Andy Richter reigns in his own universe

NEW YORK —  Who is Andy Richter? This seems like a simple question, especially for longtime fans of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” where Richter made his name as an easygoing yet waggish sidekick.

But now he’s the leading man in his own prime-time comedy, “Andy Richter Controls the Universe,” which introduces new facets of Andy’s personality. Like Conan’s Andy, this Andy isn’t out to rule the world (he seems fine with his job as a technical writer in a big office tower). But he does fantasize about controlling the universe -- at least, his little corner of it.

Accordingly, the show hasn’t pegged its hero as a clownish wannabe. Sometimes he wins. Sometimes his dreams come true. From time to time, he even succeeds with a woman! “I didn’t want this to turn into a ‘Cathy’ comic,” says Richter. “ ‘Poor me, I can’t get a date’ isn’t funny.”

Granted, when a script calls for romance, “it makes me very uncomfortable,” admits Richter, who in real life is married and the father of a 2-year-old boy. “You have to make out and stuff with a stranger. But if my character never got lucky with the girls, viewers would start to wonder. In real life, most people get lucky, now and then.”

So the new, well-rounded Andy is in the service of a goofy brand of authenticity, a twisted realism that helps make “Andy Richter Controls the Universe” a refreshing TV comedy.

Chatting with a reporter on a recent visit to Manhattan, Richter, 35, allows that he’s proud of his show, especially in comparison to a lot of other TV comedies. “Of course, that’s like saying, ‘Wow! My gorilla can beat up your canary.’ It’s not that big a deal.”

It’s a big deal. He packs more laughs in an episode’s two-minute teaser than you find in a night of Must-See TV. Richter has come up with an Andy-dote to sitcom fatigue. That’s very big. (After a brief run last spring, it recently returned to the Fox schedule Sunday night; during December, it airs Tuesday night.)

“Andy Richter Controls the Universe” is shrewdly plotted, then overlaid with Andy’s play-by-play, such as, “Here I was, facing a problem as old as civilization itself: How to catch a drunk cat in the ceiling so I can go to France.” It’s replete with wisdom. How can the races get along? One character tells Andy, “You ignore as well as celebrate what makes each person exactly the same and completely different from everyone else.”

The show comes equipped with an escape valve to release pent-up silliness: the fantasy blackouts where Andy’s control-the-universe musings manifest themselves. And it’s filmed without a studio audience.

For his show, Richter has rounded up a sparkling ensemble of co-stars: Paget Brewster as Jessica, Andy’s off-the-wall supervisor and off-the-job pal; Jonathan Slavin as his childlike office mate; Irene Molloy as the winsome receptionist on whom he has an unrequited crush; and James Patrick Stuart as her boyfriend, whom Andy likes, even though his biggest problems are a charmed existence and excessive handsomeness.

Despite their quirks, these characters are good-hearted people who share a real affection. That lets the humor rise above most sitcoms’ volley of insults.

For instance, Jessica hears that Andy wants a second TV in his bedroom, so that, when he rolls onto his side, he won’t miss anything. But she doesn’t jeer at this. Instead, she validates his dream. “It’s crazy,” she sighs. “But I’ll bet in 10 years we’re all doing it.”

Even when Andy gets excited that his age has reached the billion-second mark, his pals indulge him. How come this fivesome doesn’t go at it like the cutthroat family on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” or even like the gang on “Friends,” who express their togetherness primarily by swapping wisecracks?

“Conflict isn’t funny,” Richter replies. “Conflict is drama.” Elaborating, he draws on his past as an improvisational comic to outline how “Yes” humor differs from “No” humor. “It’s a basic improv rule,” he says. “If you’re in a scene and somebody says, ‘Doctor, my dog is sick,’ you don’t say, ‘I’m not a doctor and that’s not a dog!’ It might get a laugh, but it doesn’t build the scene. Agreement builds the scene. So you might say, ‘Yes, your dog is sick -- and he’s also growing a beard!’ You layer the scene. You build it with yeses.”