Who's the best late-night sidekick of all-time, McMahon or Richter?

A few years ago, Entertainment Weekly named the 50 best sidekicks of all-time, and Tonight Show announcer Ed McMahon came in at number one. But Slate's Troy Patterson has other ideas.

He chooses Andy Richter as the best late-night sidekick of all-time for his stint on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Patterson doesn't really count Paul Shaffer or Kevin Eubanks as "sidekicks" because they're more bandleaders than sidekicks, but I bet an argument could be made that either of them do fit the definition.

I'm not sure how we're supposed to judge something like this. Sure, you could say that Richter is probably a more talented guy in general, because he's an actor, a comic, a writer, as well as a great second banana. But McMahon did was he was supposed to do, be a perfect compliment to Johnny Carson and have great chemistry with him. Richter lasted about 7 years, while McMahon was with Carson for 30. Of course, Richter is going to get another chance with Conan starting in June, so his time is going to increase.

And on The Tonight Show! Funny how these things work out sometimes.