ANDY RICHTER CAN’T CATCH A BREAK
By Benjamin Phillips
I love Andy Richter. I do. But these repeated attempts to front a sitcom? Yeah. It’s not gonna happen. Andy Barker, PI, which borrowed the time slot held by one of NBC’s only successes from the 2006 season, 30 Rock, managed to pull fewer than 6 Million viewers. While that is a shame, as I said, GO ANDY, it’s not entirely surprising. This is his third shot at sitcom glory, and it doesn’t look very promising. Who knows what NBC will do with the program, cancellation seems likely, though they might want to give the show a few more spins just to make sure it’s dead.
The issue I’d like to raise is this: What is the world to do with Andy Richter? As i said, Andy Richter is great. Great guy, talented, smart, funny, but honestly, where does he fit in? He should be wildly successful, but at what? He is valuable. People like him. There is a venue for him somewhere. I’m sure of it. Want proof? Andy left The Conan O’Brien show in 2000, seven years ago, and hasn’t really had that much success since then. Anybody else in the same position would have simply dried up and would be on reality TV by now, sharing a ranch style home on VH1 with Dave Coulier or dancing in prime time, but not Andy. Andy remains. People are rooting for Andy Richter. They seem willing to give him all the time he needs to find his niche, but I for one would like him to go ahead and find it. Not because I can’t wait, because I can. There will always be a place in my heart for Andy Richter. It’s just that I’m worried about the good faith of the American Entertained. They don’t like to wait forever, and as they say, nothing fails like failure.