Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Victor Fresco
Starring	Andy Richter Irene Molloy Paget Brewster Jonathan Slavin James Patrick Stuart
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	19 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	20–22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Original run	March 19, 2002 – January 12, 2003

Andy Richter Controls the Universe was a sitcom which aired from 2002-2003 on the Fox network. The series was Andy Richter's first starring role after leaving Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2000. It ran for two seasons, totalling 19 episodes, and was cancelled due in part to poor ratings. Image File history File links Andy_Richter_CtR.jpg‎ Screenshot of into to the telvision show Andy Richter Controls the Universe This image is a screenshot of a copyrighted television program or station ID. As such, the copyright for it is most likely owned by the company or corporation that produced it. ... Victor Fresco is the creator of the short-lived television show, Life on a Stick. ... Paul Andrew Andy Richter (born October 28, 1966) is best known for his former role as Conan OBriens sidekick on Late Night with Conan OBrien. ... Paget Brewster (born March 10, 1969 in Concord, Massachusetts) is an actress who appeared in the short-lived comedy series Andy Richter Controls The Universe and as Beth Huffstodt in the Showtime original series Huff, which aired from 2004-2006. ... James Patrick Stuart is an actor who was born June 16, 1968 in Encino, California to Chad of the group Chad and Jeremy. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This is a list of Andy Richter Controls the Universe episodes. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A situation comedy, usually referred to as a sitcom, is a genre of comedy programs which originated in radio. ... The Fox Broadcasting Company, usually referred to as just Fox (the company itself prefers the capitalized version FOX), is a television network in the United States. ... Paul Andrew Andy Richter (born October 28, 1966) is best known for his former role as Conan OBriens sidekick on Late Night with Conan OBrien. ... Late Night with Conan OBrien is an American late night talk show on NBC, that is also syndicated worldwide. ...

Characters

Andy Richter

The character, sharing his name with the actor, was an aspiring writer living in Chicago who wanted to write short stories. However, he was forced to work as a technical manual writer for Pickering Industries, the fifth largest company in America, to pay the bills. Andy was shy and not good with women. He didn't really want to be working at the company, though he was very good at his job.

Jessica Green

Played by Paget Brewster, Jessica worked with Andy for years before she became the head of Andy's department, and thus, his boss. They tried dating once, but it didn't work out. She often had to act as an intermediary between her superiors, and Andy and his co-workers, forcing her to take sides. She is fairly superficial when it comes to men. Paget Brewster (born March 10, 1969 in Concord, Massachusetts) is an actress who appeared in the short-lived comedy series Andy Richter Controls The Universe and as Beth Huffstodt in the Showtime original series Huff, which aired from 2004-2006. ...

Keith

Played by James Patrick Stuart, Keith was a friend and co-worker of Andy's, and one usually stuck up for the other. He was the handsome guy in the office who had things handed to him because he's good-looking. James Patrick Stuart is an actor who was born June 16, 1968 in Encino, California to Chad of the group Chad and Jeremy. ...

Wendy McKay

Played by Irene Molloy, Wendy was the receptionist at Andy's office. As of the pilot, she had only been working there a month. Andy was attracted to her, but found out that since he had not made a move in a month, Keith had started dating her.

Byron Togler

Played by Jonathan Slavin, Byron was a new illustrator who moved into Andy's office, which caused Andy annoyance in the pilot episode. Byron was fairly insecure and shy.

Other characters

Pickering Industries was founded by Mr. Pickering (John Bliss) in 1880. Despite being over 170 years old, and dead, he appeared in numerous episodes and had discussions with Andy within his imagination. His viewpoints were typically antiquated and contrary to political correctness to an extreme degree. His comments often seemed to represent a negative aspect of Andy's mind, such as guilt, or self-doubt. Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ...

Teak (Charlie Finn) and Phil (Sean Gunn) lived in the same building as Andy and were in the same fraternity as him (but ten years later). As such, they looked up to him. Charlie Finn is an American actor and voice actor, best known for his role as Spud from American Dragon: Jake Long. ... Sean Gunn (born May 22, 1974) is an American actor, most famous for his role as Kirk Gleason on the television show Gilmore Girls on The WB (later The CW). ... Look up fraternity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Structure/Production

The series' plots were fairly typical of sitcoms with Andy getting himself into a situation and having to find a solution. The unique aspects were several unusual devices that defined the show. First was Richter's voiceover which essentially narrated the plot, as well as Andy's thought processes in each episode. Secondly, and connected to the first was Andy's imagination, which was presented onscreen as if it were reality until it was revealed in a smash cut accompanied by the sound of rewinding audio tape. This is often used to demonstrate alternatives to what actually happened for a given event. A theme of the show which uses these techniques was its original working title, Anything Can Happen; a thought which Richter imparts to the audience in the narration of the opening teaser of the series premiere. A smash cut is technique in film and other moving visual media where one scene abruptly cuts to another without transition, usually meant to startle the audience. ...

Although cancelled after two mid-season runs (totalling fewer episodes than a single regular season), reruns currently air on HDNet. It was also shown on the Paramount Comedy Channel and the Irish Network TV3. Rerun van Pelt is the name of Linus and Lucys younger brother in the comic strip Peanuts. ... HDNet is a general interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format, and available via cable and satellite television. ... The Paramount Comedy Channel is a television channel shown in the UK. As the name suggests, it is owned by Paramount Pictures (aka Viacom) and concentrates on comedy. ... TV3 Ireland is the sole commercial terrestrial television channel in the Republic of Ireland. ...

While currently not scheduled for release on DVD, a site has been posted requesting its release on amazon.com. [1]

The show was a co-production of Paramount Television and 20th Century Fox Television. CBS Paramount Television (formerly Desilu Productions, Paramount Television, among other companies) is an American television production/distribution company. ... 20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of the 20th Century Fox movie studio, a subsidiary of News Corporation. ...

Soundtrack

All music from the show was written by Greg Burns, Jeff Burns, and Brian Kirk. The theme song is sung by Jason Cropper, the original and founding guitarist of Weezer. The song was written for the show, and there is not a full version beyond the short clip in the beginning.^[1] However, a slightly longer version of the song is evident on the pilot episode. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Weezer is an American Grammy-nominated rock band from Los Angeles, California. ...

Trivia

• The outside shots of Andy's office are taken from the Duke & Duke building from Trading Places.
• Former colleague Conan O'Brien guest starred in the episode "Crazy in Rio".
• The surnames of the characters are very rarely mentioned. Most only once in the entire series (except for Andy).
• This show is mentioned in Family Guy, Season Four, Episode One: "North by North Quahog" before the opening theme in junction with other Fox television shows that also had a short lived career

This is an article on the 1983 movie. ... Conan Christopher OBrien (born April 18, 1963)[1] is an Emmy-winning American television personality best known as host of NBCs late-night talk/variety show Late Night with Conan OBrien. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

See also

• List of Andy Richter Controls the Universe episodes
• Andy Barker P.I. - Andy Richter's subsequent sitcom

This is a list of Andy Richter Controls the Universe episodes. ... Andy Barker P.I. is an American television comedy pilot starring Andy Richter. ... Paul Andrew Andy Richter (born October 28, 1966) is best known for his former role as Conan OBriens sidekick on Late Night with Conan OBrien. ...

References

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Andy Richter Controls the Universe

• Andy Richter Controls the Universe at the Internet Movie Database