Andy Richter plays well... Andy Richter, an aspiring writer who works for a major corporation that builds pretty much anything. His job has him spending his days writing instruction manuals for everything from deep fat fryers to torpedoes. The series starts when he gets a new office mate in Byron (Jonathan Slavin), a skinny, weak little artist who will do the illustrations on Andy's projects. At first, there is bad blood between the two (mostly because he has taken up half of Andy's space), but by the end of the pilot, the two become fast friends.
Other friends of Andy's includes Keith (James Patrick Stuart), a good looking guy whom everyone likes and who gets to basically sit around and do nothing all day. Keith is dating the company's new secretary, Wendy (Irene Molloy), even though Keith knows Andy likes her. The last main character in this intra-office comedy is Andy's boss, Jessica (Paget Brewster). Jessica comes off as the stereotypical all-business professional, but since she and Andy have been friends for a long time, she tends to let down her hair around him.
What makes Andy Richter Controls the Universe is Andy's narration of the episodes. Mainly the fact that he is constantly changing the events that happened to make them more interesting. Often times, a scene will replay before the viewer several times before the narrator gives in and shows you just what happened, giving the series an Ally McBeal-like quality.
As for the DVD's special features, there aren't a lot, but what is there is enjoyable. "How Andy Richter Controlled the Universe" talks about how the show came about and what led to its creation. It also acts as a bit of a retrospective, which is always nice. The other featurette, "What If Andy Richter Controlled the Universe?" asks the various cast members what they would change if they could control the universe.
Fans of office-comedies will really enjoy this show. While not top notch, I still enjoyed a lot of the stories and found myself laughing pretty much every episode. Andy Richter Controls the Universe: The Complete Series is at least worth a rental, but maybe a purchase if you remember the show fondly from its short run.
