Andy Barker, P.I.

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Andy Barker, P.I.
Format Sitcom/mystery
Created by Conan O'Brien & Jonathan Groff
Starring Andy Richter
Clea Lewis
Harve Presnell
Tony Hale
Marshall Manesh
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 6
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 Conan O'Brien
Jonathan Groff
Andy Kissinger
Jeff Ross
Running time approx. 20 minutes (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run March 15, 2007 – April 14, 2007
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Andy Barker, P.I. is a short-lived American detective sitcom starring Andy Richter produced and broadcast by NBC, and co-starring Tony Hale, Marshall Manesh, Harve Presnell and Clea Lewis

Richter plays Andy Barker, a certified public accountant who reluctantly becomes a private investigator after he is mistaken for the former office tenant, a private eye, now retired. Andy develops a taste for solving cases, assisted by the former P.I, a film buff owner of the downstairs video store, a surveillance-expert restaurateur and, as time goes on, his wife.

The show was produced for one season, and was scheduled to run a six-episode, five-week course starting Thursday, March 15, 2007 on NBC[1]. However, the series was cancelled and removed from the Thursday lineup after the fourth episode aired. The final two episodes aired on Saturday, April 14.[2]. The series now airs on Universal HD.

Contents

[edit] Production

On March 7, 2006, NBC announced the ordering of the pilot episode, which was written by creators and executive producers Conan O'Brien and Jonathan Groff. The series is shot single-camera, and is presented without a laugh track. In early March 2007, NBC published all six episodes of Andy Barker, P.I. (accessible from the U.S.) on the NBC website prior to its broadcast premiere.

NBC premiered Andy Barker, P.I. with another detective-themed show, Raines. Both shows, available on the iTunes Store, offered free downloads of the pilots for a short time. Also, nbc.com streams the entire season of Andy Barker, P.I.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Andy Barker

Portrayed by Andy Richter

Andrew "Andy" Barker, CPA is a middle-aged accountant, who, after starting his own firm in the pilot, reluctantly takes on a missing-person case brought to him by a mysterious Russian-accented woman who mistakes Andy for the former tenant, a real P.I. In subsequent episodes, Andy takes on (or is thrust into) cases that usually involve his friends and family and which he must solve in addition to his accounting duties.

[edit] Jenny Barker

Portrayed by Clea Lewis

Jenny Barker, Andy's wife, first disapproves, but gradually warms to his new side profession. She and Andy have an infant daughter named Molly and at least one son.[3]

[edit] Simon

Portrayed by Tony Hale

Simon manages the "Video Riot" rental store and has extensive knowledge of movie trivia. He befriends Andy, and designates himself an investigative partner.

[edit] Wally

Portrayed by Marshall Manesh

Wally is an Afghani restaurant owner who "went overboard with patriotism after 9/11," and has excellent surveillance equipment.

[edit] Lew Staziak

Portrayed by Harve Presnell

Lew Staziak is the retired tough-as-nails cynical P.I. and prior tenant of Andy's rental office. Lew becomes Andy's mentor and aide, with mixed consequences. Lew antagonizes Simon, suffers from alektorophobia (fear of chickens), and his memory lapses cause trouble for Andy. Mickey Doyle, Lew's unscrupulous former partner, was the villain of the episode "The Lady Varnishes."

[edit] Nicole

Portrayed by Nicole Randall Johnson (guest star)

Nicole is an unmotivated file clerk with attitude that appears in the pilot episode. However after Andy costs her the clerk job by stealing files, she matter-of-factly hires herself as his unwanted assistant in Fairway My Lovely. Simon is infatuated with her, but she ignores his advances. She has a deaf brother and is fluent in reading lips. Nicole is heavily featured in promotions, but is a supporting character in just two episodes.

[edit] Episodes

# Title Original airdate Production code
1 "Pilot"  March 15, 2007 101
Mild-mannered accountant Andy Barker begins a double life as a P.I. when he is hired to solve a case involving the Russian mafia. 
2 "Fairway, My Lovely"  March 22, 2007 104
After Guy Helverson, an overweight tax client dies, seemingly of natural causes, his wife insists that he was murdered. Andy is doubtful until he discovers that Guy was having an affair. 
3 "Three Days of the Chicken"  March 29, 2007 103
Wally is blackmailed by Transcor, an evil chicken cartel that murders anyone who gets in their way. Andy is determined to stop them, but Lew warns that Transcor is too powerful. 
4 "Dial M for Laptop"  April 5, 2007 102
Andy gets caught up in a credit fraud case while trying to simultaneously file his father-in-law's taxes. 
5 "The Big No Sleep"  April 14, 2007 106
A dishonest doc pains Andy, until a baby toy provides the clues Andy needed. 
6 "The Lady Varnishes"  April 14, 2007 105
Andy discovers a forty-year-old letter from a woman convicted of murder that explains she was framed. However, Lew's former partner, the real murderer, will stop at nothing to keep the truth from coming out. 
  • Note: the final two episodes were aired on a Saturday at a special time of 8 and 8:30.

[edit] Cast and crew

[edit] Cast

[edit] Notable guest stars

[edit] Producers

  • Conan O'Brien .... executive producer
  • Jonathan Groff .... executive producer
  • David Kissinger .... executive producer
  • Jeff Ross .... executive producer
  • Jake Aust .... associate producer
  • Andy Richter .... producer
  • Jason Ensler .... producer
  • Kent Zbornak .... producer
  • Angela Hamilton .... co-producer

[edit] Writers

[edit] Director

[edit] Other

  • Adam Cohen ... original music/score
  • Gary Krakoff ... Construction Coordinator
  • Lee Sforza ... Construction Foreman

[edit] Reception

Critic reviews were positive in L.A. Times ("quietly delightful"),[4] Entertainment Weekly (B+),[5] and a 73% score based on 24 critic reviews at Metacritic.[6] Some reviewers were reserved: Chicago Tribune ("some laughs, but the show fails to truly catch fire").[7]

[edit] U.S. television ratings

Weekly rankings based on Fast National ratings.[8][9][10]

# Episode Air Date Timeslot (EST) Season Rating Share 18–49 Viewers Rank
1 "Pilot" March 15, 2007 Thursday 9:30PM 2006–2007 3.7 6 2.4 5.96 # 63
2 "Fairway, My Lovely" March 22, 2007 Thursday 9:30PM 2006–2007 3.5 5 2.2 5.33 # 72
3 "Three Days of the Chicken" March 29, 2007 Thursday 9:30PM 2006–2007 2.6 4 2.1 4.16 # 92
4 "Dial M for Laptop" April 5, 2007 Thursday 9:30PM 2006–2007 2.6 4 1.7 4.07 # 95
5 "The Big No Sleep" April 14, 2007 Saturday 8:00PM 2006–2007 TBA TBA TBA 2.1 TBA
6 "The Lady Varnishes" April 14, 2007 Saturday 8:30PM 2006–2007 TBA TBA TBA 2.0 TBA
Season Timeslot (EDT) Series Premiere Series Finale TV Season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
1 (see above) Thursday 9:30 P.M. (March 15, 2007-April 5, 2007)
Saturday 8:00 P.M. (April 14, 2007)
Saturday 8:30 P.M. (April 14, 2007)		 March 15, 2007 April 14, 2007 2006-2007 #93 5.4[11]

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The show is set in the fictional town of "Fair Oaks, California". The real Fair Oaks, California, is near Sacramento, but the show refers to, and exteriors are shot in, the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Lew Staziak's business card shows Andy's office address and a telephone number in area code 818. In episode 104, however, mail addressed to Fair Oaks is shown to have the zip code 95628, which is in fact the zip code of the real Fair Oaks, California.
  • The titles of all of the episodes are plays on the titles of actual classic mystery and private investigator films. The title "Fairway, My Lovely" is based on Farewell, My Lovely; "Three Days of the Chicken" is based on Three Days of the Condor; "Dial M for Laptop" is based on Dial M for Murder; "The Big No Sleep" is based on The Big Sleep; and "The Lady Varnishes" is based on The Lady Vanishes.
  • Early promotional images released to promote the series, such as this one, feature the early cast set for the show — Andy, Simon, Lew, Wally, Ruth and Jessica. The roles of Ruth (Andy's wife) and Jessica (Andy's "assistant") were later renamed and recast before the show's debut. Ruth Barker, later renamed Jenny Barker (performed by Clea Lewis), was portrayed by Amy Farrington. Jessica, later renamed and reworked into Nicole (performed by Nicole Randall Johnson), was portrayed by Ion Overman in these images. These roles were presumably recast after the early photo shoot and prior to the filming and further development of the series as Farrington and Overman were not seen in the series itself.

[edit] References

  1. ^ NBC Sets Dates for Donnelly, Andy Zap2it.com, February 2, 2007
  2. ^ Andy Barker, P.I.: NBC Cancels Andy Richter Sitcom TV Series Finale
  3. ^ Andy mentions that his son went through a unicorn phase in "Dial M for Laptop."
  4. ^ Review in L.A. Times Robert Lloyd, March 14, 2007
  5. ^ Review by Entertainment Weekly EW.com. Gillian Flynn
  6. ^ Andy Barker Score Metacritic. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  7. ^ Review-a-palooza Part 2.Chicago Tribune. Maureen Ryan, March 14, 2007
  8. ^ Zap2It Ratings: Rating and Share.
  9. ^ L.A. Times Calendar Live Ratings: Viewers and Rankings.
  10. ^ 18-49 Ratings: Media Life Magazine (18-49 numbers)
  11. ^ "Hollywood Reporter: 2006-07 primetime wrap", May 25, 2007. 

[edit] External links

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