If you watched Conan O’Brien’s final episode of Late Night last Friday, then you saw his earnest and heartfelt goodbye speech at the end of the show where he thanked David Letterman for paving the way for absurdist late night comedy, and Lorne Michaels for taking a chance on him and basically creating his career out of thin air, and his entire staff and crew for 16 years of very hard work. You also might have noticed that he specifically thanked Joel Godard, the show’s announcer. “Huh,” I thought. “That is odd. I wonder why he isn’t bringing Joel Godard to Los Angeles. Surely Joel has what it takes to say the words “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Briiiiiien” with as much authority as he’s been saying “Late Night with Conan O’Briiiiiien” all these years. And then pretend to hang himself some more.” That is what I thought. Well, today I have my explanation:

BECAUSE ANDY RICHTER IS BACK, SON! From TV Week:

Andy Richter is reuniting with Conan O’Brien, signing on to serve as announcer for Mr. O’Brien’s new incarnation of “The Tonight Show.”

NBC is expected to announce the decision later today.

On “Tonight,” Mr. Richter will not be a nightly desk-side presence as he was on “Late Night.” He will, however, participate in both live and pre-taped comedy bits.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS! I guess the whole breaking out on his own to achieve comedic self-actualization as the star of his own projects didn’t really work out, and this almost seems like two steps back starting over at square -1, and that’s definitely :( , but come on guys. It’s Andy Richter! Back in our faces! THE RICHTANATOR! Makin’ announcements! He’s the best. Watch and learn. Recess is over.

UPDATE: Official.

Word has come that Andy Richter, Conan O'Brien ’s sidekick from the ...
Andy Richter, left, is seen with Conan O'Brien in 2007. The two men ...
Conan O'Brien, right, and Andy Richter show off the set of TBS' "Conan ...
Andy Richter with Conan O'Brien.
Conan O'Brien And Andy Richter Return As Newt And Callista Gingrich (VIDEO)
After debuting his Callista Gingrich impression Tuesday night and seeing how well it dovetailed with Andy Richter's skillful Newt, Conan O'Brien couldn't help but don his platinum bob wig and bright red lipstick for a second time on Wednesday.
Late Night: Inspired by Puppy Bowl, Conan unveils 'Puppy Conan'
miniature replica of the "Conan" stage emerged from behind a set of curtains. Two adorable, bewigged puppies took the place of O'Brien and his sidekick, Andy Richter. Puppy Andy appeared to have a case of stage fright, turning away from the ...
Comments (29)
  1. He should be a nightly desk-presence. Leno was lacking someone in the Ed McMahon role.

    Hey, what’s Ed McMahon doing nowadays, other than melting gold? Conan should get him.

    • RobinRubbermaid  |   Posted on Feb 24th, 2009

      I can only hope you’re joking. The only thing Ed McMahon did worse than managing his money was being second banana.

  2. Yaaay!
    Andy Richter and Eugene Levy both have a terrible problem with taking TERRIBLE jobs. They’re so genius but they do such shit. Hopefully this will keep Andy busy doing good stuff.

    • What is the evidence of Andy Richter’s genius? I like him enough, but he was always over appreciated for his role on Conan’s show, then his solo stuff sort of left me cold. I never actually saw Andy Richter Controls the Universe, so that’s my fault for being uninformed, but I watched his detective show and would have given it about a B. Conan certainly didn’t suffer when Andy left. It’s great that he’s returning, and this seems like a great gig, frankly. I wouldn’t scoff at being the voice of the Tonight Show.

  3. CoNAN  |   Posted on Feb 24th, 2009

    HOLY SHIT THAT’S AWESOME! I LOVEZ ANDY RICHTERZ

  4. ggggg  |   Posted on Feb 24th, 2009

    SO exciting. i’m hoping that he will start as announcer and sort of be in the background of the show but then realize it is written for him to be on the couch and will become SIDEKICK EXTREME again.

  5. Yay!
    Andy in the sidekick seat always made me uncomfortable. It was ~awkward~, you know? But I love that he’ll be a regular in bits. whee.

  6. Fenrox  |   Posted on Feb 24th, 2009

    DUDES, Andy Richter has NEVER, EVER been in a bad anything. THAT IS ALL.

    • Chadams  |   Posted on Feb 24th, 2009

      I never saw “Quintuplets” but I bet that those who have, would call that a misstep for Richter. No offense to the man though – I’m glad he’ll be back but will miss Joel.

  7. He’s probably able to do it and still be able to do other work, since the show is being taped in LA. I saw him do an Upright Citizens Brigade show recently. Richter’s the best.

  8. that’s rockin’ good news. i know i’m in the minority on this, but i always thought andy was the best thing about conan’s show during the early years.

  9. This news is off the ANDY RICHTER SCALE.
    :) :) :) <3

  10. Andrew  |   Posted on Feb 24th, 2009

    I’d be more psyched by a revival of the mega-underrated “Andy Richter Controls the Universe.” That shit out-Scrubsed Scrubs.

  11. Will he be needing a stunt double for the new Tonight Show, or is Rocky out of a job?

  12. alex  |   Posted on Feb 24th, 2009

    I’ve seen just about every Late Night Episode for the past 8 years and I’d much rather keep Joel than have Andy.

    WTF

    • I liked Joel but the stuff they wrote for him was one note. The creepy-old-dude-likes-young-asian-men” note.

      I’m still a little worried about NBC sucking the life out of Conan in the 11:30 slot, but Andy coming along is a GREAT sign. Andy Richter Controls the Universe was unappreciated, but yeah, his detective show — produced by Conan — was a little flat.

  13. jacques  |   Posted on Feb 24th, 2009

    And this leaves the door open for Norm MacDonald to sidekick.

  14. I squealed like a little girl when I saw this.

  15. Are you sure that’s a picture of Andy up there, cause that looks more like, Chareth the flirt.

  16. kurt  |   Posted on Feb 25th, 2009

    awesome awesome news, but isnt anybody else disappointed to see joel godard go?
    i wish they could keep him on somehow. it was always great whenever they worked him into a bit. constantly talking in the announcer voice, grinning creepily.

    i hope they bring him on for cameos or something.

  17. Maybe Joel didn’t want to leave NYC? Regardless, this is awesome news that Richter is back. Conan did fine on his own, Richter did fine on his own, but putting chocolate and peanut butter back together….perfection.

  18. eddie  |   Posted on Feb 26th, 2009

    this is the best of both worlds. Conan was never as funny as when Andy left, but it’ll be great to see Andy get tortured in various skits, love it! great idea. the dude obviously had no career after Conan except for random cameos here and there, and the only thing that came to mind when you saw him was “hey its Andy Richter from Conan O’Brian”. Conan is more of a Letterman than Carson, he just needs the ocassional support, but he’s better on his own.

  19. This makes me happier than Obama’s election as president! Does that say something bad about me as a person?

  20. noneya  |   Posted on Mar 1st, 2009

    Yay Richtor is joining the pale force!

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