Article: `Best of Show' co-star/good guy Fred Willard fools them all.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

DEARBORN, Mich. _ Fred Willard is such a nice man, he even takes being fleeced as a compliment.

Not only was he "very flattered," he says, when he first caught Andy Richter doing his "Fernwood 2-Night" sidekick shtick on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," but when David Letterman shamelessly stole a "Fernwood" bit about the Garagiola Theory _ which put sportscaster Joe Garagiola at every major conspiracy from the Kennedy assassination to Watergate _ he felt "appreciated."

"David and I were both on `Hollywood Squares' and he came over and said, `Hey, I'm such a fan I stole your bit,' " says Willard. "I was like, thanks. Then when he got his nighttime ...

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