• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, 3 hours ago

Conan O’Brien demonstrates that he’s an active 63-year-old as he travels to four more distant locations in the third season of his far-flung travel show, “Conan O’Brien Must Go.”

As he enters his golden years, O’Brien is well within the age range when he can start collecting Social Security (you can start collecting at age 62 with no penalty) and two years away from qualifying for Medicare at age 65

And yet, the one-time network TV late-night star shows no signs of slowing down in the four-episode third season of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” that starts Friday on HBO and HBO Max.

In the new season, O’Brien will be seen trying to perform the neat trick of ingratiating himself with the nice people of India (Episode 1), the Netherlands (Episode 2), Morocco (Episode 3) and The Philippines (Episode 4, above photo) while also making fun of them.

These destinations bring the total of Conan’s tourism on “Conan O’Brien Must Go” to 11, beginning in April 2024.

Before that, he visited 13 countries grouped under the title “Conan Without Borders” while hosting his TBS late-night show “Conan,” which was canceled in June 2021.

The 13 destinations included Cuba, Israel, Armenia and Haiti. He also did a “Conan Without Borders” special from Greenland in 2019 when President Trump was threatening to annex the island nation for the United States.

“Conan O’Brien Must Go” is descended from “Conan Without Borders,” but it also has a connection to O’Brien’s podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend.”

Part of the reason he travels to some of the destinations on “Conan O’Brien Must Go” is to meet fans who have Zoomed into his podcast, some of whom live abroad.

As in past seasons reviewed by the "TV Blog," watching O’Brien cavort with people whose customs, languages and cuisine are different from ours can be a mixed bag.

“Some of Conan’s ‘fun’ came across as more mean than mirthful,” wrote the "TV Blog" in April 2024 of the premiere episode of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” in which he traveled to Norway.

That blog also said that the way O’Brien admonished a young Norwegian fan for his untidy apartment “bordered on cruelty.”

In his journey to India in Episode 1 of the new season, fish-out-of-water O’Brien wears an outfit of formal cricket whites to play a game of street cricket with a group of uncomprehending youths who mostly stare at him as if he’s a three-headed chicken.

In the final analysis, India will survive a visit from Conan O’Brien, and so will the rest of the world. 

The third season of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” premieres Friday, August 21, at 9 p.m. Eastern on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.