Andy Richter Controls the Universe

Did You Know?

• Some music cues were replaced for the home media release due to licensing issues.
• The DVD release was distributed by CBS DVD (via Paramount) on March 24, 2009.

Production

Andy Richter left his role as sidekick on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2000, having performed it since 1993, because he wanted to play roles other than the "fat slob roles" he was being offered and to expand his profile. This was the first sitcom he starred in, and some doubted his acting ability due to his previous sidekick work. After a table read for the pilot, a Paramount executive told Richter, "Wow, you can really act!" Richter met with several creators before choosing Victor Fresco, who already had a deal with Paramount Television. Paget Brewster, who knew both Richter and Fresco, helped arrange their meeting. Fresco and Richter developed the show's concept, including narration and the unreliable narrator trope, and Fresco wrote the pilot. He pitched it to Fox by handing executives the first scene and leaving the room; they were enthusiastic. Brewster was cast as Jessica Green after another actress was vetoed by Fox executives, who had seen her in unsuccessful pilots. Brewster had a development deal with Fox for two years and auditioned three times. After Fox picked up the show, a writer's room was assembled; Richter sometimes joined the writers, calling them "The Nerd Tower." The working title was Anything Can Happen, vetoed by executives. NBC insisted the title feature Richter's name, which he was not entirely comfortable with; he pitched the final title for comedic effect, later calling it "terrible." The show was a joint production of Garfield Grove Productions and 20th Century Fox Television in association with Paramount Television.

Characters

The characters' surnames are rarely mentioned; most appear only once in the series. Andy Richter, sharing his name with the actor, is an aspiring writer in Chicago who wants to write short stories but works as a technical manual writer at Pickering Industries, the fifth largest company in America. He is shy, not good with women, and does not want to be at the company, though he is good at his job. Jessica Green, played by Paget Brewster, worked with Andy for years before becoming head of his department and his boss; they tried dating once. She often mediates between superiors and Andy's co-workers and is fairly superficial about men. Wendy McKay, played by Irene Molloy, is the receptionist Andy is attracted to, but he learns that Keith has started dating her. Byron Togler, played by Jonathan Slavin, is a new illustrator who moves into Andy's office, annoying him; he is insecure and shy. Keith, played by James Patrick Stuart, is Andy's best friend and co-worker, a handsome man who gets things handed to him. Pickering Industries was founded by Mr. Pickering, played by John Bliss; though dead, he appears in Andy's imagination, offering antiquated, politically incorrect viewpoints that often represent guilt or self-doubt. Teak, played by Charlie Finn, and Phil, played by Sean Gunn, live in Andy's building and were in the same fraternity ten years after him, looking up to him; it is hinted Phil might be gay. Conan O'Brien appears as Pickering's new CEO in the episode "Crazy in Rio." Other guest stars include Cedric Yarbrough, Jon Cryer, Molly Sims, Beth Littleford, Rick Peters, Bree Turner, Jarrad Paul, Rex Lee, Lola Glaudini, Patricia Belcher, and June Lockhart as Andy's grandmother.

Reception

Critics were kind to Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Tim Goodman of SFGATE liked its "smart wit" and put it in the same league as The Simpsons. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly felt the second season was a "perfectly realized comic universe" that improved on a first season he found "funny but hit-or-miss"; he praised the cast, especially Brewster, though he had earlier flagged some jokes as being in poor taste. Salon.com called the show "absurdly hilarious" and appreciated its office humor. Variety admired its "singular vision," noting that no line felt committee-written, and predicted it could be the most-talked-about comedy of its season, a "true water-cooler conversation generator." TIME championed the DVD release as exactly "what the DVD format was created for." TV Guide later listed it among 60 shows "Cancelled Too Soon." ScreenRant in 2020 observed it had become "something of a cult sitcom." Tara Ariano of Cracked labeled it an "extremely underrated surrealist sitcom" and regretted its absence from streaming services. Vulture declared it Richter's "most inventive and funny" sitcom. The series has drawn comparisons to Arrested Development. Frequent director Andy Ackerman speculated it was "a year too soon," arriving before single-camera TV took off, and called it one of his favorite jobs. Brewster recalled the cast and crew feeling "we weren't welcome on the network." The show is now seen as part of a wave of experimental single-camera comedies alongside Malcolm in the Middle and Scrubs. Creator Victor Fresco earned a 2002 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.