Dana Edelson/NBCThe prodigal sidekick has returned.
Andy Richter will be playing McMahon to Conan O'Brien's Carson, as the former Late Night cohorts reteam when O'Brien takes the Tonight Show reins from Jay Leno this summer.
This time around, however, instead of serving as O'Brien's onair wingman, Richter will take the role of full-service announcer, who in addition to serving as the official voice of the late night juggernaut will also regularly appear in comedy bits.
"Andy is one of the funniest people I know, and we've maintained a close friendship since he left Late Night," O'Brien said. "We have a proven chemistry that will be an incredible asset to The Tonight Show."
As for how the professional relationship was rekindled, it seems Richter may have been indebted to his Bob's Big Boy-esque friend. And not just professionally.
"I'm looking forward to working with Andy on a daily basis again, particularly since he owes me $300," O'Brien said.
Richter served as the final non-musical guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien when it signed off last Friday. No word was made at the time that he would be part of the Tonight Show's regime change.
The duo first teamed up back in 1993, when an untested—and at least by the network, untrusted—O'Brien took over David Letterman's late night show. He left in 2000 to pursue an acting career, more often than not backed by O'Brien. (The host produced Richter's most high-profile ill-fated TV outings, 2007's Andy Barker, P.I., and 2002's Andy Richter Controls the Universe.)
While the Tonight Show gig is good news for Richter fans, it's bad news for Joel Goddard diehards.
Though O'Brien paid tribute to the Late Night announcer on his final episode, singling him out for his contributions over the show's 16-year run, the Asian boytoy-lover will apparently not be making the trip to Los Angeles.
Richter's confirmation sets into place the final rundown of onair talent for the O'Brien-manned Tonight Show. O'Brien announced earlier this month that Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg 7 will transfer over to become the Tonight Show house band.
O'Brien & Co. will make their Tonight Show debut on June 1.