George Washington made only one farewell address. After tonight’s “Conan” finale (10 p.m., TBS), Conan O’Brien will have made three.
A fixture of late-night television since 1993, O’Brien was long seen as the most cerebral host, combining the silly and the smart in ways that have earned him a passionate following.
O’Brien was a complete unknown to the public when he was tapped to replace David Letterman on NBC some 28 years ago., though he was already prominent inside the industry. As a writer for “The Simpsons,” he was a bit of a legend for the “Marge vs. the Monorail” episode.
In many ways, it was a perfect representation of his humor, a tune-filled riff on “The Music Man” about a flimflam man (the voice of the late Phil Hartman) bamboozling the town of Springfield into spending a windfall on a mode of transportation popular in mid-20th century visions of “The City of Tomorrow.” Like a lot of O’Brien’s jokes, the monorail is a bittersweet punch line, a nod to a marvelous future that never arrived.
Entirely too much was made of NBC’s decision to offer O’Brien “The Tonight Show” in 2009 and then take it away from him in 2010. Jay Leno simply had a broader appeal.
After 11 years on TBS, O’Brien will be moving to a new (as yet unscheduled) show on HBO Max. It will be interesting to see what he does there and how he fares. Late-night comics used to be all but defined by their nightly routines. Viewers scheduled their sleep (or sleeplessness) around them. In contrast, streaming programming is entirely on-demand. There is no schedule because there is no “now.” The latest “Conan” will be as “new” as any other clip.
For that reason, streaming “talk shows” have had a rather rocky road. Netflix, the service that pretty much pioneered this new way of streaming and binging, has experimented with and canceled a parade of chat shows, including Chelsea Handler’s eponymous series, “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj,” “The Break With Michelle Wolf” and “The Joel McHale Show.”
Jack Black will be Conan’s final guest for his TBS series.
— Conan O’Brien isn’t the only specialized taste migrating to streaming. “The Good Fight” returns for its fifth season on Paramount+. That’s also the streaming home for season two of “Evil,” a series that began on CBS, about a psychologist and skeptic (Katja Herbers) hired by the Catholic church to investigate supernatural phenomena. It’s cliche to say that some shows are “too smart” for network TV, but in the case of these two, the network appears to agree.
There was some talk that “Clarice” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14), ending its first season tonight, would be following them to Paramount+. No official announcements have been made.
— The crime anthology series “Innocent” streams its second season on Sundance Now.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— The comedy craft contest “Making It” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) enters its third season.
— An acclaimed actress looks at the light side of the animal kingdom on “When Nature Calls With Helen Mirren” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— Well-deserved help on the season finale of “United States of Al” (8:30 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
— On two episodes of “Good Girls” (NBC, TV-14): Rio’s grip tightens (9 p.m.); untraceable bills (10 p.m.).
CULT CHOICE
Pop singer Paul Anka stars as a disturbed Peeping Tom in the 1961 shocker “Look in Any Window” (11:45 p.m., TCM, TV-PG), part of a marathon of teen delinquent films.
SERIES NOTES
Heartache on “Young Sheldon” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … Jamie Foxx hosts “Beat Shazam” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Micki’s mom makes an effort on “Walker” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
Humoring Jill on “Mom” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … Will Arnett hosts “Lego Masters” (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … “Holey Moley” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … A strange collaborator on the season finale of “Legacies” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) … The new normal on “B Positive” (9:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … “The Hustler” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Robert Duvall, JP Saxe and John Mayer are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Jon Hamm, Ozuna and Rojo Perez on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Chris Pratt, Michael Cohen, the Isley Brothers and Snoop Dogg appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC).
John Cena, Kristen Schaal and Kristina Schiano visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Liam Neeson and Anthony Ramos appear on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
