Andy Richter Still Fuming Over Leno, NBC Snub
Fans are bitter that
Conan O'Brien got kicked off the air. Friends are bitter, too --
Jimmy Kimmel has
made that all too clear. CoCo, himself, is bitter -- but getting over it, slowly, with the help of Twitter. But perhaps no one is more bitter than sidekick
Andy Richter.
On Tuesday morning, nearly two months after NBC announced the end of Conan's tenure on the 'Tonight Show,' Richter told
Kelly Ripa that his feud with
Jay Leno and NBC is still very much alive.
"Yes, yes I do," Richter said, when asked by Ripa if he still had ill feelings for NBC or Leno. "Why wouldn't I?"
The response received applause from a crowd that seemed to share Richter's feelings and appreciated the star's honesty. Sitting in for a vacationing Regis Philbin on 'Live with Regis and Kelly,' Richter made his first appearance on television since "the hullabloo," as Ripa called the now-notorious late night television wars.
"I actually can be on TV," Richter joked. "Conan can't, in fact, I'm not even sure I can say his name."
Richter, 43, was Conan's sidekick on 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' from 1993 to 2000. In 2009, he joined O'Brien's 'Tonight Show' as its announcer.
The longtime sidekick was vocal about his disapproval over the way NBC handled the shakeup. "Everybody said they were going to do something, and they didn't."
Richter never mentioned Leno by name on Tuesday, not that he needed to.
"It's very frustrating when somebody says ... 'I'm going to take this number one show and hand it over and hope that the next guy ... makes it a number one show,' and then doesn't."
Richter suggested Leno's excuse, that he was contractually bound to re-take 'The Tonight Show' after Conan's ouster, was inadequate: "You know how multimillionaires are always being forced to do things they don't want to do."
Richter later admitted, "I've calmed down about it," but not before Ripa could finish his sentence.
"But it's still very much at the surface."
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Both Leno and O'Brien did poorly in their new slots. NBC had created two losing situations, and tried to fix it. Blame NBC.
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Andy still controlling the universe!
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I agree, why don't you grow up already. If Conan was so good he would still be on the Tonight Show. Jay Leno has class and doesn't need to act like an ass. After 18 years even Letterman should hang it up already. Johnny Carson picked Leno and not Lettrman or if he was still alive, certainly not Conan.
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Go away, backstabber Jay !
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Hey, I liked Andy w/Conan, too...but get over it! Jay Leno & NBC didn't take away your career, Andy, you never had one w/o Conan & with millions of bucks now, to boot. Consider yourself a VERY lucky man & move on/shut your mouth.
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Ok,
Thank God Jay is back!! It was like the ending of the Bob Newhart Show years ago!! A BAD DREAM!!! Conan, I wish you well in your WRITING Future!!! As far as being ON Camera!!! Forget it!!! Please stay away fron the stage!!! You will never be FUNNY doing your own Shtick!!!! You are a brilliant writer!!! A BAD Performer!!! I REPEAT!! No, just please stay OFF the air!!! Jay Leno is a Real Live Performer!! I know you are a nice man!! Just not personally, on stage funny!!! Good luck in your future endevours!!!
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Andy, Andy it is time for you to take some if not a lot of the blame...Conan was lacking charisma his show lost money, and maybe if would have had a passable sidekick, not even good just passable he would have maintained ratings. But no He had Andy Zucker, Andy the loser..so both had to go thank god.
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"Conan KILLED the ratings of the Tonight Show so he got dumped. How is that Leno's fault?"
Leno was his lead-in. Go get someone to help you tie your shoes.
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That still doesn't explain Jay's ratings drop of only 14% and Conan's drop of practically 50%. Point is, Conan's 12:35 show didn't work at 11:35. Different audience...they all checked out Letterman instead. As much as I honestly like Conan...his show wasn't right for that timeslot. Plain and simple. It just didn't hold up the numbers Leno had at that time.
This is the big leagues... if your show isn't getting ratings, you're outta there. You get the big bucks, this is simply a side of the business that you have to deal with. Deal already! If you had been a ratings hit Leno would never have been given the Tonight Show back... you dropped the ball, he was waiting in the wings. Every job has its pros and cons.
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are you people all idiots? conan was the best thing to happen to the tonight show, plus andy made a great sidekick. leno is, and has always been, not funny whatsoever. you all need to get a life.
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I don't even know who the he-- this guy is!
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look andy is not funny and who knows how he got the job in the first place. conan was a disaster and his smal club wierd act the people didnt like and its that simple nbc blew it when they tried to put a third not funny conan and the ratings showed people didt like his show high school humor and jr high gags has no imagation at all and the true is the same for andy and he laugh at what conan did but noboy esle was laughing.
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Leno appeals to the Goobers from fly over country..........Who cares...
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The Tonight Show hasn't been funny since Johnny Carson left. The best late night funny man these days is Craig Ferguson. He reminds me of Carson the way he showcases his guests. He brings out the best in them. It isn't all about the host and whatever the guest is plugging the way it is on the Leno show.
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Life's a bithc....then you die.........It seems that the public has spoken....... that's show biz, right.......man up and move on
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Jay Leno is a snake.
He made a big production of leaving late night TV - then didn't.
He sabotaged Conan, of whom I am no great fan. (he's no Triumph the insult dog) before he ever hit the Tonight Show. And it became a double whammy when Jay's new show, stunk up the place.
Deal with fact and reality folks, no matter which performer you like or don't like.
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Jay is perfect for the older, white, conservative, below average intellegence crowd. He could have stepped up like a man and done the right thing. His act is old and tired like his fans. His better stuff was lifted from Letterman and Stern.
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maternatura hit it right on the head.carson was and will always be the king of any talk show.leno is improving,kimmel is a laugh a minute,ferguson is the best and most orriginal of all of them.conan needs to work on his craft.and letterman is just another political suckup that hasnt been funny in decades.cbs could do a whole lot worse than putting craig killborne back on in place of boring letterman.
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WILL SOMEONE CHANGE THIS BABY'S DIAPER! OR HIS IT DEPENDS!
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