Toss slow 'Barker' pilot, start with funny 2nd episode
March 14, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN
Chicago Sun-Times
NBC should consider scrapping Thursday's first episode of "Andy Barker, P.I." As much as I like star Andy Richter, the premiere drips slowly into its introductory premise without a payoff: A CPA accidentally becomes a private eye.
Instead, NBC should run next week's planned episode. It's funny and fresh. The third episode is good stuff, too.
There is precedent for completely killing a new series' first 30 minutes. Last season, ABC shelved the terrible first dose of Freddie Prinze Jr.'s sitcom "Freddie" to open with the second episode, which was at least average.
In "Andy," naive Andy Barker becomes a private dick after he opens a CPA business in an office space formerly occupied by a detective. Clients straggle into Andy's place, mistake him for a gumshoe and drop money in his lap. He can't resist a new, exciting lifestyle.
I'm going to ignore most of what happens in Thursday's planned debut. Andy helps a blond in distress in a red dress. He thinks "Chinatown" starred Jackie Chan. Rather than swear, he says, "Oh, cheese and crackers!" It feels like a long sketch on Conan O'Brien's show. (O'Brien is a producer of "Andy.")
But then come the second and third installments -- inspired, taut and funny enough to warrant an overall **½ rating for the series.
In No. 2, Andy watches a ridiculously out-of-shape friend die of a heart attack, but the guy's hot widow asks Andy to investigate his death as a murder. This is a fat joke; fat jokes are lazy and stupid, yet this particular "Andy" is so good, it's forgivable.
In Nos. 2 and 3, the writing and editing are quick and quick-witted. Storylines are on-target light parodies of detective shows, especially "Starsky & Hutch"-type crap from the 1970s.
Richter and other actors strike the right tone and timing with surprising jolts of comedy. In context only, these lines are great: "I like boobs." "I accused some people of murder today, and it didn't go very well." And, "Somewhere in hell, somebody's puttin' the wood to a quality broad."
If NBC lets the planned *½ debut go forward, people may give up on it and miss future ****episodes in which Andy and his wife e-mail each other while sitting side by side in bed, and Andy's friend hits on Andy's receptionist in a great "Dr. Katz"-like routine.
So what's it gonna be, NBC executives? It's a tough call to dump an entire pilot. But that's why you make the big bucks.
BY DOUG ELFMAN
Chicago Sun-Times
NBC should consider scrapping Thursday's first episode of "Andy Barker, P.I." As much as I like star Andy Richter, the premiere drips slowly into its introductory premise without a payoff: A CPA accidentally becomes a private eye.
Instead, NBC should run next week's planned episode. It's funny and fresh. The third episode is good stuff, too.
There is precedent for completely killing a new series' first 30 minutes. Last season, ABC shelved the terrible first dose of Freddie Prinze Jr.'s sitcom "Freddie" to open with the second episode, which was at least average.
In "Andy," naive Andy Barker becomes a private dick after he opens a CPA business in an office space formerly occupied by a detective. Clients straggle into Andy's place, mistake him for a gumshoe and drop money in his lap. He can't resist a new, exciting lifestyle.
I'm going to ignore most of what happens in Thursday's planned debut. Andy helps a blond in distress in a red dress. He thinks "Chinatown" starred Jackie Chan. Rather than swear, he says, "Oh, cheese and crackers!" It feels like a long sketch on Conan O'Brien's show. (O'Brien is a producer of "Andy.")
But then come the second and third installments -- inspired, taut and funny enough to warrant an overall **½ rating for the series.
In No. 2, Andy watches a ridiculously out-of-shape friend die of a heart attack, but the guy's hot widow asks Andy to investigate his death as a murder. This is a fat joke; fat jokes are lazy and stupid, yet this particular "Andy" is so good, it's forgivable.
In Nos. 2 and 3, the writing and editing are quick and quick-witted. Storylines are on-target light parodies of detective shows, especially "Starsky & Hutch"-type crap from the 1970s.
Richter and other actors strike the right tone and timing with surprising jolts of comedy. In context only, these lines are great: "I like boobs." "I accused some people of murder today, and it didn't go very well." And, "Somewhere in hell, somebody's puttin' the wood to a quality broad."
If NBC lets the planned *½ debut go forward, people may give up on it and miss future ****episodes in which Andy and his wife e-mail each other while sitting side by side in bed, and Andy's friend hits on Andy's receptionist in a great "Dr. Katz"-like routine.
So what's it gonna be, NBC executives? It's a tough call to dump an entire pilot. But that's why you make the big bucks.
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