The Return of Conan and Andy...

I think Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter are truly a great comic duo.

So when I heard the two were re-teaming for a new television show (Andy as star, Conan as Executive Producer and creator), I was pretty excited. I just wish I was still as excited after watching it.

That’s not to say that “Andy Barker, P.I.” isn’t funny, it’s just not as hilarious as I would’ve expected…

Richter is Andy Barker, a CPA who decides to open his own accounting office—in a strip mall, of all places. The business doesn’t take off right away and Andy finds himself with a lot of free time on his hands, which he uses to hang out with Simon (Tony Hale, “Arrested Development”), who owns the “Video Riot” video store and Wally (Marshall Manesh), a restaurant owner.

One day, a woman comes into the office and mistakenly thinks Andy is the former tenant, private eye, Lew Staziak (Harve Presnell). Needing the money to pay the rent, Andy decides to take the case. With Simon and Wally’s help, he ends up getting himself in way over his head but manages to save the day—with his accounting skills—and decides that being a P.I. might be exactly what he needs.

Since the pilot had to set everything up, there wasn’t really room for a lot of jokes. So, there’s no reason to think the show won’t get funnier as it goes along. And let’s face it. Richter is just funny doing nothing. There are too many movie references from Simon and the attack on “Miss Congeniality 2” is a little out of nowhere (though totally deserved), but it’s something that can be overlooked since Hale is so incredibly talented. And it’s great to have Harve Presnell (last seen as Mr. Parker in “The Pretender”) back in a regular TV series.

You might be disappointed with the pilot too, but I say give the show time—or at least the six weeks NBC is giving it. I think it will be worth your effort.

“Andy Barker, P.I.” premieres Thursday, March 15th at 9:30 p.m. on NBC…