Over the last few decades a new type of American worker has emerged; the cubical dweller or wage slave. Many of us have had jobs like this were your entire workday is spent in a cubical farm. For those that have never encountered this particular work environment just imagine this scenario. You walk off the elevator to a large floor in a modern office building. All you can see stretched out before you is row after endless row of the tops of people’s heads. They are each surrounded on three sides by little walls that extend up about five feet off the floor. These are the cubicles that define the work lives of millions of people. This environment has been described by those of us who have worked there as soulless, life sucking and devoid of humanity. It is a sea on sameness with beige walls surrounding you on three sides. Live in these cubicle farms is typically reserved for the lower rungs of the corporate ladder inhabited but those who need the job and tale the uniformity. In recent years this environment has proven to be a rich and fertile ground for comedy. Cartoon strips like ‘Dilbert’ have become popular among the technical support staffs around the country. The movie ‘Office Space’ has become a cult classic favorite of cubicle residents. For a brief shinning moment there was a television series that cubicle people could rally around; Andy Richter Controls the Universe’. It lasted for a mere 19 episodes but in that fleeting period it helped to reset the bar for the staple genre of television; the sit-com. This was a witty, innovative series that was not afforded the opportunity to find its audience. Perhaps they were all forced to work overtime in their cubicles to get home and watch. In any case it is the lasted victim of the syndrome that is becoming increasingly prevalent with television; brilliant but cancelled. It is understandable to some degree that the networks have to go by ratings to determine the survival of a new series. Ratings translate into what they can charge for a show and if that level is not high enough to meet production cost the dreaded cancellation is on the docket. There has been some controversy about the accuracy of modern TV shows with many people watching on their DVRs or with streaming video on the internet. In any case this series deserved better but at least CBS Paramount has recognized its worth and the loyal fan base with a DVD release of the complete series.

Andy Richter is one of those comedians that people find easy to watch. He has a self depreciating persona that draws the audience to him. He is the every day Joe that you would gladly share a beer with while watching a ball game at the local watering hole. He was plying his trade as a comedy writer when he caught his big break and became the sidekick and announcer for the early years of ‘Late Night with Conan O'Brien’. This was his next big thing on television but even after its cancellation he has been in demand for parts in movies and TV series. The man is talented and it is on display with almost every moment of this series. The primary reason for the series getting the ax had nothing to do with talent or quality. When Fox aired it they gave it the worse possible time slot; opposite two strong ratings magnets, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘The Gilmore Girls’. In 2002 the DVR was still catching on and the VCR was on the decline so a lot of households still had to choose what show to watch. The series was staffed by incredibly witty writers that kept the dialogue constantly engaging. When combined with a cast that is truly funny this is a series that will last a long time on DVD and provide a lot of entertainment value.

Like most sit-coms the premise is simple. Andy works for Pickering Industries, the fifth largest firm in the country. He is employed as a technical manual writer. Anyone who has ever been in the technical field knows that this is one of the driest jobs around having to describe in simple terms how a piece of technology works. Making matters worse for Andy is he has always dreamt of being a short story author so this job represents one of the inner circles of the inferno for him. There is no outlet for his imagination just one technical specification after another. It is only natural that the only way Andy has to survive is to retreat into his own imagination. The trouble is that fantasy world has the tendency to be just as off kilter as the real world. Andy is a man who strives to be creative but is hemmed in by a tangle of bureaucracy.

It often seems that life is conspiring against Andy. His boss is Jessica Green (Paget Brewster), a superficial cog in middle management. At one point in the past the two tried unsuccessfully to date but that was a disaster. Now he has to see her as his boss each and every day. Andy’s friend in the office is Keith (James Patrick Stuart) who gets by mostly on his ruggedly good looks. While Andy has to work hard just to keep pace Keith has everything practically handed to him. Wendy McKay (Irene Molloy) is the receptionist for the office and initially there was some interest between her and Andy. As is all too typical in his life she winds up dating Keith. Lastly there is Byron Togler (Jonathan Slavin) a painfully shy illustrator for the department.

Most of the situations that drive the stories for each episode are exaggerations of normal work day occurrences. For example when a co-worker suddenly dies the whole department is assigned to mandatory sessions with a grief counselor. Naturally the results are the complete opposite of the desired effect. Then there was the time when a third person, Bryon, is assigned to the already cramped, tiny office that is Andy’s domain. Initially Andy conspires to get him fired but that plan is derailed when Andy discovers that he is a nice, likable guy. One of the perennial favorite white collar themes gets a try here when the head office sends an efficiency expert to cut costs. Little perks like cream for the coffee goes away and the lights are placed on a sensitive motion detector that causes the usual havoc among the staff.

CBS Paramount has a lot of vintage television series in their release catalogue and thankfully their definition of classic includes gems like this. If you blinked you might have missed this series the first time around but now there is a chance to discover one of the brightest and funniest shows that never made it.