Andy Barker, P. I. needs edit

Andy Barker, P.I.

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Andy Barker, P.I.
Andybarkerimage.jpg
Format     Sitcom/mystery
Created by     Conan O'Brien
Jonathan Groff
Starring     Andy Richter
Clea Lewis
Harve Presnell
Tony Hale
Marshall Manesh
Country of origin     United States
No. of seasons     1
No. of episodes     6 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)     Conan O'Brien
Jonathan Groff
Andy Kissinger
Jeff Ross
Running time     20 minutes
Production company(s)     Red Pulley Productions
Conaco
NBC Universal Television Studio
Broadcast
Original channel     NBC
Original run     March 15, 2007 – April 14, 2007

Andy Barker, P.I. is an 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

    1 Production
    2 Cast
        2.1 Cast
        2.2 Notable guest stars
    3 Episodes
        3.1 Season 1: 2007
    4 DVD release
    5 Reception
    6 U.S. television ratings
    7 References
    8 External links

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. 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.

The show is set in the fictional Los Angeles neighborhood of "Fair Oaks, California".

There is a real Fair Oaks, California, near Sacramento.
Cast

Early promotional images released to promote the series 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.
Cast

    Andy Richter as Andrew "Andy" Barker: A middle-aged Certified Public 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.
    Clea Lewis as Jenny Barker: Andy's wife, who 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]
    Harve Presnell as Lew Staziak: 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."
    Tony Hale as Simon: Manager of the "Video Riot" rental store who has extensive

knowledge of movie trivia. He befriends Andy, and designates himself an investigative

partner.
    Marshall Manesh as Wally: An Afghan restaurant owner who "went overboard with

patriotism after 9/11," and has excellent surveillance equipment.

Notable guest stars

    Nicole Randall Johnson as Nicole: 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.
    Vanessa Branch as Nadia Kerensky ("Pilot")
    Gary Anthony Williams as Ron ("Pilot")
    Traci Lords as Loretta Crispin ("Dial M For Laptop")
    Sarah Christine Smith as Alicia ("The Big No Sleep")
    Amy Sedaris as Rita Spaulding ("The Lady Varnishes")
    Edward Asner as Mickey Doyle ("The Lady Varnishes")
    James Hong as Jon Leibowitz ("The Lady Varnishes")
    Peter Allen Vogt as Guy Helverson ("Fairway, My Lovely")
    Jesse L. Martin as his Law & Order character Detective Ed Green ("The Big No

Sleep")

Episodes
Season 1: 2007

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.
#     Title     Directed by     Written by     Original air date     Production
code
1     "Pilot"     Jason Ensler     Conan O'Brien & Jonathan Groff     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"     Jason Ensler     Jane Espenson & Alex Herschlag     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"     Jason Ensler     Gail Lerner     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"     Jason Ensler     Chuck Tatham     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"     Jason Ensler     Josh Bycel     April 14, 2007     106
A dishonest doc pains Andy, until a baby toy provides the clues Andy needed.
6     "The Lady Varnishes"     Jason Ensler     Jon Ross     April 14, 2007     105
Series finale. 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.