In the year 2000 (plus 17 years): Conan O’Brien will extend his contract with TBS, making the guy who was publicly ousted from The Tonight Show the longest-tenured host in late-night. “The TV landscape has changed dramatically since I inherited the traditional talk show format in 1993,” O’Brien said in a statement. “In the past few years I’ve stumbled across many new and exciting ways of connecting with my audience, and I’m eager to evolve my show into something leaner, more agile, and more unpredictable. I also want a pony.”
The announcement of the new deal highlighted the fact that Conan airs Mondays through Thursdays, so don’t expect those rumors about the show going weekly or “primarily digital” to come true anytime soon. But do expect to see O’Brien’s signature all over TBS and its online offshoots, as O’Brien’s production company Conaco LLC continues developing new shows for the channel like People Of Earth and the animated series Final Space. Because, in the year 2000 (plus 17 years), millions of people will be entertained by footage of a tall man with an orange pompadour playing video games poorly.