Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter will spend another late night together working this Sunday’s Oscars telecast.
With O’Brien returning as host for the 98th Academy Awards, former sidekick Richter has been enlisted to host a TikTok Live for ABC, stationed backstage at Hollywood’s biggest night.
Richter announced the reunion on social media, via a phone call with O’Brien.
“I’ll just be running around, bothering people with no idea why I’m there or what I’m supposed to do,” he explained to his former, three-time boss (on NBC’s Late Night and The Tonight Show, then TBS’ Conan).
“Well,” Conan quipped in response, “why should that night be any different?”
Watch the announcement—closing plot twist included—below.
In addition to sharing a storied late-night history with the Oscars’ well-received host, Richter amassed quite a following of his own as a fan-favorite on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. During Season 34 of the high-rated reality competition, he and pro partner/franchise vet Emma Slater made it to the quarter-finals.
Richter and O’Brien’s paths frequently have crossed since their late night runs, most recently at last year’s The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (where O’Brien was the honoree and Richter a speaker), and on the podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.
The 98th Oscars will be held Sunday, March 15, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The telecast begins at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC, and will be streamed live on Hulu.
