The Best Late Night TV Sidekicks

The thing about late night TV sidekicks is that,when they work, they can elevate the quality of a late night show by a wide margin. Whether their ability to riff on a joke to make it even better, or just the way they laugh at something to really get the audience to feel invited to join in, they can sometimes make or break a new late night show or popular segment. They also take a lot of pressure off the host, particularly when there's a guest who might not be feeling the interview, or is just feeling self-conscious. So it's time to vote for the greatest in late night television history, on this list of the best late night TV sidekicks! Vote up your favorites, and downvote the ones you don't really care for. 

One late night talk sidekick you might find surprising is Regis Philbin - one of the rare cases of a sidekick actually going on to host their own show. He was Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show from 1967 to 1969. Typically, late night host sidekicks are on the couch or leading the band, like Kevin Eubanks and Reggie Watts. Sometimes, in the case of Fred Armisen, they have their own killer careers and are mostly just hanging out with their friends because they can. When it comes to late night television host sidekicks, there's a wide swath of choices - even one who is more machine than man in Craig Ferguson's Geoff Peterson robot sidekick.

So take a look at this late night sidekicks list and vote up your favorites! Whether you like Steve Higgins or Paul Shaffer, you'll find all the most popular sidekicks from throughout late night TV history listed here.