Andy Barker, P.I.

By Michelle Patterson

One of Andy Richter’s strengths as a comedic actor is something he was just born with: his cherubic face. What the majority of his performances exhibited—in his other (sadly) failed television shows and various film roles—was a wholesome, dimpled mug offset against a usually sardonic soul or secret freak-of-nature. It’s an old show business trick (see Jack Benny and even Dick Van Dyke) but it works.

Fortunately, Richter’s spin on these roles was intelligent or just enough to the left-of-center that it felt fresh and far from typical. Initially hired to be one of the show’s writers, he became the sidekick on Late Night with Conan O’Brien for the first seven years of its run. Maybe the intent of his casting was to balance extreme goofiness, but it was obvious that Richter was the true weirdo. One of the hardest times I’ve ever laughed in my entire life is from his performance in a Maury Povich talk show skit. Portraying an out-of-control guest, Richter entered the scene wearing black-leather Daisy Dukes and a belly shirt emblazoned with the word “Lick.”

After a few films, subsequent starring roles on Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and Quintuplets followed, both resulting in cancellation and failure. His usual mode was that he was in on the joke, maybe about to tell one of his own or just responding to the weirdness surrounding his character with disbelief and exasperation. Everyone else around him could be weirder, true, yet the usual tenor of his acting style was much more informed. The overall tone never quite fit with Andy Richter’s strengths, though, and it is easy to see why the former show was simply remade into a very similar vehicle known as Better Off Ted.

Co-creator and executive producer Conan O’Brien had his hand in Andy Barker, P.I., Richter’s last foray into being the lead in a television show. The series only lasted six episodes, but all of them are on a recently released box set from Shout! Factory, along with some very charming special features. (Arbitrary Warning: Mr. Richter likes to swear and boy howdy, does he do it a lot!)

Andy still has to deal with odd situations around him and use his very normal capabilities to solve them, much like his role in his other television series. This time, however, he is the total straight man. The supporting cast, with the likes of weird-ass ringers like Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Harvey Presnell (Fargo), and Marshall Manesh (How I Met Your Mother) usually serve to complicate the situation and force Andy to apply his very common attributes.

The set-up is simple, yet priceless, in that Andy Barker, C.P.A., is mistaken for a P.I. thanks to the former business owner of his new office. The cases are never overly complicated, the jokes are non-stop and usually unexpected, and its supreme goofiness creates real warmth. His baby face finally found a way to offset a sharp, no B.S. interior with his freak flag damped just down enough to create his first truly multidimensional character.

Unfortunately, the show was never allowed to find an audience and was pulled from the NBC schedule after only four episodes. Most of its cast found bigger success in other shows. Richter later returned to his supporting role on Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show, taking comfort in the familiar and keeping his caustic humor on a leash. Maybe his recently unemployed co-worker will give him another opportunity to let it tear around in the television park in the near future.

The Andy Barker, P.I. DVDs are available from Shout! Factory.