Three Days of the Chicken – Three Andy Barkers left
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- March
- 30
What does Andy Barker, P.I. have in common with 30 Rock? Besides great comic writing, I mean? Jokes, lots of them. Funny, throwaway one-liners that just sort of get slipped in where you might almost miss them, making the show worth watching a second or even third time (which you can do free here).
“Three Days of the Chicken” granted my wish right off the bat for more Clea Lewis as our hero’s loving wife Jenny, who Andy (Andy Richter) has brought back to his office to show her around and introduce her to his friends.
Jenny: You know I have to admit I was a little worried about this whole P.I. thing. I know you’re not going to get mixed up in anything dangerous, but I do feel better coming here and meeting everybody. Hey, when can I meet your friend from the kebaaab shop? How do you pronounce his name again?Andy: Wally?
Jenny: Hmmm, Waaaally.
Andy spots Wally having a nasty parking lot altercation. Turns out a local chicken syndicate is dumping sub-standard chicken on small business owners like him. Andy’s on the case.
I like that the formula varies week to week rather than following an inane sit-com pattern.
At the headquarters of Transcor Chicken, Simon’s (Tony Hale) got a plan – not to mention mustaches – for getting some answers. Under the auspices of setting up a fustion-style barbecue/boiled chicken franchise, and with the aliases Barry White and Victor the mustachio’d sous chef, Andy and Simon score a plant tour with a shady character who looks to be in charge.
They leave with the names of other Transcor customers, who all claim to be happy. But the owner of the Jamaican Jerk Chicken place back at the mall warns them that they’re on the right trail and to watch their backs. Sure enough, Andy’s office is trashed, an ominous “Lay Off” is scrawled on the wall and a mad attack chicken left behind.
So they turn to Lew Staziak, P.I. for help.
Andy (walking into Lew Staziak’s boxing gym): Wow this place is amazing.Simon: Yeah, reminds me of high school gym class, except I’m not crying.
Andy: Hey Lew.
Lew: Hey Barker. What is it, Take Your Daughter to Work Day?
Simon: It is an honor to be ribbed by you sir.
Lew: I’m not ribbing. I just honestly want to know why you’re dressed up in men’s clothes.
Simon: Oh, there’s the tears.
Lew’s ears perk up when he hears chickens are involved, moreso when he finds out about Transcor. They’re into drugs, cement and wigs, he says. Mess with them and you might end up dead.
After a black Caddy trails Andy and Simon back to Jenny’s backyard barbecue, and they find out the caterer replaced Jenny’s burgers and dogs with chicken for no charge, Simon flips out and flips all the tables. Too bad the Caddy belonged to Jenny’s boss, the lady Simon wrestled a drumstick from.
Jenny’s mad, but when a threatening letter from Transcor shows up in their mailbox, she won’t let Andy drop the case. She’s mousy, but she’s spunky.
Jenny: If I know Andy Barker, he’ll find a way for Willy.Andy: It’s Wally.
Jenny: Yeah, well he should change that. He’s in America now.
A garbage mishap leads Andy to a break in the case: there’s a chicken inspector on the take. Lew knows a little filly down at the federal building, so off he, Andy and Simon go, to a hip-hop beat. But the filly’s dead, so Lew applies a little “pressure” to a clerk to find out where to find the inspector.
Andy catches up with him at a marina. The inspector invites Andy aboard his yacht – “The Chicken Little.” Andy admires his gun collection, until the inspector pulls Aaron Burr’s pistol on him. Seems Andy wasn’t buying his line about the yacht and furnishing coming from family money. He takes Andy hostage in his Bentley.
Simon: Follow him. Follow him. Follow him.Lew: Good tip, Simone. I might have just driven into the harbor.
Back at the plant, Lew freezes at the site of the Transcor chicken logo. Inside, the goons order the inspector to shoot Andy because he knows too much. Fortunately, Aaron Burr’s pistol hasn’t been cleaned since the duel with Alexander Hamilton. It fires wide right, and Andy makes a run for it.
Lew shoots one of the goons who has Andy cornered. As they make their break, Lew runs into his archnemesis.
Lew: Hey remember me? I’m Lew Staziak, and I’m all grown up now.Chicken: (unintelligible chicken words)
Simon and Lew, cornered now by the goons, back into a truck driven by Andy, who pulls away as the cops pull up. Another case cracked…like an egg.
The episode ends with Andy back at work, wrapping up a tax case. He’ll be home soon, he tells Jenny, before noticing a ninja assassin shoot a poison dart into his client’s neck. He might be home a little late.
I’m sold on Andy Barker, P.I., but the online buzz has died down considerably, so there’s no telling what NBC is thinking. This one will probably come right down to the May up-fronts. Networks are known to wait until the last minute to announce their fall lineups before the annual meetings where advertisers pay up-front for fall campaigns.
Next week will be the real test, though, the first real night of must-see TV like it could be: all new episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, Andy Richter, P.I. and Scrubs.
Think funny thoughts.
This entry was posted
on Friday, March 30th, 2007 at 11:21 pm by Brian Howard.
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