Conan O'Brien Warns Over Decline of Writers' Rooms
Conan O'Brien says young comedians are losing the room that taught him to write.
He gave the warning at Bloomberg's Screentime event, as reported by Deadline on 1 October 2026. Fewer opportunities for comedians to sit in a writers' room, the tight team that pitches, writes and rewrites jokes and scripts together, is a "real problem", he said.
O'Brien linked the point to his own beginning. He said he was first put into a writers' room when he was 22. He described that room as his "happy place". For anyone who has never seen one, it is a table, a whiteboard and a group of writers trying lines aloud until something lands. Writers trade lines, cut weak jokes and build sketches piece by piece.
That early start shaped his path through comedy writing. He began on Not Necessarily The News and The Wilton North Report. He then moved to Saturday Night Live, where he worked as a writer between 1988 and 1991. Saturday Night Live is the long-running American sketch show that depends on a large staff turning around new material every week.
His comments also fit a wider squeeze on writing work. The latest report from WGA West, the labour organisation that represents screen writers in the western United States, showed 27% fewer writers working in 2025 than in 2022, according to Deadline. That is a sharp fall in three years. It means fewer paid seats for newcomers who need credits and contacts.
O'Brien now makes much of his work in audio. SiriusXM, the satellite radio and podcast company, acquired his Team Coco company in 2022 for a reported $150 million. His deal with SiriusXM keeps him employed until 2027, as reported by Deadline. The $150 million price was reported at the time, not disclosed in a filing.
He closed on a note of faith in new talent. He said "creative people will find a way to be creative", even as rooms shrink and jobs shift. What makes this stand out is the tension in that line. He recognises the loss, and he expects newcomers to improvise around it. For newcomers, the first job he had at 22 is harder to find.
