Inside Oscars Host Conan O’Brien’s 3-Decade Road To Hollywood’s Biggest Night

Conan O’Brien is no stranger to hard work. He’s composed a daunting thesis at Harvard, written sketch comedy, produced an animated series and eventually hosted his own talk shows. He’s also famous for his fearless approach to pushing the humorous envelope. 

After more than 30 years in showbiz, however, he’s now hoping to land his biggest punchline yet – at the Oscars! Ahead of Conan’s Academy Awards hosting debut, Access Hollywood is looking back at his road to Hollywood’s biggest night.

Born in Massachusetts, Conan graduated from Harvard, where his father previously attended medical school. Conan majored in American History and Literature, wrote for and was president of The Harvard Lampoon, the school’s humor magazine, and was involved in pulling elaborate pranks – one of which reportedly caused him to spend a night in a Boston jail. 

Always interested in the comedic arts, Conan moved to Los Angeles, like any other dreamer, to try his hand in entertainment. He joined the writing staff on HBO’s “Not Necessarily the News,” which kick-started careers of many comedians, including Jan Hooks and Greg Daniels.

After getting his feet wet in writing for a full studio production, Conan moved back to New York to join “Saturday Night Live”from 1988 to 1991 as a staff writer. He wrote on numerous sketches such as “I’m a Handsome Man” with Mike Meyers and “Mr. Short Term Memory” with Tom Hanks.

Shortly after, he started work as a supervising producer and writer for “The Simpsons” from 1992 to 1993. His journey would come full circle in 2013 when he made a cameo on the show as himself on Season 5 episode 12, “Bart Gets Famous.”

At this time, Conan also landed his own talk show. On Sept. 13, 1993, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” aired on NBC. The show ran for 16 seasons, ending on Feb. 20, 2009. After a short stint hosting “The Tonight Show” following Jay Leno’s departure, Conan moved to TBS with a new talk show, “Conan,” which aired from 2010 to 2021.

Knowing Conan, he’s always got something new up his sleeve. In the fall of 2018, he debuted his podcast, “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” which has seen a steady increase in listenership over the years.  This podcast has become the home of deep and untethered conversations between him and a different celebrity guest on every episode.

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Now, Conan is shifting his focus to the silver screen, hosting the 97th Oscars on March 2 on ABC – his first time emceeing the Academy Awards. Past hosts have spoken about the pressures of hosting such a prestigious live show. But as we’ve learned, the TV icon is no stranger to scoring laughs on multiple stages.

Until then, we’re left to anticipate how much of his signature quirk he’ll bring to the show. Anyone else hoping for a cameo from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog or a trip to The Year 2000?