Possible Return of 'Mad About You'... thoughts?

[carnivorousplant]

@Darren_Garrison

Take-out soup restaurant has extremely good soup, long lines of people wait to buy it. The owner/chef has rules to try to keep the lines moving as quickly as possible, such as having your order ready when you reach the counter instead of waiting and staring at the menu, and no modifying your order after you have made it. Do anything that can slow things down, you may be temporarily or permanently banned from buying there. People conciser this a very harsh punishment given how much they like the soup, they act in fear of being punished.

Thanks!

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@Dewey_Finn

So I think Larry David was probably the single person most responsible for the brilliance of Seinfeld.

Oh, of course Larry David was the essential brains behind Seinfeld; I don’t think anyone disputes that, least of all me, and I’m not really a big Larry David fan. But I was referring specifically to the on screen talent and the delivery at which Louis-Dreyfus was so much better than everyone else on that show it was kind of hard to watch. I’ll give Jason Alexander props for playing an unlikeable, Larry David-esque character in a really deliberately unlikeable way (and actually being an otherwise talented performer in many respects), but Jerry Seinfeld never seemed very comfortable and Michael Richards was pure ham.

@Darren_Garrison

But back to Mad About You, were we supposed to find Jamie likable or charming? Because if I had to spend much time around her, then I might be the one doing time for murder. She was a neurotic, high-maintenance superstitious flake. Possibly even less likable than her sister.

You all realize that the show is a pretty transparent ripoff of When Harry Met Sally right down to casting actors and creating characters that pretty closely look and sound like the eponymous leads in that film, right? The entire premise of the show is essentially a follow-on to that film, and while those characters were bearably entertaining for a couple of hours with a story spread over a decade (Billy Crystal basically mastered the character of the obnoxious guy you want to sucker punch but makes you laugh anyway) they were intolerable for years on end of their obnoxiously pointless daily lives.

Stranger

[StarvingButStrong]

I watched that all the time, but the only episode I really remember is the one they went through half a dozen turkeys trying to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table.

That and ‘Get the mouse, Murray!’

[Quimby]

@carnivorousplant

In my favorite episode, the bathroom doorknob falls off, and Paul is to dumb to open the door.

I know you are being sarcastic but I actually really enjoy that episode. A few other favorites:

The one where the entire episode takes place at a wedding and Paul and Jamie are fighting.

The one where it inter cuts between a party that has gone bad and the ride home.

The Flashback to when they first met.

The alternate history episode where they never met.

The one where Paul says “This is what I’m saying…” I’m kidding, that’s all of them.

[Darren_Garrison]

@Stranger_On_A_Train

You all realize that the show is a pretty transparent ripoff of When Harry Met Sally right down to casting actors and creating characters that pretty closely look and sound like the eponymous leads in that film, right?

I’ve never watched When Harry Met Sally.

[Kent_Clark]

@Darren_Garrison

I’ve never watched When Harry Met Sally.

Wisecracking New York guy meets cute but insufferably high-maintenance blond girl and they annoy each other until they fall in love.

Best remembered for the scene in Katz’s Deli.

[ftg]

But will they bring back Hank Azaria as Nat Ostertag, the dog walker?

[Frazzled]

I remember when this show was on that NBC would have these silly “Theme Nights”. One I remember was a black out. I think it started with Mad About You where one of them short circuited a breaker box, and then every other show that night had a black out. I remember Friends had Chandler stuck in an ATM Vestibule with … umm… some super model.

I would actually think it funny if NBC did that again one night - create a theme night and have a one off episode of some of the shows from that era. Mad about You, Friends, and Seinfeld. I’d especially like it if they merged in some modern shows, say Breaking Bad (I know, not NBC, but think of the possibilities!)

[Darren_Garrison]

@Frazzled

I remember when this show was on that NBC would have these silly “Theme Nights”. One I remember was a black out. I think it started with Mad About You where one of them short circuited a breaker box, and then every other show that night had a black out. I remember Friends had Chandler stuck in an ATM Vestibule with … umm… some super model.

Jamie was attempting to steal cable and Chandler was trapped in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre.

[Quimby]

@kunilou

Wisecracking New York guy meets cute but insufferably high-maintenance blond girl and they annoy each other until they fall in love.

Best remembered for the scene in Katz’s Deli.

Also one of the best Romantic comedies ever made which created the template for almost all the ones that came after it.

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@Frazzled

I would actually think it funny if NBC did that again one night - create a theme night and have a one off episode of some of the shows from that era. Mad about You, Friends, and Seinfeld. I’d especially like it if they merged in some modern shows, say Breaking Bad (I know, not NBC, but think of the possibilities!)

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but Breaking Bad is done, and not in a “Maybe we can bring it back for a reunion show someday” fashion.

RIP Hank Schrader; you never got to to retire and open up that microbrewery, hombre. The world is poorer for you premature departure.

Stranger

[Two_Many_Cats]

@Stranger_On_A_Train

It is television executives who see a guaranteed profit in a locked in audience; even if the show burns out in one series, they can at least be assured of selling advertising spots for the first half-order. And for Netflix and other subscription-based services, it is a relatively cheap way to keep people subscribing out of nostalgia and/or morbid curiosity; even if the show sucks, people are already subscribed and will look at other content until they find something they like. It makes sense from a business standpoint but tends to suck any amount of creativity out of the process, and thus you get shows like King of Queens or Everybody Loves Raymond which have no reason to exist other than to bloat out television schedules and serve as filler between commercials. When the commercials are literally more entertaining than the show they are sponsoring, things are bad. And that has been true since at least Three’s Company.

Stranger

So, they haven’t forgotten how to write, just how to pitch series to lazy, fucktard executives?

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@Darren_Garrison

I’ve never watched When Harry Met Sally.

To its credit, it is the least creepy of all Nora Ephron-penned films (excepting Silkwood, which is supposed to be disturbing) and basically a template for all mismatched couple rom-coms ever since. Also, Carrie Fisher’s film best role.

@Two_Many_Cats

So, they haven’t forgotten how to write, just how to pitch series to lazy, fucktard executives?

How do you explain quantum mechanics to kindergarteners?

Stranger

[Telemark]

@ftg

But will they bring back Hank Azaria as Nat Ostertag, the dog walker?

Probably not. Didn’t Azaria marry and divorce Helen Hunt?

[dropzone]

@Kron

Kill this wave of TV nostalgia.

Kill it with fire.

Include Paul Reiser. He was at his best in Aliens, when horrifying aliens killed him.

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@dropzone

Include Paul Reiser. He was at his best in Aliens, when horrifying aliens killed him.

So now, if I went in and made a major security issue out of it, everybody steps in. Administration steps in, and there are no exclusive rights for anybody; nobody wins. So I made a decision and it was… wrong. It was a bad call, Ripley. It was a bad call.

Stranger

[Rushgeekgirl]

I always liked that show except for that one awful Ferberizing Mabel episode.

[Fear_Itself]

I don’t remember watching it, with the exception of an episode where Paul Reiser takes a Viagra pill, then has to hurry home before it wears off. Hilarity and funny walks ensue.

I think I can live without it.

[foolsguinea]

I liked that show, or at least the two leads. I’ll admit, the supporting characters were a mixed bag. Paul had a co-worker I liked all right.

A: Paul Reiser haters are not obligated to watch it.
And two: some of you are being–what’s that word? puerile?–that doesn’t sound right. Some of you are being childish.

And get out of my house!

[Telemark]

@Rushgeekgirl

I always liked that show except for that one awful Ferberizing Mabel episode.

I loved that episode. Single 22 minute shot, very good technically and artistically.