Andy Richter Proved He Was More Than Conan O’Brien’s Sidekick With This Underrated 95% RT Cult Classic Sitcom

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During the era when Conan O’Brien was a staple of late-night TV, he was rarely seen without Andy Richter by his side. Richter served as Conan’s sidekick, often setting up jokes or becoming the butt of a joke himself, until he left Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 2000 to pursue his own TV show with Andy Richter Controls The Universe. True to its name, the series features Richter as a writer attempting to chase his dream of writing short stories while navigating a crushing job as a technical manual writer.

What makes Andy Richter vs the Universe stand out is Richter’s unorthodox approach to storytelling. Each episode would often feature dream sequences or alternate takes on a scene, showing off Richter’s nearly limitless imagination. Sadly, Andy Richter Controls the Universe was canceled after a single season, though its impact continues to be felt to this day.

‘Andy Richter Controls The Universe’ Became A Cult Classic

When Andy Richter Controls the Universe premiered in 2002, it was a critical success. Most reviewers praised the dynamic between Richter and his cast mates, Paget Brewster, who plays Richter’s co-worker Jessica Green, James Patrick Stuart as his best friend Keith, and Irene Molloy as the receptionist. Wendy McKay, Andy Richter Controls the Universe would even draw favorable comparisons to The Simpsons due to its surreal nature.

For Richter, the chance to prove himself as more than Conan O’Brien’s sidekick was a major draw of getting Andy Richter Controls the Universe on the air. In a retrospective for Vulture, Richter would underline a moment after he had pitched the series to Paramount’s television division: “One of the really higher-ups at Paramount [came up to him and] said ‘Wow, you can really act!’”

Despite its warm reception, Andy Richter Controls the Universe only lasted for two seasons before being canceled. It suffered the same fate as other cult classics at Fox, most notably Firefly, in that its scheduling was erratic, leading to lukewarm ratings. On top of that, five of its 19 episodes never aired on Fox! “I was deeply, deeply disappointed,” Richter said when giving an oral history of the show to Cracked.

“I’d been given this chance to be number one on the call sheet — to be on a television show with my name on it — and I had contributed to the success of the show…There’s no rejection quite like the rejection you feel when you think “America didn’t want me.” Regardless of its fate, Richter still remains proud of the show.

Though Andy Richter Controls the Universe may have been short-lived, it sparked a trend of single-cam comedies that continues to this day. Fox would feature single-cam comedies, including Malcolm in the Middle and Arrested Development, while Parks and Recreation and Abbott Elementary gained their own substantial fanbases. Even some of Andy Richter Controls the Universe‘s stiyle has seeped into other shows; the cutaway sequences in Scrubs feel highly indebted to the madcap imagination that Richter was putting on the screen.

Writers on Andy Richter Controls the Universe would also go on to work on other smash hits; Matthew Weiner created Mad Men, and Will Gluck would create a string of hit films, including Anyone But You. Andy Richter Controls the Universe actually managed to influence the universe of television in its own way, and fully cemented Andy Richter as more than a sidekick.

Release Date: 2002 – 2002
Network: FOX
Directors: Andy Ackerman, John Fortenberry, Bryan Gordon, Jay Chandrasekhar, Lee Shallat Chemel
Writers: Victor Fresco, Jennifer Celotta, Jim Bernstein, Michael A. Ross, Tommy Blacha, Michael Shipley, Bryan Behar, Dave Jeser, Eric Kaplan, Matthew Silverstein, Steve Baldikoski, Will Gluck, Matthew Weiner, Tim Doyle