Andy Richter Controls the Universe

As I am an avid Conan O'Brian fan, I am also an avid Andy Richter fan. You can find my review for Late Night with Conan O'Brian on IMDb, written the night of Andy's final episode, where I admit that I teared up. That's pathetic, I know, but Conan and Andy (and the rest of the Late Night crew, Max, Joel, Robot on the Toilet, et al.) are like dear friends to me. I feel that I could walk up to any one of them and they'd be perfectly cordial.

When I heard about Andy Richter Controls the Universe, sometime in April or May of 2001, I couldn't wait. And then, a month or so ago, promos started to run on Fox (and during whatever other air time they could afford) constantly. It began to get annoying and, what was worse, the promos were not very funny. I was scared. Andy Richter needs (and, moreover, deserves) a hit show.

Fortunately, the show was funny, at least the first episode was. It's about a Chicagoan who writes manuals in a large office building. Office comedies aren't exactly original - heck, half the shows of the 1990s and this new decade seem to take place in offices. But Andy's coworkers are funny and interesting people, so no worries there. The premise of the show is a bit more ambitious: Andy's imagination runs wild and he is constantly reimagining his life. We see these reworkings and other fantasies, and they are quite funny. Still, there have been similar sit-coms in the past. I think there has been at least one that is dangerously close in its premise, but the closest I can think of offhand is the brilliant (and underrated) HBO sitcom Dream On. Where did that show go?

What makes this show (this episode, anyway) worthwhile is thy God, Andy Richter. Sure, I'm biased, but Andy's just hilarious. And charming. There's a nice tinge of pathos around him, which gives the show more weight than it otherwise would have. Another thing to be thankful for is that there are no laughtracks. I suppose we should thank Malcolm in the Middle especially for that. The creators of that show had to fight Fox in order to be rid of the manipulative recordings, and it paid off (though that show is already, in only, what, it's fourth year, past its prime). Let's hope that Andy Richter Controls My Universe stays as funny in subsequent episodes, and perhaps even get better.

As it stands right now, Andy Richter is the funniest thing on Television. It's great that Fox picked it up for another season. Andy Richter is a comic genius and it would be even better if Conan O'Brian made an appearance on the show. It would be great to see this comic duo back together!!

Back in '02, my old man and I decided to watch the show, see how it was- we absolutely LOVED it. So far, I have yet to be let down by a single episode. The characters are great, the writing is phenomenal- it's rich, fresh, and incredibly witty. Seriously, what more COULD I ask? I say, Fox, dump that god-awful Arrested Development, and PUT ANDY RICHTER BACK ON! If the series ever goes to DVD, I guarantee I will be one of the first to purchase it. Most current shows, in the past 5 years, have not really impressed me in the least bit- but THIS SHOW HAS IT ALL! Again, I really hope Fox will consider bringing it back for several more seasons. It's not often these days for a prime time sitcom to be much of a hit unless it is an animated show, but this is probably one of those few remaining live gems out there.

"Andy Richter" was a wonderful, all-too-short-lived TV series that followed the fictional "Andy" through his moribund work days--and, more often, through the frustrated writer's hilariously warped fantasy life--a sort of Walter Mitty on bad acid. Subversive and screamingly funny, "Andy Richter" was brilliantly conceived and sharply written, and the cast--from Richter himself to Paget Brewster, Irene Molloy, Jonathan Slavin and James Patrick Stuart--had tremendous chemistry and perfect comic timing.

Like the live-action "The Tick" (another casualty of Fox's early 2000s "create brilliant shows and then slaughter them like rabid dogs" policy), "Andy Richter" was a postmodern delight that was gone too soon. One can only pray to the mighty disc gods for a DVD release.

I never thought that I'd say this, but I there finally is a show that is even funnier than FAMILY GUY [which is also on Fox]. I still like FAMILY GUY, yet this is my new favorite show [even though there have only been two episodes so far]. I guess the reason I love the show so much is because I have always been a huge Andy Richter fan. I've always liked Paget Brewster as well. The show's writing is sharp and witty [unlike 98% of the others sitcoms on television these days], the characters are brillantly crafted, and each episode is full of non-stop laughs.