Well, the cleverest midseason show I have ever seen has been cancelled, apparently - the two remaining episodes in the can are to air this weekend, according to AICN.
Pity. I really dug the show.
You mean someone actually watched that show? :eek: 
–FCOD
Damn, that was a really funny show. Way better than Earl or 30 Rock.
Intersting that this is the only thread on the show AFAIK. I enjoyed it also. I like “AR Controls the Universe” better but this show also has (had) its charm.
Brian
The first episode was a little tame, but it was really starting to grow on me. The chicken episode especially had me in stitches. And, according to my cable guide, Jesse L. Martin is guest-starring this week as his L&O character, Det. Greene. Should be fun.
Too bad it’s over. Andy Richter just can’t catch a break.
Man, I finally watched the chicken episode last night and thought it was great. This show is so funny if you’re old enough to remember Magnum P.I., Riptide or Simon & Simon, or any of those 80’s private eye shows.
I agree with N9IWP that … Controls the Universe was better, but this still had its charm.
At least I think I read King of Queens is finally done.
ETA:
I think Andy Richter Can’t Catch a Break should be the name of his next series!
One one hand, it could be people like the guy, but they just can’t find the right vehicle for him. On the other, a few good moments on Conan and bit parts in films does not necssarily a star make.
I thgouth about watching it, forgot it was on, realized it would probably be canceled if I did like it and well, there ya go.
Ah, shit.
I loved it. When done right, nothing’s funnier than a noir pastiche parody. I loved the fact that Andy was a genuinely good guy, and not so much in over his head but just more of an innocent than is appropriate for the situation.
The mirror of “The Big Lebowski”, where mistaken identity leads an utter square, instead of a loser stoner, into crime fighting and adventure.
Andy’s wife was also a cutie, and, unlike most sitcom wives, wasn’t an improbably hot shrew.
But, I suppose building sets and hiring actors with a modicum of talent costs money. And being cheap is more important than being good.
Shitty shit shit! I’ve been telling everyone at work about how hilarious that show is. Why is it that any show with even a hint of intelligent humor gets canned and yet “The War at Home” was on for years?
DAMMIT! This sucks.
My wife and I watched this, and chuckled at a few bits. We’re fans of Andy Richter based on his days as Conan’s sidekick, and thought the fact it was written/produced by Conan O’Brien was a big plus.
But after the first two episodes (and part of a third), we pretty much gave up. The accountant-turned-PI gimmick didn’t really work for a lot of the fish-out-of-water humor. For example, the scene in the pilot where he was outrunning Russian mobsters while giving retirement advice to a client in the back seat. It was absurd, but not really that funny; perhaps accounting talk is just a little too dry, or the by-the-numbers chase alittle too familiar, but it didn’t make us laugh. Ditto the race-against-time of filing his father-in-law’s tax return before the credit-card thieves caught him; silly yes, but somehow not really that funny.
Other than this wheezy main gimmick, the show had to rely on a quirky supporting cast. They were good in spots (particularly the video-store owner), but mostly seemed like cliches grafted onto the show’s already-cliched premise (a sendup of twenty/thirty-year-old detective shows, as if the fossilized remains of '70s TV haven’t been parodied enough).
I’ll admit the show had promise, and NBC’s pathetic promotion probably doomed it from the start, but by no means are we crying too much over this. IMO Richter seems best (based on his O’Brien-sidekick days) when writing for himself or improv-ing. I just don’t think chaining himself to parodies of well-worn TV content brings out the best in his talents. It always seemed like he was deliberately over-acting to keep reminding us how ridiculous the show was. That’s funny in small doses, but after a while the audience “get’s it”, then starts to agree that it isn’t really worth their time.
…what CJJ* said.
I bet it did. If not for the occasional web article and talk show appearance, I probably wouldn’t have heard anything about it.
Let’s recap. NBC pulled a low-rated drama - Studio 60 - and tried shoehorning in a new drama with a completely different audience for a few weeks, and pulled an even lower-rated comedy - 30 Rock - and tried squeezing a quirky comedy in that spot.
And, here’s what’s truly amazing. Neither replacement found an audience in the first two weeks!
Could anyone have seen this coming? Anyone? Even George Tenet thought it was a slam dunk!
I thought it was only OK. I did watch it each week, but I’m not sure I could say that I ever laughed out loud. I wondered if the bit last week about encrypting the credit card numbers so that it would be easy for the FBI to trace them was deliberately wrong as part of a joke or if they just were that clueless about what encryption means. If it was a joke, it was pretty subtle.
I thought it was funny too, and I’m sorry to see it go. But if they had to choose between renewing 30 Rock and Andy Barker, I think they made the right choice.
Off topic, but I recently found out that Wendy from “Andy Richter Controls the Universe” is in music now. This is her myspace page.
I loved that damn show! I’m still hurt that it was canceled so early.
I didn’t watch it because I figured I’d catch it the repeats. An hour or two of TV a night is my max, and sometimes not even that.
I’m sorry it’s cancelled. Even sorrier that the original and clever Raines won’t see a full run.
And sorrier yet that reality and game shows seem to be taking over the big three networks.
And still pissed about Kidnapped!
But if they had to choose between Andy Barker and—well, surely there must be something on TV crappier than this that they could have cancelled instead?
I like Andy Richter and hope he finds his niche somewhere. But I can’t help wondering if maybe the role he was born to play was… Conan O’Brien’s sidekick.
Too bad - I thought it was one of the better sitcoms to come along in awhile - which isn’t saying much as sitcoms seem to be dead in the water as of late.
Andy Richter played the role perfectly - the hapless accountant who fell into the position of PI by accident - his facial expressions alone were worth tuning in to watch.
Oh well - one less show to clutter up the DVR.