NEW YORK — The late-night guessing game is over, with a startling twist: Conan O’Brien has chosen TBS as his future talk-show home.

Expected to debut in November, the as-yet-untitled show will return O’Brien to the air after an absence that began in January when he abruptly left NBC, his employer of 17 years.

O’Brien’s new program will air Mondays through Thursdays at 11 p.m. Eastern time, which will shift “Lopez Tonight,” starring George Lopez, from 11 p.m. to midnight.

O’Brien’s show will originate from Los Angeles, where he moved from New York for his short-lived stint hosting “The Tonight Show.”

For the second half of each show, he will face off against Jay Leno, who replaced him.

The five-year contract gives O’Brien ownership of the show, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to publicly discuss it.

Upon TBS’ announcement Monday, O’Brien quickly fired out a celebratory tweet.

“The good news: I will be doing a show on TBS starting in November! The bad news: I’ll be playing Rudy on the all new Cosby Show,” he posted on Twitter.

Comedy tour starts in Eugene

Conan O’Brien opened his two-month “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour” on Monday night in Eugene. The former “Tonight” host is barred from appearing on TV until September under the terms of his $32 million exit from NBC.

While O’Brien has long performed monologues and sketches on TV, he’s trying out a new role as standup. A number of his 30 stops are in college towns.

— The Associated Press