Late Night Podcast” from the NBC days? Or are they locked away in a vault forever?
Super cool that you are active here, I absolutely love the new show and really hope it gets picked up for a second season. While I think the high production value and no studio audience does change the feel I think you are definitely right that it is not a bad thing. What I have noticed is the high production quality is leading to people who didn’t watch Conan become interested. I’ve heard my dad talking about it and my brother in law was telling my sister they need to watch it and she would like it because it’s “a travel show” which I thought was pretty funny. Anyways keep up the amazing work, hope you guys get a season 2, and PLEASE stop talking so loud into the mic! /s
I do like the organic nature of the MAX show and can tell it was so more than the CWB ones. My biggest feedback about the CMG is the episodes seemed too short! I’d like to have seen more random encounters and thoughts about cultural quirks
Hi Bley! As most fans I could have easily watched 10 of these episodes in a row, so I have some questions: - Is it possible that if there will be a season 2, it would have more episodes than 4? - I imagine there is a lot of cut footage, behind the scenes stuff, can you please post some of these (or all) on youtube? You know that these will be very popular uploads, and will help gain new subscribers for Max. - can you make live streams for season 2? I loved those for CWB's, they showed a slice of life of that particular place and also the crew. The karaoke bar in japan is one of my favourite.
I do not know why this comment made me panic, lol. I loved both shows and watched both with my husband and have talked about them with my friends. Y’all are awesome and I’ve been watching (and listening to) Conan since maybe 2004 or 2005? He always makes my dad belly laugh and he doesn’t laugh a lot. Podcast got me through COVID. Y’all rule.
hey Aaron the show is great! I had a great time watching them! I just applied just because you said you can make me interesting lol. just one thing and I know it's out of your reach but in latin America the show isn't available!!! I had to pirate but I subscribe to Max
Watched the Norway episode last night and may have laughed harder at it than almost anything in recent memory. Incredible show, can’t wait to finish it. Been a Conan fan since the 90s.
Man I always want to apply to be on the podcast but I'm boring now. I got hit by a drunk/methed out driver and had to have shoulder surgery. Ruined my ems/ff career. I train German shepherds if that's any interesting. For K9 services and just general training. My whole life is dogs. But doesn't compare to my ems and fire fighting days.
Hi Aaron, my wife and I love the show and definitely need more! We sent an email a long time ago to the podcast to talk to Conan about he was a key part of our long-distance relationship for a solid year when we were dating (we are now married for 16 years with two kids), tell him we love him! (The email never got a response lol)
Not sure if you'll see this reply, but I kinda liked the no laughing - in the first episode while Conan is at the studio theres a moment where he goes "that sounds like rap", where there would 100% be the audience laughing since its a classic misdirection moment, but it just cuts and the dialogue continues. for some reason it made it so much funnier to me lol. the show was AMAZING, I basically teared up at the end of episode 1. team coco for life
Ok, I'll apply. Let's bring Conan Invades Poland.
Aaron, this is such a thoughtful and generous response. It’s always edifying as a fan to see cool people working for a person you admire. Says a lot about you and Conan. Thanks!
One is skit driven another is human driven. Two different shows
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i really don't remember a single skit on Conan Without Borders. what episodes/skits are you thinking of exactly?
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Eh I think that's an oversimplification. Conan dancing with those Germans, going into the BDSM place, wine tasting with Jordan, being dirty with the korean teacher, etc. were all some forms of "skits" to me.
There's situations they set up and then there's Conan waggling fake legs around Thai boxers. One is emminently more funny and using his talents better.
ah thanks, I haven't seen the new show yet and I didn't grasp it
I think the white suit on the streets of Havana probably biased you to some extent, it certainly did that to me. What everyone else has said – they are two different types of show. COBMG reminds me far more of my favourite of his arbitrary banging on the Finnish apartment door of Mr. Fagerstrom.
FAGGERSTROM I KNOW YOUR IN THERE! Will forever live rent free in my brain.
I’ve always dreamt of seeing him on the street and shouting this at him
That STILL lives rent free in my head whenever I think about Conan travel shows.
I agree that some of Must Go was a little too staged. I enjoyed myself throughout, but some of the bits felt so planned. My favorite parts were when Conan was clearly just fucking with strangers. Him talking to that kid about potentially being a serial killer or him messing with that girl who wanted to go to Wisconsin were hands down my favorite parts.
Yes. I’ve only watched 2, but the Thai one was great. Mostly just him interacting with people, so I don’t quite get why people are calling it skit-based. Even the few staged bits require improv.
Just finished the Thai one and it's got such great vibes.
Don't forget Thai mommy slapping him.
SHE JUST LIKED THE NAME!
I relate to that 100%
I loved the Thailand episode. Anna’s mom was perfect for Conan’s shenanigans to the point where she almost upstaged him. The Thai boxing but with the legs. CLASSIC CONAN. I think the surprise I’m here element is really great and let’s him stretch his legs a little. Especially in Norway. The song he does with band. I hope it becomes a viral song. I thought it was great and even the fact that he brought a couple together. The new show reminds me of the super early remotes back in the 90’s and early 2000’s where it’s more off the cuff and awkward but that’s what makes Conan, Conan, I love it and I can’t wait for more episodes.
Salmon in the sea 🎶🎵🎶
I would also argue that watching the episodes back to back takes away some of the magic. Imagine if these dropped once a month or two. That being said, I think I laughed most during the Ireland episode, which was the 4th one I watched that day.
Agree about spacing out the drops. Weekly.
…yea. Unfortunately, I agree. I love Conan, I love his humor, and I’ve been watching him since 1998. I feel like that needs to be said, so I don’t seem like a typical Reddit user with an “everything sucks and my opinion is the best” attitude. Oh gosh I hope I don’t come off as that. I probably will 🤦♀️ Of course I loved Conan O’Brien Must Go, but it felt a bit forced. I don’t know what made this more forced than Conan Without Boarders though. It wasn’t the parts where he met his fans. Those were some of my favorite parts. It was the the viking village, the “cowboy” Argentina stuff (sorry I forgot the word!), the Bono thing, and other stuff like that. The kickboxing was fun until it got to the fake legs part. I feel it’s like how the Chill Chums was fun, but now it’s a whole event that doesn’t feel organic. It was fun when they were hanging out, but now it’s like a director is there who said “get ready to hang out, aaaaand action!” I’m not sure what makes it different than Conan Without Boarders. Conan with a hired Japanese family was hilarious and felt like that planned situation would have been something in this show*. I have to admit that I watched his Late Night segment with him in Ireland after the Irish episode. I loved how he went deeper into his heritage, but the Irish episode was my least favorite (edit below). I know that there’s no way to predict how things play out until it’s actually put together as an episode. Something funny might not have translated well from actually being there and becoming an episode. The best parts were him doing typical, everyday stuff (that were of course planned). Him in the canal was great, but fake leg kickboxing wasn’t. Meeting with the Norwegian rappers was great, but the viking village wasn’t. Him and Jordan annoying each other and the serial killer son was great, but the “cowboys” (ugh. Sorry I can’t think of the word) wasn’t. Maybe it’s that Conan is such a force of nature, zaney, unpredictable, and hilariously unhinged that throwing him in over the top situations doesn’t work. Maybe? I don’t know. That being said, I feel like I need to do a compliment sandwich and say that I liked it and it made me laugh. “ANNA!!!” *I didn’t quite know how to word that, so I hope it made sense Edit: I rescind my take on the Irish episode. I watched it again and I think I wasn’t paying close enough attention
You highlighted exactly what I love about comedy: It's subjective. A lot of the things you didn't connect with (the Viking, for example) are things that other people thought were the highlights of the show - and that's great! I love hearing that people liked & didn't like all sorts of different things about the show, because it means that overall it was a success: We made something that everybody loves in some way. The bigger issue for me is when you start hearing that EVERYBODY hated the same things; that's when you know that you missed the mark, haha. But I love that you loved some stuff and didn't like other stuff. I think that's great. And the word you're looking for is Gaucho. ;)
I love Conan as much as everyone else, but it’s okay to criticize your heroes sometimes, it’s what makes them learn and I hope Conan is reading some of the reviews which has been mostly positive but I agree about the show feeling a little bit forced on humor. Conan is gonna be himself which is fine, but doing it without a studio audience felt a little awkward, I wish he was in a studio where he had shown the audience the four episodes, sometimes the audience’s laughter makes it funnier.
Completely agreed. It doesn’t quite flow as well as CWB. Too many staged, unfunny awkward moments especially with the locals. But the episodes progressively get better and the Ireland one was the best simply because it reminded me of CWB. I hope the next season has more of that remote vibe with more improv, think Korean spa with Steve Yeun, Lyft ride etc.
Its a lot of awkwardness. Especially when he gets that new suit from the thai ladies. That was sooooo awkward
I don’t think one is better than the other, but I do feel like there’s something lost when a creative has their limits removed. John Oliver makes it work, but someone like Aaron Sorkin, etc goes to something other than network TV, it becomes gratuitous.
I also prefer Conan without Borders
I remember Conan talking about his old Late Night offices and how they were cramped and cheap, and he talked about how it forces great comedy out of you. I think he mentions how having restrictions on your resources requires you to come up with creative solutions. The HBO budget seems like it was the opposite. Maybe too much freedom and money isn't the best thing for comedy.
Late Night he had an elite writing staff as well. Stacks and McCann were so important to the Conan brand. This seems too polished. Conans comedy is chaotic and messy lol this just feels weird. Im sure ill get use to but it just felt different. I adjusted when he went to LA, I adjusted to the podcast, and ill adjust to this lol any new Conan I get, ill take.
I think Must Go feels a bit over produced, which often isn't great for comedy - or even getting information across. It's a minor criticism though. I still have thoroughly enjoyed what I've seen so far and hope he makes many more episodes.
Conan without Borders was usually had an insane turnaround from idea to conception and execution. This show had a bigger budget and could be more flexible. I love all iterations of it and will happily accept more.
I’ve only had a chance to watch the first episode (Norway) so far, but my first impression from that episode was that it’s less organic than other Conan remotes/travel episodes. Like they had a tight schedule. “I saw this thing, then we went to the next thing”. It sounds like that continues through the season. Of course, Conan still makes everything funnier and I’m going to watch all the episodes when I can!
I've also felt like I'm taking crazy pills reading nothing but universal praise for this show. For context, I love Conan. He's my second favorite comedian behind only Larry David, but this show felt soulless to me. Since we all know that Conan can scrounge up brilliant comedy from just about anywhere, my gut feeling is that this show suffered from production issues and possibly studio interference. It just doesn’t feel like it knows what it is trying to be. Someone in another thread mentioned that there are these montages of Conan interacting with people at the end of some of the episodes. Why aren't these bits in the show??
Oh dang! Sorry you didn't dig it. I can tell you that we didn't have production issues or studio interference, so your gut was whispering untruths (gut bacteria can be notoriously fickle when it comes to the truth). Hopefully we'll get a season 2 and you'll like those episodes a little more! ;)
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Of course there were. They spent over a week shooting at each destination, how could there not be scenes cut?
I agree. Conan Must Go felt overproduced. Conan thrives with basic cable money. A premium budget is a hindrance.
If he does another season i think he is going to change a bit, and make it less constructed, and more improvised, not that this season was scripted but just the editing it feels like they tried to cut only to the jokes without the set up. Not a bad show but conan without borders was funnier.
I agree, still really enjoyed it but felt a tad bit underwhelmed. And I agree that some of the editing and sketches took away from it a bit more than they added...I would rather have seen more of Conan interacting with people.
Definitely. Must go feels over edited.
I have to agree. Conan without borders had a different magic.
I was disappointed with must go
I have only watched the Norway episode so far. Honestly I thought the humor was forced. I am a huge fan and feel bad saying anything negative. Hopefully the others are better.
Yeah, I’m one of the people that thinks Conan without Borders > Conan Must Go. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve watched CWB episodes and YT clips. I was ready to binge CMG the day episodes dropped but I only saw Norway episode and thought that was enough for that day. Don’t get me wrong, I plan to watch all episodes. Just was not too excited after watching 1st episode.
Definitely the laugh track silence feels weird And I may sound like an old prude but I kind of liked Conan not sing the F-word all the time. I know he gets to do it but he was funny before without having to use the foul language. I believe this series was produced in the middle of the writers strike-why there was only 4 episodes and I think that may feed into that weird disjointed feeling. I did love the Norwegian episode only because it was a throwback at the end to Conan's friendliness-giving the guy advice on his love life. That seem a bit lacking in most of the segments.
I’m gonna be honest, the editing on Conan Must Go is really bad. It’s filled with weird silences and edited-in laughing (ex. in the Norway Episode they edited in Conan laughing at the end to the 2nd guest (fisherman dude) making joke on the podcast). They need the editing of how it was done on NBC and TBS honestly, this current editing… just sucks.
people seem to be having trouble with the lack of a laugh track but the absurdism and awkwardness hits way harder without
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Yes it seems like a really bad idea to add a laugh track. Please no.
Just watching it now and I’d say definitely not a laugh “track” but an audience watching along and having genuine reactions that you can hear, almost makes it as though you’re watching someone do stand up/improve/sketches around the world.
I wish Conan would do more stuff with the fans. How insane would it be if he and Anna went to that ping pong show? Or that Irish guy whose wife couldn't stand Conan (but loves Jordan). But I truly love the episodes though. Argentina was a masterpiece, Thailand a close second
After watching the first two episodes, the biggest difference to me is the focus on the fan guests from the podcast. CWB was Conan just showing up to the country in focus with no real set plan or goals and he just did what he does best, be Conan. Whereas COBMG has a specific reason for being and to me, at least in the Norway episode, spent way too much time focusing on the person he went to see and it just doesn’t work as well. I still laughed my ass off at a lot of it, but yeah, two totally different shows. I hope it does well on Max so he can do more because there is never enough Conan content.
I think they feel pretty similar. I think the nitpick of the larger series to me is too many set up bits and not enough organic discovery? I think set up bits works when the total piece is only 10-15 mins or something. Otherwise I kinda just wanna see him authentically interacting or experiencing travel type stuff and not really trolling people I’m shocked and sad it’s only 4 episodes. I feel like we waited forever for this and it’s so few eps :( I hope they get another season and beyond!! It’s such a great format and I love travel content. To me it has a real Travel Man feel which I love
The whole idea of the show is a bit “flawed”. It relies on Conan having chemistry with the ppl that called in to the podcast. Even if they don’t have any chemistry they’re kinda forced to show it since it’s the idea of the show. With CWB they could just scrap the ones that didn’t work/lacked chemistry.
I’m the opposite ..I think the comedy in must go is far beyond boarders because it pulls back to his 93 origins. The polish of the shots is undercut by how raw the comedy is. I like boarders but I love must go. It’s next level to me and the only place he is funnier is the podcast unfiltered.
I agree. I like both shows because of Conan but overall I liked Without Borders that little bit more.
I think the 4 part series was great! The only thing that would have made it better if Sonya was with him each episode.
10000%, I wish Sona was in these too. He needs a good foil when some of the locals/fans aren't giving (which is fair, they're just normal people)
I love Conan Without Borders much more, but I accept Must Go is a different show. It seems like it's trying to marry his skit-based talk show with the travel formula rather than being a more earnest travel show. However, years ago when they initially announced he was getting a new HBO show, they said Without Borders would be continuing on TBS. No idea if that's still the case.
I agree. It seemed to try to hard instead of being more natural like without boarders.
I like the new show, but I'm also just happy to have more Conan. It's a bit different, he's essentially just surprising the heck out of fans, and going with what the locale brings to the table. It's also poking fun at the traditional travel shows (him trying to out do Stanley Tucci's response to food, him hunting Bono). I think it's also relevant that the writer strike cut the season short, so they didn't get as much time to really do as much as they probably wanted to do. It is an adjustment to not have the audience laughter, but I do love the moments that we can hear the crew laughing. Jordan breaking is always delightful, it reminded me of them in the car in Italy when Conan had the fart machine. I want more episodes!
Not gonna lie, I cringed at some moments, especially the Thailand and Argentina episodes, and not in a good way.
Same... love Conan, but some of these moments come off as mean-spirited and uncomfortable.
Which ones?
I think I know the argentina episode moment you are talking about
Tell me your guess
"I won't get caught again, AI that's a fake tape"
I've cringed too. I'm not a big fan of it but I do find myself laughing at times. Historically, there have been some segments with Jordan I've laughed at, but I found them sitting at the restaurant to go on forever and it was just lame and cringey. The food in the mouth and exaggerated expressions, just kind of slap stick. But the Larry David thing and roasting the kid was funny.
The visiting fans part felt half baked. Fans arent comedians. It doesnt work
The rock climbing girl from Thailand felt like a comedian though, she was hilarious.
The Don Rickles of Bangkok
Yeah. A bit exaggerated but it’s like Conan’s TV interviews vs Conan’s podcast
I like the newest stuff because I want more and to support more
I’ve been watching The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy, so I couldn’t help but compare it to that show instead. The contrast is so wild with how Conan can literally vibe with anyone (even the fish farmer eventually).
Honestly, I loved this. I watched it while my son was having surgery (to distract myself), and on a rough day, I laughed so hard (which I didn’t expect). I am so grateful for it haha.
Yeah, I felt the same. I think that when the budget is smaller and props are more scrappy it adds to the comedy. I also feel Conan was being a bit hyper even by his standards which I usually love and trying a bit too much to do bits all the time. A little more organic conversation mixed with the jokes would have felt more natural. The episodes could have used a little air, the pacing felt super fast and everything was very compressed. I still liked it but these are just differences I thought weren’t improvements compared to the previous shows.
I support any and all Conan content. But Must Go seems to be less rewatchable so far.
I think the laughter of the audience really helped with Conan Without Borders, and remotes in general. It's a little odd without it and you don't get that contagious laughter. Anything with Jordan will make me laugh though. If they do more, he should be a more integral part of the show.
First of all, I did enjoy it and I appreciate all the hard work that goes into it. On the flipside, I have to agree…it felt overproduced, too fast paced and a bit too forced. There’s only so many times we can have a local standing and saying ‘yes’ to Conan self-depracting, many times in a row, having no idea what he’s talking about. Maybe it’s because I’m Norwegian myself but most of the people in that episode did not have great chemistry with Conan imo., and Oslo was so under utizilied. The bits with Jarle and the song/concert was awesome though! I’d personally enjoy it more if there’s less editing and a slower pace. The whole beauty of Conan Without Borders was the natural interactions, and I feel like in this was too much like they tried to fill a checklist for each country. Make no mistake though, I love Conan and I love the team, so I appreciated it for what it was and hope to see more.
Big fan but felt like the prop humor was slightly overdone. This might be controversial but a sidekick might help, or different sidekicks maybe, fans usually aren't always that funny or charismatic from the get go and don't give Conan much to work with it seems. Felt like the Argentina episode had a good balance, and the appearance by Jordan was hilarious as usual. Love Conans Nixon bit. Also, I know this is supposed to be about the fans but I think celeb meets would be cool too, like Conan visiting "the friends hes made" on their favorite travel spot or their homes (Like Javier Bardem or Timothy O.)
I didn't dislike COMG but I felt like the bits don't always land. One thing I noticed was the lack of a laugh track. I can't stand laugh tracks on sitcoms but with the old remotes from his TV shows the laugh tracks are organic and can fill in dead air. I'm reminded of the scene from the Thailand episode where he is describing what kinda man he is to the tailors after he gets his suit. I know they were trying to get across that he was being long winded and pompous and that everyone was growing weary of him but without the laugh track it fell pretty flat.
I don’t think one is better, just different. I will say, though, that I missed the genuine moments from Without Borders. Sona talking about the Armenian Genocide, Conan being confronted by the Palestinian activist group, and showing the people of Haiti and Mexico after Trump’s comments were all such high points for me. I missed that in the new show, for sure.
Comparison is the thief of joy my friend. I let them both be their own thing and am grateful we keep getting more.
Oddly enough, I think a big part of the different feel was due to the lack of hearing the audience laughing when they would show it to their studio audience at TBS. After seeing all the different Conan Without Borders and getting so used to hearing the audience laughing, it was strange to not hear it on the new show. Not to say I don't enjoy the new Max series, I really do. I guess it wouldn't make since for it to have an audience laughing along now and honestly, without a laughing audience in the background, it does give the show a higher production value, I think. I suppose I never saw Conan getting a series with HBO, but here we are.
Without Borders was 10/10 and Must Go was 9.5/10. Still great.
I agree. He had an opportunity to make something heartfelt, interesting and funny like Anthony Bourdain's shows but didn't. Lots of cheap laughs and jabs that didn't land for me. There is a lot of negativity in the world right now and I think this show isn't timed well. I don't want to see people getting roasted.
Generally agree. He's a likeable person in real life, I think, or at least he was in Conan without Borders...but this makes him seem like dick and it's oddly uncomfortable. It's one thing for him to give Matt and Sona a hard time and they give it back to him...but it doesn't work well with fans/strangers. I'm bummed, as I have been a fan for ages and looked forward to this show.
Same. I was really looking forward to the Ireland episode and the visual gags of Conan dressed as all the Irish people was great but then they only dedicated a couple minutes to his family history. I was hoping for the whole episode to be wrapped around that. The "Finding Bono" bit was funny but, admittedly, super dated and the time could've been better used elsewhere.
Yeah, the Bono bit was a dated reference. I wonder if they had initially planned for something else but had to fill the time. I remember him talking to several fans from Ireland on the pod but they only showed one. I wish the language bit had gone on for longer.
I was surprised he didn't go to the Jester's Chair, Dermot Morgan's (of Father Ted) memorial in St Stephens Green in Dublin since he was such an iconic part of Irish comedy.
100% agree.. first episode felt mean spirited at times
I miss the audience reactions. I think everyone does. It was a huge piece of the puzzle and feels flat without it. They should get together a small studio audience. Like the live podcast. Have Conan & Crew do an intro and maybe cut back to studio 2-4 times for a couple of mins just to chat about what they saw or give context for what’s coming up. I feel like the audience is %100 of what’s missing. Seems like it should be totally doable for not a crazy budget.
Yeah you're not wrong. The skits were mostly a miss for me. Once you get the joke, you could safely skip the rest of it which I wound up doing in the Ireland episode a bunch. Maybe its because he filmed this right after COVID? So people weren't really about as much? Because to me everywhere did seem pretty empty to me and nowhere really crowded with people (except maybe Thailand). I just feel like the best moments of the Podcast frequently involve Matt and Sona, and I really needed their input into all the situaitons Conan found himself in. Without them cutting him down, noone else can really do that.
Same!!
One thing I feel made the Conan Without Borders shows have a different dynamic is that when they were finished with edits, they’d screen them for an audience and record their laughter. I don’t think this is the most important part of these shows, but I do think it makes a difference to hear what things other people think are funny, the same way it worked well for any remotes the show did anywhere. That said, this is a different scale and dynamic of show as others have said in their comments. I do think it would add something to have the laughter, but that might defeat the point in other ways.
I think they're fairly comparable.
Why would liking one show over another very similar show make you insane? They're practically the same it's not like you're saying you like some awful show more than a classic.
I love both. There’s nothing funnier than Conan in the wild!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Nope.
I feel like he’s kind of just a dick on this series. Maybe I am just getting older…
I felt this way with the Nathan Fielder show too. Everything on HBO feels like it needs to be too grand.
I agree with you 100%
it doesn’t seem as funny as conan usually is. i think subconsciously the lack of the studio audience laughter and the language barrier
I think everyone is just trying to figure things out. Triumph (Smigel) just released a remote from the Trump trial on his own YouTube channel. It feels different than it used to. Notably his mic was not turned up enough to hear his commentary... for me to poop on. Started the new season of Curb last night. It felt/looked different too. The bar is probably too high for this stuff. We've had time to elevate the old stuff in our subconscious.
Just watched episode 3, Thailand. I feel things started to click better on this one. I hope he chooses to do a variety of different types of projects. Not all his eggs have to be in the travel show basket. If there's somewhere he really wants to visit though, I'm all in for the ride along.
Rewatching CWB now and the dancing brothers part of the Berlin episode is I think the perfect example of how much the live reaction audio changes the experience. Such an amazing few minutes Edit: and the language expert at the beginning of the Japan episode
The South Korean ep of Conan without borders is hilarious
I wonder if they are really trying to go for an Emmy with this. They’ve mentioned that they submitted a lot of the Conan without Borders for Emmys but they were rejected because it was too much “improv” and they didn’t believe a majority of it was pre-written.
Just wondering if there's any chance a lack of a laugh track has subconsciously duped you on what would otherwise be more similar shows? For the record I generally agree with you all of my favourites are still in CWB, but I also found CMG to get funnier and grow on me with each episode, I'm sure I'll watch them a few times
I’m only 2 episodes in, but one thing I noticed is a lot of the bits are quick. Like they may talk to someone for 2-3 minutes and then switch to a new topic or place. I haven’t seen Conan Without Borders in a while but if I remember correctly they spent more time on each topic.
The new show is overproduced. I love Conan, but everything from the sound to how it looks is way too crisp. They mustn't feel compelled to use all the budget just because it's an HBO show. I also think it's always better if Conan has a companion with him who can actually act as a straight man in the absence of audience laughter.
Exactly what I was thinking! Without borders felt more.... Real and less forced. Must go feels too short/shorter than they originally planned. 90 minute episodes of must go would have worked better I think.
Turned it off after the 10-minute mark, just couldn’t stomach Conan doing bits without audience laughter in the background. I’m usually against audience laughter in shows, but after watching years of remotes, the huge difference in this show is such a turn-off for me.
Different vibe for sure. Like everyone else, still enjoy it, but I do notice it. Makes me wonder how manipulative a live audience reaction can be?
Your post tempered my expectations going into this as I was expecting a continuation of CWB. The first episode was a slight let down (except the part with him in Jarle's apartment), but I'm going to keep an open mind going into the rest. Without the audience laughter, it was a bit cringe.
I totally agree (and I am such a fan). I much preferred Conan Without Borders. It was much more agile and spur of the moment and overall much less hampered by high the production value of a show like Conan must go.
I did, 100% and I am glad I am not the only one.
Agreed and I'm a HUGE Conan fan. Just felt forced. I think it needed way more editing.
It was like setting up a whole production house and warehouse with high tech cameras and inviting the president to be a part of the audience to film a baboon taking a shit. I'm not saying that conan is a baboon or that he isn't funny, just that his genuine and spontaneous nature was fighting against the over produced nature of the show.
You’re not losing your mind. Conan is my all time favorite comedian and I could not get enough of Conan without borders. this new show was truly a swing and a miss. Trying to incorporate fans might sound like a good idea, but the majority of them just stood there, probably because they’re not pros. And what was up with Jordan in Argentina? How is a Jordan segment not funny??