Andy Should Still Control the Universe

I have this fantasy about Andy Richter. No, not that kind of fantasy. Yesterday, NBC announced the cancellation of "Andy Barker, P.I.," which is as surprising as finding Lindsay Lohan's photo in People magazine. Four of the six "Barker" episodes filmed have aired; the last two will get burned off this Saturday night at 8.

"Barker" was OK, I guess. The best thing about it was Tony Hale as Andy's movie-geek buddy. Between Hale's work on this show, and Will Arnett's hysterical appearance last week on "30 Rock," the "Arrested Development" grads are coming back in style.

But I have this fantasy that will NEVER come true. Richter's first series, "Andy Richter Controls the Universe," premiered in 2002 on Fox, and it was a beat ahead of its time. It anticipated "The Office" and "Arrested Development," as it blended "Dilbert"-like office weirdness and political-correctness jokes with flashes into warped fantasy. The ensemble fit together beautifully, too. Plus, the boss's name was ... Keith Richards.

Why couldn't NBC just pick up that show, which fits in with the wink-wink tone of the current batch of NBC sitcoms, even though it has been gone a long time? Why couldn't the network shove a few of the old episodes into one of its lineups to test the waters? Wouldn't that be cool, if TV could go back, reassemble a few casts, and maybe rectify a few errors? Wouldn't it be nice if Andy Richter didn't have to keep trying to make it with inferior sitcoms?

And while I'm at it, maybe People can stop running photos of Lindsay Lohan's bony wrists.