‘Conan O’Brien Must Go’ returns for Season 3

Choose your own adventure: would you rather travel vicariously with Sean Duffy or Conan O’Brien as your guide?

“Great American Road Trip,” the reality series from the Department of Transportation starring Secretary Duffy and his family, finally launched this week on YouTube after months of delays. Originally set to premiere in June, ahead of the nation’s 250th celebration, it follows Duffy and his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” and their nine children as they travel through seven states. While the couple has roots on MTV’s “The Real World,” their new TV venture doesn’t seem destined to have the same cultural impact. The six episodes of the series — as of publication time — have just over 14,000 views combined.

Meanwhile, over on HBO Max, O’Brien is back for more unpredictable cross-cultural exchanges with the return of his travel series. Now in its third season, “Conan O’Brien Must Go” follows the comedian and podcast host around the world as he interacts with fans and provides glimpses of everyday life abroad with his blend of improvisational comedy and an affinity for situations that embrace the absurd. The season kicks off with a trip to India, a major feat considering the show has faced years of permit delays related to a remote segment for “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” that aired in 2004. I spoke with executive producer and director Mike Sweeney about the latest stops in the show’s world tour.

Plus, our writers recommend two TV dramas that feature formidable women — one is a former city slicker solving mysteries in the Montana wilderness, the other is a detective trying to untangle a missing woman’s case while her personal life is falling apart.

But before I set you on your streaming way, I want to also share our guide to some of Hayden Panettiere’s most notable work. When news broke this week about her sudden death at age 36, it came as an extraordinary shock. Panettiere had been working in front of the camera since she was in diapers, appearing in commercials and, by age 4, making the rounds in the soap opera circuit. Like many millennials, my first exposure to her talent was in Disney’s 2000 sports drama “Remember the Titans,” where she (at age 10) played the spunky, football-loving daughter of a high school assistant coach — and delivered the line that helped signal the prep sport was bigger than Christmas in Virginia. Though her career was cut far too short, she was part of some memorable projects, including “Heroes” and “Nashville,” that are worth revisiting.

Her influence, though, extends beyond her screen work. In her appreciation of Panettiere, culture critic Mary McNamara wrote of the Panettiere’s candidness about her mental health struggles, which included bringing awareness to the realities of postpartum depression: “Panettiere spoke up when she could have remained silent. She called out a truth that has been too long ignored and gave millions of women a chance to ask for help. She might not have saved the world, but she threw a big part of it a lifeline.” — Yvonne Villarreal

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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

“Anna Pigeon” (USA Network)

This highly watchable, lightly addictive, woodsy episodic procedural dishes up meat and potatoes entertainment, or perhaps one should say “poutine,” given that almost all the talent involved is Canadian, as is the impressive scenery. Tracy Spiridakos (“Chicago P.D.”), just the right number of hairs out of place, plays Anna, a New York City stage manager turned federal park ranger after a personal tragedy. In Nevada Barr’s series of novels, the heroine works at a new park from book to book; here, we’re in Montana’s Glacier Park (it does run right up to Canada), the setting of the 2001 “Blood Lure,” with Anna apparently ready to stay put as long as the TV series lasts. (The first Pigeon novel, “Track of the Cat,” from 1993, informs the pilot, directed by Leah Thompson, not Canadian.) Missing persons, bank robbers, litterbug campers and an aggressive grouse bring the trouble. And murderers, of course. Community is a theme; there’s a handsome bartender for romance, a rich villain to hiss. There’s a talent show. The cherry on this sundae is Paulina Alexis, Willie Jack from “Reservation Dogs,” as Anna’s sidekick, enlivening the ensemble with her centered, serious, quietly humorous energy. — Robert Lloyd

“Gone” (Britbox)

Like many British murder mysteries, “Gone” opens in a picturesque portion of that green and pleasant land, in this case the rugby pitch of a stately boys school outside Bristol. Overseeing the home team is headmaster/rugby coach Michael Polly (David Morrissey) who has the mien and manner of a perpetually disappointed tyrant. When Polly’s wife, Sarah, cannot be found at the home they share with their adult daughter, Alana (Emma Appleton), it’s difficult to tell how he’s feeling, if anything. He certainly will not allow a missing wife to interfere with his task of molding boys into men, not with exams and a Very Important rugby final coming up. When he finally reports her absence to the police, it is pretty clear to everyone, especially Det. Sgt. Annie Cassidy (Eve Myles), that he knows more than he’s telling. But is it British reticence, or something more sinister?

Those accustomed to the speedy lab results and instant deductions of a standard police procedural may find themselves, at least initially, shouting out instructions and demands — how can the forensics report be so scanty? why is [fill in the blank] not brought in for questioning? But the show is, essentially, a psychological drama wrapped in a murder mystery. Anchored by splendidly counterintuitive performances by Morrissey and Myles, “Gone” will wrap up its case over six tense and twisty episodes. But the questions it raises — about the insidious power of abusive relationships, the complexity of human emotions and the peril of considering secrecy as protection — linger long after immediate justice is served. — Mary McNamara

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A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

As a member of the growing subgenre of celebrity travelogue, Conan O’Brien has cuddled with Javier Bardem in Spain, dressed up as Sigmund Freud in Vienna and faced off against a Muay Thai fighter in Thailand. The new season of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” has the frequent flier funnyman visiting India, the Netherlands, Morocco and the Philippines — meeting his international fans and testing how well his improvisational humor translates. I spoke with his longtime collaborator Mike Sweeney, co-writer and director on every episode, about this season’s locations and O’Brien’s SPF needs. — Y.V.

The series is a chance for Conan to interact with international fans, particularly those that have been on the podcast. Why do you think Conan’s style of humor travels so well?

He’s fearless. I think that helps. He genuinely loves people, and he has to make people laugh. He has to make people laugh all the time in the United States. And then if you put him in another country, he’s going to figure out how to get his laughs over there, even if no one speaks English. It’s literally like being thrown in a room where he’s got to find his oxygen, and he’s gonna find it by getting laughs everywhere he goes. I’m sure the fact we have a camera with us, people are curious. They tend to attract people who want to open up and play around. People can spot him from a mile away. That also helps. That’s another key to a good travel show — have a really tall orange-haired host.

The first episode is set in India. Things start with him trying to get on a crowded commuter train. What were some moments from that episode that stand out to you?

Yes, we wanted to go in the famous Mumbai commuter trains. Boy, the amount of red tape to get permission to even go down on the platform was crazy. We had to do it several months out. But we loved that [segment]. We loved playing street cricket. He had a young man teaching him, named Veer [Pandey], who was very funny and kind of dismissive of Conan, and that’s kind of Conan’s sweet spot.

Some countries have incredible restrictions — you might need permits to talk to people in the street, you’re dealing with curveballs. And a lot of what Conan does is improvised and you don’t want rules to get in the way. How how do you deal with that?

It varies from country to country. You get a feel for it early on and go, “Oh, we need figure things out far in advance here. You’re getting to a very important point, which is: How much red tape is there in each country? India — a ton. We knew that because we almost shot there in 2018 [for “Conan Without Borders”] and it fell through ultimately because of all this red tape. We knew we really had to have a running start with India. But the Philippines, they were pretty cool. Same with the Netherlands. You know what the big issue is nowadays? Drones, where they let you shoot with drones.

What’s it like doing a travel show as the current administration puts stress on international relations? Did you notice any shifts this season on how you were either received or what’s possible to get cleared because you’re an American show?

Not overtly. Nothing was represented as like, “Oh, you want to come shoot here? Well, we’ll teach you a lesson.” I’d say really surprisingly, it was business as usual in terms of getting permissions to shoot. What’s going on in the crazy United States really wouldn’t come up that much because the things we’re doing are apolitical, which is usually how we like to do it. It’s Conan connecting with people and, in a way, be a political statement because it comes down to respecting other cultures and wanting to learn about other cultures and bridging gaps that way.

There was that moment on the commuter train where a passenger rebuffs Conan by saying, “Fake a— liberal media.” And Conan just rolls with it.

Yes, it’s just like, “Oh, they they even have people calling stuff out like that over here.” It was almost like, “OK, I feel at home. Thank you.”

We all saw that Conan, famous for his red pompadour hairstyle, recently made headlines for a slick, oily hairdo, which was the result of a severe scalp sunburn. In the Morocco episode, there’s a sun-heavy segment. Were you worried about his scalp then? How much budget goes to Conan’s SPF needs?

He’s self-regulating because he has to be that way in California. He has to be that way on a cloudy day in Cape Cod. It’s just ingrained in him, his sun protection. I don’t even think about it. It was business as usual for him in Morocco.

What’s a show you’re currently obsessed with or recommending to people?

We loved “Widow’s Bay” [Apple TV], of course. I sound like everyone else, but also Katie Dippold is great. She was an intern at “Conan,” and I’ve seen her a few times over because we kind of lived near each other in Los Feliz. But she’s just delightful. We’re so happy for her, and plus that show was just amazing. And my wife and I dipped back into “Slow Horses.”

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