| August 17, 2026 
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A silly and sweet travel series returns | | Conan O’Brien performing a Bollywood dance number in the Season 3 premiere of “Conan O’Brien Must Go.” Team Coco/HBO |
Dear Watchers,Throughout Conan O’Brien’s career as a talk-show host, some of his most popular segments involved him traveling around the world and reacting to other cultures with a mix of boyish delight and impatient snark. When O’Brien made the move from late-night television to podcasting, fans wondered whether the new medium’s format — or budget — would allow him to keep hitting the road. Enter HBO, which since 2024 has provided a home for O’Brien’s international adventures. Spun off from the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” the travel series “Conan O’Brien Must Go” has seen the comedian spend time in places like Norway, Ireland, Spain and New Zealand, sometimes at the invitation of his podcast listeners and sometimes just to hang out with local celebrities and goof around. In the Season 3 premiere (debuting on Friday on HBO and HBO Max), O’Brien travels to India, where he repeatedly and enthusiastically makes a fool of himself. He struggles to squeeze onto a crowded commuter train. He tries to learn the rules of cricket while dressed in a ridiculously over-formal cricketer’s uniform. He performs a Bollywood dance number that makes actual Bollywood stars wince. “Conan O’Brien Must Go” gives the host a chance to be spontaneous and silly, making use of his quick wit and his willingness to look dumb. But the show also balances the buffoonery with moments of sweetness and warmth. Since Episode 1, O’Brien’s visits with fans of his podcasts have been a core element of the series. In return, he tries to assist them — in his own mostly unserious way — with some personal ambition of theirs. In the coming third season, O’Brien goes to the Netherlands and gives a fan advice on how to be a better basketball trash talker. In Morocco, he urges a family to learn to appreciate the movie “Casablanca.” And in the Philippines, he helps a man break into action films. Each episode of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” opens with a Werner Herzog voice-over, describing the show’s premise and saying of O’Brien, “His character is vile, debased and depraved.” But given the way O’Brien gets people of many different nationalities to like him — and to laugh at him — he may have discovered a core truth about humanity. Idiocy unites us. Also this week | | A scene from the National Geographic documentary series “Lion.” Joe Treddenick/National Geographic |
- “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” returns for an 18th season of hilariously sketchy behavior and bawdy social commentary. The first two episodes premiere on Monday at 9 p.m., on FX, FXX and Hulu.
- The docuseries “Lion” follows a lion cub through four years of its life, as it survives life-threatening challenges on its way to becoming a leader. The first of four episodes debut on Wednesday at 9 p.m. on National Geographic and will begin streaming on Thursday on Disney+ and Hulu.
- The English TV writer-producer George Kay (“Lupin,” “Hijack”) ventures into Nordic noir with “Blood Sacrifice,” a dark thriller about a cop-killing serial murderer and the detective (Jakob Oftebro) who tries to hunt down the criminal, assisted by his father (Peter Andersson), a retired policeman with a connection to the case. All five episodes debut on Thursday, on Netflix.
- Based on the colorful and cozy children’s books by Jon J. Muth, the Peabody Award-winning animated series “Stillwater” returns for a fifth season of helpful stories, told by a friendly panda who guides his listeners toward becoming more Zen. The new season arrives on Friday, on Apple TV.
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