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By Nellie Andreeva -- Hollywood Reporter – March 7, 2006 Conan O'Brien and his former sidekick on NBC's "Late Night," Andy Richter, are reuniting for NBC primetime, and this time Richter is the leading man. The network has greenlighted "Andy Barker P.I.," a single-camera detective comedy pilot starring Richter, which O'Brien co-wrote and is executive producing. The project, from NBC Universal TV Studio and O'Brien's Conaco Prods., centers on Andy Barker (Richter), an accountant who sets up a business in an office formerly belonging to a private investigator. As he starts panicking that no clients are coming in, people looking for the office's previous occupant begin to give him detective cases that he somewhat reluctantly takes on. "Andy Barker" stems from a germ of an idea O'Brien had been kicking around for a while. In the fall, he teamed with Jonathan Groff, former longtime head writer of "Late Night," and the two quickly developed and wrote the pilot. The key to the lead character is that he doesn't change when he accidentally falls into a career as a detective, Groff said. "This is just a different way for him to be who he is -- a really decent, ethical guy for whom everything has worked out through hard work," Groff said. "He approaches (private detecting) with the same level with decency; he would lecture bad guys that it's better to buy, not rent, their hideaway place." From the initial stages of developing the central character, O'Brien and Groff though of Richter as the perfect actor for the role. Richter quickly came on board, and the part was written for him. Also cast in the pilot as Andy Barker's wife, Ruth, is Amy Farrington. The actress, who has a recurring role on CBS' upcoming comedy "The New Adventures of Old Christine," is repped by Stone Manners and manager Meghan Schumacher. O'Brien and Groff are exec producing "Andy Barker" with Conaco's Jeff Ross, David Kissinger. NBC Uni TV and Conaco have scored another order from NBC for a comedy project, a presentation pickup for an untitled half-hour from Sam Seder (Trio's "Pilot Season"). Seder wrote the script for the show, about two single dads raising kids, in which he also is set to play one of the dads. Seder is exec producing the presentation with O'Brien, Ross and Kissinger. |