Conan O’Brien to Make First ‘Tonight Show’ Return Since 2010 Firing
O’Brien was unceremoniously cut from the late-night show more than a decade ago after the previous host, Jay Leno, returned.

Scanpix/Vegard Wivestad Grott/via Reuters
Conan O’Brien is set to make his triumphant return to NBC’s The Tonight Show for the first time since his firing from the program in 2010.
He is making the April 9 stop to promote his new series on Max, called Conan O’Brien Must Go, which features the 60-year-old comedian traveling the world and speaking with “regular people he previously met on his podcast,” Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, according to the show’s description.
O’Brien was unceremoniously cut from the late-night show more than a decade ago after the previous host, Jay Leno, was asked by NBC executives to return. O’Brien was originally offered to keep The Tonight Show name with a new 12:05 a.m. time slot—which would have made way for Leno to reclaim his original show time. But O’Brien balked at the offer and left the network shortly after.
He then launched a stand-up comedy tour called “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour,” a not-so-subtle dig at the television executives who had just let him go.
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Following Leno’s eventual retirement, Jimmy Fallon took over The Tonight Show in 2014 and has been the host ever since.
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O’Brien, meanwhile, landed on his feet with an eponymously titled talk show on TBS that ran for 11 seasons.
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