NEW YORK, Oct 28 — Nearly a quarter-century into his career as a late-night host, Conan O’Brien isn’t about to set his cruise control and coast. “In some ways, I’m much more active than I was 10 years ago,” the 53-year-old O’Brien said. “I’m very fortunate that I can still be discovering things and feeling like a kid again.”

His latest gig: an executive producer of People of Earth, debuting at 9pm on Monday, October 31, on TBS and starring Wyatt Cenac, formerly of The Daily Show, as a New York reporter who checks out an upstate support group for alien abductees — only to discover that he may be one himself. That same night, at 11, O’Brien will bring Conan and guests including Louis C.K., Ryan Reynolds and Tracy Morgan to the Apollo Theatre in Harlem for four episodes. And at 10pm on December 7, he’ll explore Berlin subcultures with help from a dominatrix in his latest travel special.

In a phone interview from Northern California, where he was vacationing with his wife, Liza Powel O’Brien, the cheeky Conan O’Brien mused about extraterrestrial life and why he doesn’t mind being the butt of a joke. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Q: So you’re on a romantic getaway.

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A: Yeah, we have a 13-year-old daughter and a boy who’s going to be 11 in a couple of weeks, and this is the first time that we’ve left them for more than two nights in a row. It’s a huge milestone event, so let’s make the story about that. It’s going to get a lot of clicks, I’m telling you.

Q: How did you come to People of Earth?

A: I’ve had a production company, Conaco, for a number of years for projects that I really am passionate about — kind of a TV equivalent of Trump University. It’s a tax dodge, and we’re really bilking the public. A lot of times we read a script, and it feels like homework. But this was an absolute delight. The other key piece of the puzzle, aside from TBS, was Greg Daniels [an executive producer of The Office], who has a genius for very subtle comedy that’s based on personality.

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Q: Do you believe in aliens?

A: I do think alien life exists. But I think when we do encounter life on other planets, it’s going to be extremely disappointing. I just don’t think it’s going to be the spaceship and these creatures with giant heads and huge eyes. It’s going to be some sort of three-celled organism that grows on a rock and is really into pornography.

Q: What’s it like to work with Wyatt Cenac?

A: He’s brilliant and has incredible integrity. A fantastic, added delight is getting to know Wyatt, who I’d admired from afar, and I mean that in a creepy way.

Q: Why Conan at the Apollo?

A: This is a bucket-list thing. Just stepping up on that stage and walking around, a chill goes up your spine. I was there a week ago, shooting pieces in Harlem and going on adventures. When 30 women pull you into their salon and say, “We’re going to weave your hair,” you say, “yes.”

Q: Is there anything left in this presidential campaign to mine for humour?

A: There’s been a lot of good comedy about Trump, but he also presents a real challenge. He’s a very hard person to satirise because he’s so outrageous to begin with. Myself, I’m eager for this election to be over. It got to a certain point where sadness started to creep in.

Q: After travel specials in Cuba and South Korea, you’re going to Berlin.

A: I’ve always loved being a fish out of water and having the locals laugh at me. I play in an avant-garde club with a band that’s in crazy makeup and dresses. Probably my favourite part is when we went to Tempelhof Airport, where refugees are living until they can be given more permanent residence. It’s almost comedy as diplomacy.

Q: I’ll let you get back to your wife now.

 

A: Please — she grows weary of me very quickly. You’re probably going to get a bunch of flowers that say, “Thank you for taking care of my husband for half an hour, so I can go and enjoy myself.” — The New York Times