TVSquad

When Andy Richter left Late Night With Conan O'Brien to establish his own career in acting, nobody knew that he'd come full circle and rejoin O'Brien years later. At the same time, nobody knew that creator Victor Fresco would do much the same thing.

Andy Richter Controls the Universe was one of those quirky shows that most people, who enjoy a dash of nonsense in their comedy, really dug. It was a very playful show about a guy working in a massive company. It featured a small ensemble with great chemistry on-screen, and had a unique look at big corporations.

A few years later, Fresco tapped that well again, and we got Better Off Ted, another comedy with absurdist tendencies set in a massive corporation with a small cast. Like Andy, it eked out a second season based more on critical acclaim than ratings. As someone who enjoys both shows, I find myself worrying that Ted will share Andy's ultimate fate, cancellation after the second season.

First off, isn't that a cool way to do titles for a two-part season finale? I'm waiting for the day when some show has a two-parter where the first episode is titled "The" and the other one is titled "End."

This season finale focused on a serial killer who killed prostitutes and the homeless and took them across the border into Canada.The previews with the pigs kinda creeped me out (I guess pigs are the villains in many ways this year). How was this finale? The show has been renewed for another season.

So last night at 9PM, everyone in the country was watching either the Lost season finale or another exciting elimination on American Idol. Or were they? Is there anyone out there who doesn't watch Lost or AI and actually tuned into Criminal Minds instead, even if it didn't guest star Alex O'Loughlin this week?

As we mentioned in the New TV on DVD column this week, Andy Richter Controls the Universe: The Complete Series has been released, so all of you folks who really miss this short-lived show can watch the episodes over and over and over and get mad at FOX all over again for cancelling it so quickly.

But there's another thing that fans can do too, go to the web site that has been set up for the set.

The screen is scattered with office equipment (phone, stapler, pencils, etc) and each one moves or makes a noise. Roll your mouse over the phone and you'll hear a different clip from the show, and you can also get the code for a widget that you can put on your own web page. But the main part of the site is the "How Are You Feeling Today?" box. You pick your mood (angry, having some fun, sexy, in pain, etc), and click the "Give me a Richter moment" button and you get to see a scene from the show that illustrates that mood.

After the jump, a scene involving really small feet.

(S03E19) Talk about ending a season in an explosive way!

In the past three years, this week's episode was probably the second episode of Criminal Minds that I watched in its entirety. It's not a bad show but I just can't watch everything that airs on TV. However, since I stop watching any American Idol season after Hollywood Week, so I wasn't going to watch the finale, and because my usual Wednesdays at 9 PM shows were done for the season, I tuned in to CBS and watched the BAU at work.

(S02E23) "Frank's back." - Morgan

Just like last year, Criminal Minds knows how to properly handle a season finale. This was a spectacular episode, and even thought it ended with a cliffhanger that came completely out of left field, I still ate up every second of it.

Frank, the most prolific serial killer ever, has returned and this time he's out to get Gideon. First off though, I have to say - I am terrified of Keith Carradine. Man... that guy is creepy. However, he played his part to perfection and it made for a thoroughly engrossing chase.

(S02E22) It's not often that Criminal Minds disappoints me. So when it does happen, it's a little unsettling because the show is generally so good.

There's really no better way to put it other than I didn't like this episode one bit. It was bland, unimaginative, and to be perfectly honest... it felt like a total rip-off of the Saw films. A sadistic killer, ridding the world of people who aren't living their lives to the fullest potential. A "house-cleaner" as Morgan put it. Big deal.

(S02E21) "Only one thing you run that hard for. Your life." -Gideon

It's been a few weeks since we had a new episode of Criminal Minds, but when I first saw the preview for this installment I have to admit - the plot sounded a lot like something out of a cheesy b-movie. People... hunting people [insert sinister laughter].

However, this being one of the better hours on TV right now (and using this episode as proof), I'm fairly convinced that the writers and producers behind Criminal Minds can make even the most ridiculous ideas into something compelling.

(S02E20) When this episode started off, I have to be honest - I was bored to death. It was slow, the case didn't feel like something the team would normally take on, and I honestly didn't care too much for the mommy/daughter issues between Prentiss and her mother (played by Kate Jackson). Those sentiments remained for the majority of the episode. But in true Criminal Minds fashion, things changed and the final minutes of the show were just as good as any previous episode. Kudos to the writers for turning around a rather lackluster episode in its ending moments.

(S02E19) Well that was just about the most disturbing episode of Criminal Minds yet. I can't remember a past installment being as graphic as this one. It was an excellent episode, but I'm surprised some of the scenes (especially the opening one) made it through the cut.

It was hard to stomach at some points. That opening scene was downright creepy as the arsonist watched the family burn. While not as graphic, the scene where he tossed kerosene all over that SUV with the family inside was equally hard to watch. This show definitely knows how to push the limits though because as I said, this was a great episode with a well done ending.

(S02E18) You have to give this show credit because it frequently blends so many disparate topics together and it always does it well. Here we had a look at post-Katrina New Orleans coupled with the emergence of a Jack the Ripper copy-cat killer -- two things you probably wouldn't expect to see together.

It was really was one of the more interesting cases that the BAU team has been assigned. I think the only thing that bugged me a little was the way the preview sold the episode as having this massive twist. It wasn't so massive and I figured it out even before I realized it was the twist. That's never good.

(S02E17) This was a bit of a different case for Gideon and the team. For once they weren't really hunting a true criminal, but rather a poor guy who had gone off the deep end largely due to circumstances that were completely out of his control.

It's kind of interesting if you think about it. There's a huge range of cases that this team probably gets called in for and we'll never know about it simply because it might not make for dramatic TV. However, someone suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder definitely fits the bill and it earned the BAU team a trip to Houston.

(S02E16) Not bad, pretty much what I've come to expect from this show even when the episodes are just so-so. To me, this was one of those episodes.

Before I talk about the case, first we have to chat about Reid. I'm already disappointed with the way this story is being handled. It's being played out precisely the same way that Elle went downhill at the beginning of the season just as I predicted it would. Reid is having flashbacks to his kidnapping and torture, he's contemplating using the drugs, and he's becoming snippy and distant with his co-workers. There are a million other ways to handle this, so why go the same route as Elle? I don't think he'll be leaving the show as she did, but it's still disappointing to see the same thing over again with a different character. Here's to hoping I'm wrong and that something fresh is in store for us.

(S02E15) No sense in getting into the circumstances about Reid's abduction. I'm assuming that if you've come back to read this, then you saw the spectacular first part that aired after the Super Bowl.

More than anything else, this episode was all about Reid. It's the first time we really got some explanations about his past, his childhood, and what it was like to grow up in his house. It has me a little worried though. Why's that? Because it reminded me a lot of this season's premiere episode. And we all know what that led to - the downfall of Elle.

(S02E14) I remember reading an article about a month ago (I forget where) about how CBS had chosen Criminal Minds as the follow-up to last night's Super Bowl. The reason I mention it, is that in the article Edward Allen Bernero (the show's EP) said something along the lines of how they weren't planning on making this episode any different from a normal installment.

Well, I have to disagree. This was episode was spectacular and easily exceeded any expectations I had going in. If this didn't "wow" you, then you haven't been watching Criminal Minds enough. Not only was the case one of the most gruesome things the BAU team has ever tackled, but it's only the third time the series has left us with a "To Be Continued" cliffhanger. All that sounds like a bit more than the average episode to me.