Claim: Conan O'Brien is a talk show host.

Conan Christopher O'Brien -LRB- born April 18 , 1963 -RRB- is an American television host , comedian , and television producer . He is best known for hosting several late-night talk shows ; since 2010 he has hosted Conan on the cable channel TBS . O'Brien was born in Brookline , Massachusetts , and was raised in an Irish Catholic family . He served as president of The Harvard Lampoon while attending Harvard University , and was a writer for the sketch comedy series Not Necessarily the News .   After writing for several comedy shows in Los Angeles , he joined the writing staff of Saturday Night Live . O'Brien was a writer and producer for The Simpsons for two seasons until he was commissioned by NBC to take over David Letterman 's position as host of Late Night in 1993 . A virtual unknown to the public , O'Brien 's initial Late Night tenure received unfavorable reviews and remained on a multiweek renewal cycle during its early years . The show generally improved over time and was highly regarded by the time of his departure in 2009 . Afterwards , O'Brien relocated from New York to Los Angeles to host his own incarnation of The Tonight Show for seven months until network politics prompted a host change in 2010 .   Known for his spontaneous hosting style , which has been characterized as `` awkward , self-deprecating humor '' , O'Brien 's late-night programs combine the `` lewd and wacky with more elegant , narrative-driven short films -LRB- remotes -RRB- '' . He has hosted Conan since 2010 and has also hosted such events as the Emmy Awards and Christmas in Washington . O'Brien has been the subject of a documentary , Conan O'Brien Ca n't Stop -LRB- 2011 -RRB- , and has also hosted a 32-city live comedy tour .   With the retirement of David Letterman on May 20 , 2015 , O'Brien became the longest-working of all current late-night talk show hosts in the United States , at 22 years .