Andy Richter Announcing for Conan O'Brien on Tonight Show
Andy Richter
It would have been impossible to predict back in the year 2000, but Andy Richter and Conan O'Brien are reuniting for good.
Richter, O'Brien's Late Night sidekick from the show's 1993 premiere until 2000, will become the announcer of The Tonight Show when O'Brien takes over for Jay Leno on June 1. Although Richter won't sit beside O'Brien, Ed McMahon-style, he will take part in sketches and other bits with the host.
That could mean a revival of still-funny-but-just-not-the-same routines from the Age of Andy, including their predictions about "The Year 2000" — and plenty of fierce staring contests between the two.
"Andy is one of the funniest people I know and we've maintained a close friendship since he left Late Night," O'Brien said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to working with Andy on a daily basis again, particularly since he owes me $300."
Richter and O'Brien displayed some of their old chemistry Friday on O'Brien's final Late Night, when Richter turned up as a surprise guest — the last non-musical guest in the show's 16-year run. (In another surprise, The White Stripes stopped in to perform.)
O'Brien's Late Night announcer, Joel Godard, won't have a role with the new show — but friends of O'Brien's tend to turn up in his studio often.
Could there be any better news for O'Brien fans? (Besides the return of PimpBot 5000?)