Here's How Andy Richter Became Conan's Sidekick
After working as a writer for "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons," Conan O'Brien quickly captivated younger audiences when he took over David Letterman's role as host for "Late Night" in 1993. Airing on NBC, the show was created by "SNL" head honcho Lorne Michaels, per Britannica, and followed on the heels of "The Tonight Show" led by Jay Leno.
As with many late night hosts at the time, O'Brien didn't find success as the show's lead all by himself. He had a trusty sidekick in the form of Andy Richter, an actor and comedian who's been O'Brien's wingman all the way up until the end of "Conan" on TBS in June.
The duo have been cracking up audiences for nearly three decades, and will hopefully continue to do so with O'Brien's next incarnation of his late night show on HBO. But how did Andy Richter become the host's sidekick in the first place?
Andy Richter wasn't entirely sure about becoming Conan O'Brien's sidekick in the beginning
Like many talk shows at the time, Conan O'Brien's tenure on "Late Night" included a sidekick. And Andy Richter found his way to O'Brien thanks to the first head writer of "Late Night," Robert Smigel. A meeting was set up between the two comedians, and Richter told The New York Times that they "hit it off immediately" thanks to their similar sense of humor. "I knew I'd met someone who's stupid in the way that I'm stupid and ... just wants to have fun," Richter explained.
But even when the two first met, Richter wasn't aware that Smigel and O'Brien were testing him out to become a "supporting player" to the host, as Richter described it. And when he got the role, Richter wasn't entirely convinced about being O'Brien's sidekick at first, as the show would be a "hybrid talk show-sketch" and the comedian was potentially interested in becoming a character rather than sidekick. As for what changed his mind, the comedian had this to say. " ... I went back to my office and right as my butt was hitting my office chair, I thought, 'Who am I kidding?'" Richter recalled to The New York Times. "'Yes, I'll be on TV every night.'"
For his part, O' Brien most recently sung Richter's praises on the final episode of "Conan" in June. Calling him "one of the funniest people I've ever met," O'Brien said Richter is "a brilliant man, and I'll love him forever."