Bermuda Triangle of Television : Andy Richter Controls the Universe

See the World Through My Eyes

Series Name: Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Television Network : FOX
Running Time : 20-22 Minutes
Broadcast Run : March 19th, 2002 to January 12th, 2003(19 Episodes)

Like most Brilliant but Cancelled shows out there, today, I speak of Fox Television. Not to be completely unfair to Fox, while they have the most "Brilliant but Cancelled" shows by a fair margin, it also means they've given a fair number of these types of programs their opportunity on the air. But FOX and the words promotion don't really go hand in hand unless it's something eerie, like World's Greatest Police Dogs Biting Evil Humans or something that doesn't necessarily need advertisement, like American Idol. Shows on FOX in their infancy, their first two to three seasons are very susceptible to cancellation. If you need an example, just check out this quote from Peter Griffin detailing Fox's process of scheduling and canceling in just three years.

Andy Richter starred as the self titled lead Andy. He's an aspiring writer who's gotten a job writing technical manuals for a large corporate conglomerate. Feeling the dullness of his office life with his aspiring creative ambitions nipping at his heels, Andy concocts various potential scenarios for every major moment in his day to day life.Living in both the real world and imagination land(©South Park), rarely is he not off day dreaming, in a Zach Braff like trance. When alone and walking the hallways, he speaks to the long deceased racist original owner of the company, Pickering, who appears to him in his imagination much like many of the cut scenes and quick gags. Andy's idea of a dream or goal in life is to have two televisions in his bedroom, so when he lies on one side and wants to turn to his other, he could still watch TV.

He's surrounded by a group of friends: his meek but friendly partner on technical manuals as the artist Bryan(Jonathan Slavin, Better off Ted), friend and handsome so he gets everything easy PR man Keith(James Patrick Stuart, 90210), crush and Keith's girl, secretary Wendy(Irene Molloy, Grosse Point), and the snarky boss of the office, Jessica(Paget Brewster, Criminal Minds).

Sort of a Better off Ted meets the Office with a Scrubs like lead character, Andy Richter Controls the Universe reveled in brilliant irrelevance. Certain plots included Bryan worshiping a deity in the shape of a sheep, Jessica being shared by identical twins and using it to her advantage, and Andy and friends listening in on a woman's therapy session, only for Andy to exploit this information for a meaningless sexual relationship. A conventional sitcom with unconventional endings. A lighthearted yet oddly dark humored comedy romp.

The show reairs on HDNet, and that would be the best way to view the series. You can also buy the complete series on DVD. At the very least, netflix it if you can, or check out a few additional clips on youtube. As always, a few of my favorites are inside the link below.

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Racial Sensitivity Training in the Workplace



Andy KNOWS who the Sandwich guy is

Conan O'Brien shows up for some laughs