Thoughts on Mad About You, episodes 77-81

 

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Because sometimes a girl needing some stimulation has to improvise ...

-- Season Four of Mad About You continues with this enjoyable batch of episodes. Two are carried by their guest stars, two further the show's arc storyline and one lets the ensemble shine. All were directed by David Steinberg, who cameos as a neighbor in "An Angel for Murray."

-- Nearly two years after her guest appearance was teased, Yoko Ono finally meets the Buchmans. For a non-actress, the widow Lennon acquits herself well in "Yoko Said," written by Billy Grundfest & Paul Reiser. Paul Buchman is struggling at The Explorer Channel. He's gone zero for nine for successful pitches. The Buchmans learn that Yoko's planning a series of "film happenings" and Jamie suggests that Paul work with her. After bombing yet again with Allison and her lackeys (including soon-to-be-Must-See-TVer David Strickland), Paul goes with the Yoko idea, which is a hit. Jamie, who notices how her idea became "our idea," wants to attend Paul's meeting with Ms. Ono.
-- Paul's nearly as obnoxious as he was in "Instant Karma," but it's to Grundfest & Reiser's credit that he ends up being the butt of the joke. Jamie is advised not to ask about The Beatles, but it's Paul who comes close to commenting about Yoko supposedly breaking them up. Paul's approaching the chance to work with Yoko with the utmost seriousness, but he's thrown by her pitch. "I want you to film the wind." Personally, I was disappointed that Paul only seemed to consider one idea, filming a not-always observable quality. Why not do something like film from the wind's point of view as it travels? I guess that would be mighty challenging and expensive in 1995. Now you could do it with drones. Anyway, Jamie privately calls Paul out for being into the odd idea. He wouldn't be so into it if it came from Lisa. Since it's Yoko, though ... Paul's commitment to his star leads him to go on a fast, which is easier said than done.

-- Yoko's happening, as budgeted by Paul, is slated to cost more than a shark expedition. The network folks are wary, but a testy Paul gets them back on board with this "wind-breaking project." Alone with Ira, Paul admits he has no clue how to make his movie. He also finds out he's late to see Yoko. While Paul searches the city for her, Yoko shows up at the Buchmans. Jamie both smooths things over, and shows Yoko her old performance art piece. Paul arrives home and voices his frustrations with the film. It's okay. Yoko will let him break the fast and he doesn't have to film the wind. Everyone's entitled to at least one bad idea. John Lennon, in fact, considered having Ringo Starr be up front. Now, what to do about their movie? Paul ends up reprising his pitch from the start of the episode, about wildlife living atop the Chrysler Building.

-- The next guest-centric episode is "An Angel for Murray," written by Seth Kurland (Friends, 8 Simple Rules, Speechless). Paul and Jamie just don't have the time anymore to walk their dog. She's so busy at City Hall and his new project is documenting the goings on at a hospital. Paul doesn't want to hire a dog walker, but he's swayed after Murray has an accident and later spent much of the day wailing to be let out before creating a mess in the apartment. Jamie and Fran get the sub-plot, concerning who'll have top billing in their firm and how their office gets furnished with items meant for Demskey-Slater. Fran: "Or Slater-Demskey."

-- Nat (Hank Azaria), the fourth dog walker candidate, is the first not to be scared off by Paul and Jamie. He's more than a little eccentric, and Jamie's unsure, but Nat's got good moral fiber (he asks before taking some candy), cares for Murray (including cleaning his teeth) and is a music lover (singing "Non Dimenticar" to lull Murray to sleep). Meanwhile, Paul (of course) misses an actual emergency and Fran (of course) is cracking under the shame of the ill-gotten office supplies. For his part, Murray's learned to roll over, a trick he won't repeat for Paul and Jamie. They wonder if they should fire Nat.

-- I made it this far without mentioning the elephant in the room. Azaria and Helen Hunt were a couple at the time and would eventually marry, then divorce. This did put a slightly ugly cloud over the Buchmans' misgivings toward Nat. Right after the rollover fiasco, Nat goes to take Murray for a walk. Maggie returns with Murray. It seems Nat's gone missing. The Buchmans decide to look for him, ending up at the hospital where Paul's been filming. Now it's busy. Nat's a patient. His jaw's wired shut, but he's able to explain that he saved Murray from being hit by a fallen stone angel. He may not be family to the Buchmans, but he's their dog walker. Nat's also getting a shot in the ass, which Paul and Jamie prepare him for by telling him to "Roll over!"

-- The first of the two arc episodes, "The Couple," is also the lesser one, but only slightly. It's written by Kenny Schwartz. On nights when Nat has an acting class, Paul and Jamie take Murray to the dog park. Most of the other owners are just too odd, like a guy who uses his dog's saliva to cure athlete's foot (Fred Stoller) and an abrasive-voiced man (Gilbert Gottfried). Luckily, there's Doug & Didi (Brian McNamara and Lisa Waltz). Paul ends up making a theater date with the pair, except he and Jamie had already planned to have the date with Fran. Paul leaves Jamie to clean up the mess. She first lies, then confesses. Fran admits she'd have been happier not knowing the truth. After the show, Jamie arranges for a double date to see REM, forgetting that she and Paul planned to go to the concert with Ira. Now it's Paul's turn to clean up the mess, which he does with an unconvincing lie involving Ira's ticket source, Fat Artie. He doesn't get lunch, lunch comes to him.

-- Paul and Jamie end up at Doug & Didi's after the concert. Jamie can't help feeling like she was being pushy about getting to see the place. While the Ds are in the kitchen, the Buchmans realize how little they know about them. As it turns out, Doug and Didi didn't kill the Stadlers. They are, however, having an affair. Back at their place, Jamie and Paul consider the belated red flags: Doug and Didi always had to leave early. They never took the same car. They didn't like Jamie's Scarlet Letter joke. Naturally, the discussion turns to whether or not Paul and Jamie could cheat (FORESHADOWING!). Paul refuses to entertain the thought, which doesn't put Jamie at ease. This is interrupted by Ira revealing he knew he was cheated on by the Buchmans. While Paul makes amends, Jamie is visited by Allison, discovering she's not nearly as old as Paul made her out to me. In fact, she's quite attractive. 

-- Gates McFadden has one more MAY episode left after "The Couple." At first, I though she stopped appearing because she was making Star Trek: First Contact, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I'm curious if at one point, Allison was supposed to be the woman Paul nearly jeopardizes his marriage with. This possibility gives a little more weight to Jamie's paranoia, which otherwise just feels like it's there to fill out the episode. For that matter, I don't like that Doug & Didi's involvement peters out. It would have been interesting to learn a little more about their relationship, whether or not they consider each other like a spouse, even who has custody of the dog (and how do they feel about having three humans). Anyway, the episode ends with a victory for Fran -- she's scored Sting tickets and won't let the Buchmans come -- and later, Paul admits that it is possible that he could have an affair. That's all Jamie wanted to hear. "It won't happen to us."

-- Kathy Grffin, another soon-to-be-Must-See-TVer, is among the guest stars in "New Year's Eve." Written by Scott Silveri & Shana Goldberg-Meehan (Friends, Speechless), the episode is unexpectedly timely. I mean, aren't we all like Lisa's friend Randall (Willie Garson), living with some unresolved PTSD from the really bad year before? Kathy plays Brenda, a saleswoman who's rude to Jamie but cowers before her superior, Lisa. Paul's latest gig is to film the guys who lower Times Square's New Year's Eve ball. Jamie's been invited to the mayor's New Year's ball. It'll be the first New Year's Eve in years where the Buchmans won't be together.

-- Sex and the Single Fran: This rewatch is really helping me appreciate the character of Fran. She's like the sweet spot between the Friends gals and the women on Sex and the City, liberated, mature and also still enjoying herself. I'm really curious to see how Fran's arc plays out over the next few seasons. Anyway, Fran dealing with Mark. He's returned to obstetrics and wants to spend the holiday with her. Mark's also not liking Fran's not-entirely-defined relationship with Ira. A little later, Fran says she's okay with Ira playing with his band at a bar in Jersey rather than going to the ball. She really does mean it, since she'll be spending the night schmoozing, anyway. Ira's okay with Fran calling Mark.

-- At the Buchman's, Jamie looks hot and Paul can't properly describe it. She could stop a clock. Later, Nat correctly uses the expression, saying Jamie could stop traffic. In addition to walking Murray, Nat plans to watch Dick Clark. Jamie goes to the ball and Paul goes to Times Square, meeting Bill & Ernest (John Capodice & John F. O'Donohue), a pair of seen-it-all Teamsters. Jamie quickly loses interest in the ball, but before she can leave, she has to dance with Lance. He wants something, but it's not what Jamie thinks. He wants to be mayor of New York City! This is hilarious on its own and even more so in light of Ruck's next major TV work being Spin City. His next major work in general was Twister.

-- Over in New Jersey, a woman (Tracy Kolis) is hitting on Ira. She once saw Kenny G hold a note for two minutes, a feat Ira promises to repeat. Fran arrives at Mark's hospital in time to help him deliver a baby for Mrs. Velasquez (Bridget Sienna). The delivery is slightly held up by Mark wanting the baby to be 1996's first. "Hang in there, Joaquin!" At Times Square, Lisa is insisting that Randall did have a bad 1995, and gets the revelers to quite down for a moment. Paul begins filming the ball's descent ...

-- It gets stuck at "O3." The Times Square crowd chants "Three! Three! Three! ..." Dick Clark, watching from home, laments missing out on TV history because his wife insisted they be together. Ira ends up passing out. Randall freaks out. Nat's asleep. Fran and Mark deliver the baby. Jamie finds Paul and the ball finally makes it all the way down. Ira feels better. Fran and Mark have a moment. Lisa lost Randall. Paul and Jamie share their New Year's kiss, which touches Bill & Ernest. They decide to get some hookers.

-- Finally, we have "Ovulation Day," written by Levin & Jacobson. It's one of the better "How We Met Our Mabel" episodes, because it's more plot, joke and character-driven and less arc-driven. Paul and Jamie are abstaining from sex until Jamie's egg is ready. He's having a hard time resisting, even though it looks like the optimal time will be that afternoon. Cell phones aren't yet universal, so Jamie gives Paul a beeper to reach her. Jamie also manages to turn Paul off by claiming Sylvia called.

-- You can only keep a horny man at bay for so long. Paul's frustration isn't helped by he and Sid watching footage of humping horses and a gushing oil derrick. Sid thinks the Buchmans think too much, and is disturbed by Paul including him in a round of phone sex with Jamie. Claiming that her father called isn't a turnoff for Jamie. A strange kitchen odor is. Jamie's at lunch with Debbie, who ends up revealing that her friend Joan is her girlfriend, and that they had a threesome while on vacation. It all started with a post-tobogganing game of Monopoly. Debbie was the boot and eventually she gave Joan a backrub. Jamie's aroused by the story.

-- Debbie plans to immediately tell her parents and Paul about her sexuality. Jamie wants Debbie to wait about telling Paul. Walking with Ira, Paul notices not only beautiful women, but a sexy mannequin. Lunch and ogling are interrupted by Jamie's egg arriving. She's ovulating! Ira advises Paul to "run silent, run deep." At the apartment, Jamie gets Murray to stop licking himself by mentioning his mother, before getting trapped in the laundry room. Paul's also trapped, in a subway car with people including a woman wearing a schoolgirl uniform and a boy playing a tuba, whose bore arouses Paul. Jamie arouses herself by sitting on the washer while it's in motion, getting caught by Maggie (who apparently is the next one trapped in the laundry room). The camisole Jamie was washing has shrunk. Paul: "Why do you have Zelda Rubinstein's underwear?" 

-- Paul and Jamie's lovemaking is interrupted by Sylvia, Burt and Debbie. Sylvia insisted on seeing if Paul wanted to join the three of them for dinner. Debbie ends up spilling the beans, which surprises her family. Burt: "How does it work?" Burt and Paul are ultimately okay with Debbie being gay, while Sylvia threatens to jump from the living room window. She insists that Debbie isn't a lesbian, but seems to come around once it's revealed Joan is a doctor. Because even in an '90s sitcom's relatively edgy episode, we can still fit in a "Jewish mothers want their babies to be or hook up with doctors" joke. As for Paul and Jamie, he's not in the mood anymore. That is, until Jamie tells him a story about her lesbian encounter, which began when she was the boot while playing Monopoly. That does the trick, because even in a '90s sitcom's relatively edgy episode, it's the straight couple's sex life we care about.

-- Censor-baiting: If Debbie coming out and her threesome wasn't enough gay-related content, there's also the Riff's patrons misunderstanding when Paul tells Ira he loves him ("Couple").

-- The Buchmans Go Broadway: The outdated Times Square footage returns ("Angel"). The Buchmans see Hello, Dolly! with Carol Channing, a show Fran was going to invite Bob to, until she realized he was too excited to be seeing Carol Channing. Fran's already seen Cats ("Couple").

-- Hey, It's the Mid-'90s!: Jamie says that if she was meeting with "Pamela Sue Anderson," she'd bring Paul along ("Yoko"). Paul's got the April 24, 1995 issue of New York, asking "Is Your Cat Contemplating Suicide?" ("Angel"). "Boutros Boutros-Ghali Buchman" is proud of his peacekeeping skills ("Couple"). Paul discovers that long ago, he had the idea for Speed and kept it in his wallet. An ad for Rush Limbaugh's show is prominent among the New Year's Eve stock footage ("Eve").

-- Fun With Classic TV: Paul suggests "Jetson" as Doug and Didi's surname ("Couple"). Paul was a member of the Stefanie Powers fan club ("Eve").

-- Continuity Corner: Why exactly does Paul need to pitch documentary ideas? I got the impression that The Explorer Channel is employing him as a hired gun for already slated projects. Must be an ego thing ("Yoko"). And why is The Explorer Channel interested in a documentary about a city hospital? A rural clinic, maybe, but a city hospital? ("Angel"). For that matter, why would they be interested in the guys who lower Times Square's New Year's Eve ball? ("Eve"). The jury's out on whether or not Sharon Buchman exists anymore ("Day").

-- Before the Credits: Paul and Jamie play "The Star Spangled Banner" on their piano, getting stuck on the words and sounding unpleasant ("Angel"). They both fell asleep while watching TV ("Couple"). Jamie correctly guesses that Paul paid $17 for a shirt ("Day").

-- Under the Credits: Jamie, Yoko and Paul have a bed-in for peace ("Yoko"). Paul arrives back at the hospital to find it deserted; they're all hiding from him ("Angel"). Dick Clark, still mad at his wife, plans a busy schedule of TV work ("Eve").

-- Ratings Roundup: MAY was all over the place in this batch, which spanned from November 1995-January 1996. Sometimes it would be as low as ninth place ("Eve"), sometimes it would be as high as third place ("Day"). The special programming crown goes to ABC's The Beatles Anthology, which premiered the week after "Yoko."