Andy Barker, P.I.

I don't know much about Andy Ritcher, but I do recognize a funny character. Usually you see him in other chummly actors like the late John Candy and so forth. Basically his character is a mild mannered accountant who's bored with his day job a bit and decides to be a Private Eye, after being mistaken for one. He therefore have adventures solving eccentric crimes with a middle eastern restaurant owner, a neurotic video store owner/movie buff, and a bored female African American assistant. I think this show has potential its like The secret life of Walter Mitty meets Delirious meets The Michael Richards Show. Its a bit slow at times but it picks up and goes uphill with the hilarity. I highly recommend this show! A great night on Thursdays with Ugly Betty, Scrubs, and this show.

Andy Richter set a high bar with the turn-of-the-century series "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" (about a writer working in a nowhere job who replays bad scenes in his life). "AR Controls the Universe" had a perfect cast and was full of laughs. One episode, "Gimme a C," was the sitcom episode I laughed at more than any in history. It's still one of my favorite TV shows.

"Andy Barker P. I." is another great idea. Andy Barker (Andy Richter) is an accountant with a very normal life, with a nice wife, and he's taking an exciting step by opening his own firm. But his new office was formerly occupied by a private eye who is now in a rest home (or is he?) and Barker gets drawn into private eye work on the side.

The series is dotted with hilarious moments, though the characters apart from the Barkers are overdrawn.

I think the problem with both Andy Richter shows is that they have great ideas for movies rather than continuing shows. Still, this show has its laughs, and Richter is always likable. But it's not the classic "Controls the Universe" is.

I've always liked Andy Richter, ever since his days as Conan O'Brien's sidekick on "Late Night". I've wanted to like his previous forays into his own shows, but nothing had really clicked before.

This time, things click, in a quirky, funny series that brings a new twist to film noir conventions. The basic set-up: Andy Barker, a CPA, starts work at his new office. Unbeknownst to him, it was previously occupied by a PI. When a mysterious woman shows up looking for someone to find her dead husband, Barker is reluctant to take on the case -- but given his scarcity of clients and her $4,000 retainer, the offer is too tempting to pass up. When the issue of the husband's tax returns come up, it's the clincher that pulls the CPA into a different line of work.

Thus begins the premise, in which Barker is ably abetted by video store clerk Simon (Tony Hale, "Arrested Development") -- who applies everything he's learned about crime and criminals from movies, with sometimes unintended results.

While it doesn't quite have the subversive depth of a lot of modern half hour comedies, it does have the off-kilter tone of something like the live-action "The Tic" This go-round, Conan O'Brien is co-creator and executive producer, and that may be the secret ingredient that's made this a watchable show. A lot of the gags feel like Late Night bits dropped into the plot, like when Barker advises a client on tax law during a car chase.

There's potential for this series, provided the writers can keep developing the concept, and NBC doesn't give up too soon.

Andy Barker (Andy Richter) is a mild-mannered Certified Public Accountant who moves into a professional office. The previous tenant was private eye Lew Staziak (Harve Presnell) who has retired. Clients keep coming to hire a P.I. and Andy starts taking on cases. Andy's wife Jenny (Clea Lewis) at first disapproves. He befriends Simon (Tony Hale), the manager of a local video store, who wants to be his partner. Wally (Marshall Manesh) is the super-patriotic Afgani restaurateur.

This is playing with the noir hard-boiled detective genre. This show tries very hard to be wacky. Somehow much of it fails to connect. The jokes don't come off quite so funny. It is more awkward and uneven than anything else. The cast is a nice funny group, but they are all sidekicks. Like it or not, this needs a pretty leading man type to solidify the center. Andy could play against that type of character while still being the lead.

What a refreshing show for a change. We have looked forward to each episode but the network seems to replace it with other programs. Why? The premise/cast is/are fabulous. Seeing Harve Presnell again adds icing on the fun cake. Please give the show a chance! The joy of the video store guy helping determine the crime via his knowledge of movies and how they fit in with the stories is magic. When Andy tries to solve the week's 'problem' and continues to fall into hysterically funny situations knock's us out. All we can say is that having a program on the air that we look forward to means a great deal. Please, again, continue the fun by allowing us to view a rare fun series.