Jordan Schlansky Talks ‘Conan O’Brien Must Go’ & Friendship With Comedian

The Big Picture

• Conan O’Brien Must Go
  features beloved comedian, Conan O’Brien, exploring four countries where he meets up with fans he first came across on a segment of his podcast.
• During one of the episodes on Max, O’Brien’s associate producer, Jordan Schlansky, joins the host for food, some tango dancing, and Argentinian cowboy training.
• In an exclusive interview with Collider in support of
  Conan O’Brien Must Go
  , Schlansky gets candid about his friendship with O’Brien and what makes their odd couple dynamic so fun for audiences. He also shares his hopes for Season 2.

After Conan O’Brien appeared on Hot Ones last week and created a surge of meme-worthy moments that sparked a viral stream of throwback favorites, the outpouring of love for the former late-night host has only just begun. Having spent a large chunk of his career talking to some of the most beloved personalities behind a desk for three decades, the orange-haired comedian is ready to stretch his long legs with the highly-anticipated Max Original series, Conan O’Brien Must Go. While wandering the globe to meet fans and take in the sights and sounds of four countries, O’Brien also meets his associate producer (with “various tasks”), Jordan Schlansky in the Argentina travelogue, where the two eat meat plates, dance the tango and become Gauchos. In an exclusive interview with Collider about Conan O’Brien Must Go, the beloved producer and O’Brien’s longtime friend talks about his favorite moments with the host and how their relationship has evolved since Schlansky got his start on Late Night With Conan O’Brien in the mid-’90s.

Schlansky, who also appears regularly on The Conan and Jordan Show exclusively on SiriusXM’s Conan O’Brien Radio, told Collider that no matter what it looks like to audiences and how fraught their dynamic appears, he loves traveling with O’Brien. “I love traveling with Conan. I love spending time with him,” Schlansky says. “I love spending time with him in foreign environments. I do truly think that when you travel or experience any kind of new event with someone you know, it does bring you closer together. You not only experience things firsthand but [that’s] reflected in somebody else’s eyes, as well.”

‘Conan O’Brien Must Go’ Highlights the Host’s Friendship With Jordan Schlansky

While fans might be saddened to see Schlansky in just one episode of Conan O’Brien Must Go, it’s the perfect location for the pair to reconnect. Following their travels in Italy filled for Conan Without Borders, Schlansky tells Collider that their time in Argentina for the Max Original was just as special. “I genuinely have so many warm memories of traveling to Argentina and other places with [Conan],” he says. “We would have wonderful dinners and we would talk about the food that we’re eating and the local nature of that food and the culture around us. It may surprise people to know that we really get along, and I would like to think he enjoys my company as much as I enjoy his.”

Though his start on Late Night With Conan O’Brien in 1995 was only meant to be a “behind-the-scenes” role, their charming on-screen partnership has since heightened over the years through hilarious remote segments that have found the two engaging in couples counseling, coffee tasting, escape room shenanigans and interventions over his office space and tardiness. According to Schlansky, their relationship today is a stark contrast to the early days when the two were treading very clear lines in their workplace dynamic.

“I think in the early remotes, I was still approaching this aware of the fact that Conan was clearly my boss, and I felt an obligation to be subservient and play the role of the employee,” Schlansky says. “But I guess, gradually over the years, I’ve been able to put that aside while we’re on camera and act just like I would be naturally inclined to actshould someone approach me in the manner that he does. In that sense, I think it’s probably truer to our actual relationship as opposed to, like, employer/employee.”

Jordan Schlansky Is Not Playing a “Character” With Conan O’Brien

Whether he’s questioning his assistant Sona Movesian for spending the whole day binge-watching Friends during work hours or questioning comedian Matt Gourley’s decisions during the trio’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend — the inspiration behind Conan O’Brien Must Go — the beloved host knows how to playfully get under the skin of his employees. But there is no one that O’Brien annoys more than Schlansky. O’Brien has given Schlansky a hard time for years, criticizing his knowledge and even comparing the associate producer to a robot without feelings. Though Schlansky weathers the perky insults every time, some of the funny moments find the producer keeping a strong, straight face. However, his inability to laugh at O’Brien’s antics is not part of some character. Schlansky admits it’s just who he is.

“I appreciate that you frame it as a character, but in reality, this is just my life,” he says of the interactions he shares with O’Brien. “I mean, we’ve been working together for so long, so many decades, and the relationship that you see on camera is exactly what the relationship is off-camera. I definitely would like to think I have a sense of humor. I mean, I’ve worked in comedy for so long, but of course, when someone’s approaching you and you’re the butt of the joke, things may fall a little bit differently.”

With their relationship marked by absurdity and surrealism, the conversations between the two often veer into unexpected territory. It’s this unpredictability that is so well-received by fans that amplifies their comedic chemistry and creates a thirst for more. “I think maybe one of the reasons why these interactions have been well-received is because they are real because I’m not trying to play a character. I’m not trying to react or not react in any specific way. We just kind of go about our lives, and sometimes there are cameras there to shoot it,” he tells Collider.

Jordan Schlansky Talks About Those Unexpected Situations With Conan O’Brien

When it comes to their friendship and their odd couple dynamic, Schlansky shares how he is a “textbook introvert,” while his longtime friend is a “textbook extrovert.” It’s this formula that allows the former late-night host to “feed off the energy of others” even if the associate producer could never “personally identify” with his. “And he probably can’t personally identify with mine, and when we do exist together, I think one of the natural human inclinations is to try to match the energy of the person you’re speaking to, even if it’s not your own,” he says. “Whereas I just approach it as — he’s operating at such a high frequency that I can never even pretend to mimic, so I kind of just approach it as myself, and he approaches it as himself, and maybe it’s that disparity that creates something compelling for the viewers.”

When it comes to the pair’s individual comedy, some interactions might leave audiences wondering if there was ever a situation that went too far. But Schlansky admits it’s never been that way, and the two always understand each other, especially in some of the more objectively heated interactions seen on Conan O’Brien Must Go and even Sirius XM’s Conan O’Brien Radio. “There have been situations where things kind of went in unexpected directions. One of them was going back to our Italy episode,” he tells Collider. “We were at a wine tasting and Conan and I were very much in sync with our understanding of the situation, but the winery was very prestigious, very high-end, very well-respected, and they take themselves seriously, as they should, they’re very dignified. I believe that the really nice woman that was conducting the tasting wasn’t prepared for exactly the genre that we were about to unfold, and she didn’t know how to react.”

The same thing happened in their Argentina adventure — a moment Schlansky won’t ruin for fans, but admits is an experience that elevates the comedy. “There’s a segment where Conan and I go to spend some time with some Gauchos on the pampas. These guys are real working Gauchos, and we’re just clowns, and there was a moment in there where Conan and I were dressed in ridiculous costumes, and the reality of the situation just hit me,” he says. “I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet, but a bit of chaos ensues.”

Is ‘Conan O’Brien Must Go’ Season 2 Happening?

It’s too soon to tell, but Schlansky is optimistic when it comes to Conan O’Brien Must Go Season 2 on Max. Considering the series’ high production value reaching cinematic levels and being a sharp notch above what we’ve seen on shoestring budget remotes from network television across O’Brien’s time on NBC to TBS, there is a real chance for more, thanks to streaming. Across its four episodes, the series delivers an experience that is precise thanks to its refined details in editing and location scouting.

“We’re coming from an environment of producing a daily show, where I’m used to seeing ideas go from conception to execution to broadcast within sometimes a matter of hours. Now, as you mentioned, we had a lot more time to put more energy into all phases of the production, from pre-production and post-production, and it does appear more cinematic, which is great,” he says. “As a producer, I’m not privy to such matters. I would hope that we can travel more and do more of these, but we take it one day at a time. I’m handed tasks and I complete those tasks.”

As for the four episodes, Schlansky doesn’t have a favorite moment, but he is very happy about his comedic adventures with O’Brien in Argentina, and feels the travelogues elevate the genre of travel shows as a whole. “Conan has his particular brand of comedy, which I like to think is universal, and I think travel shows are kind of evidence of that,” he says. “It’s fun to put that comedy in very specific cultural situations, and I love the tango segment in the Argentina episode. I love that we try to approach it really authentically. We tried to get real, authentic music and real, authentic musicians and costumes, and I love the way that particular segment turns out.”

Conan O’Brien Must Go is now streaming on Max.

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