MAD ABOUT YOU

'''Mad About You''' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23 1992, to May 24 1999. It is being released on DVD and syndicated for reruns on Oxygen Network and Nick at Nite in the U.S. and on other stations across the globe.
The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City. Reiser played Paul Buchman, a documentary film maker. Hunt played Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist. Near the end of the show's run, the couple had a baby daughter, whom they named Mabel.
The series focused mainly on the newlyweds while they dealt with everything from humorous daily minutiae to major struggles. The show's willingness to find comedy in realistic situations and observational dialogue garnered it comparisons to ''Seinfeld'', another NBC comedy about thirty-somethings in New York City. ''Mad About You'' was more sentimental and light-hearted whereas Seinfeld focused on dark humor and characters.
Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser were paid $1 million per show for the last season, but ratings fell sharply that year. The series placed 65th weekly, with many critics accusing it of relying too heavily on slapstick humor and "very special episodes".
The show's theme song, ''Final Frontier'', was composed by Reiser and Don Was. The theme was originally performed by Andrew Gold, but a version performed by Anita Baker made its debut midway through the 1997 season. Baker's version was used for the rest of the show's run and appears on the show's soundtrack album. (Gold's version is available on the collection ''Thank You For Being A Friend: The Best Of Andrew Gold''.)

Main characters

Paul & Jamie Buchman with their dog, Murray

Jamie Buchman

Jamie Buchman (born February 19, 1963) was the younger daughter of Gus and Theresa Stemple. After seven boyfriends at Yale University, she met Paul Buchman at a New York newsstand by stealing his copy of The New York Times with an impossible excuse. Her difficult relationship with her mother-in-law is an ongoing source of jokes on the show.

Paul Buchman

Buchman (born April 19, 1962) was conceived on the table that his mother served "mushed" potatoes on. After attending the New York University Film School, he struggled for recognition before finally succeeding in filmmaking in New York City. His wife, dog and daughter reside with him in Greenwich Village.

Murray

Murray is the Buchmans' dog and a fan favorite because the dog the show settled on late in the first season followed instructions very well. He was a puppy when Paul found him, and met Jamie while walking him. He will sometimes chase an invisible mouse, and will end up banging his head against something. In a later episode, Jamie does discover the "real" mouse that Murray has been chasing. In the two-part series finale, ''The Final Frontier'', adult Mabel says that Murray died when she was six, but she was not told until she was twelve.

Fran Devanow

Jamie's best friend, Fran Devanow was the Regional Vice President at Farrer-Gantz Public Relations who hired Jamie as her assistant. Near 1989 Fran quit Farrer-Gantz to spend time with her five-year-old son and husband. Jamie was then promoted to Fran's position. Fran and Mark's relationship lasted 10 years, and their separation shocked Jamie and Paul. The Devanows eventually reconciled.

Lisa Stemple

Three years older than her sister Jamie, Lisa has unfathomable psychological issues. Jamie is referred to as "Stella" in a book written by Lisa's therapist: "It was Stella's overprotectiveness that suffocated her ability to relate to others, and tethered her to a lifetime of insecurity and neurosis." After an envious rage, she blamed Jamie for all of her problems in an interview with her shrink that became a chapter of a book called "Manics." With no place else to go, she does her laundry at Paul and Jamie's apartment while scavenging through her sister's clothes and food. Every visit from her parents triggers her eating disorder.

Ira Buchman

A "ubiquitous" individual, Paul's cousin Ira first appeared in Mad About You in "The Wedding Affair" episode. Ira is from the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn. He worked for Paul's father, Burt, at Buchman's Sporting Goods. Paul and Ira have a close friendship, but their hidden rivalry came out when Ira obtained the store when Burt retired. However he frequently appears as loving and supportive towards Paul and Jamie.

Sylvia Buchman

Paul's mother, Sylvia almost always gives Jamie a hard time, but occasionally does show kindness towards her daughter-in-law.

Burt Buchman

Burt ran a sporting goods store until he passed it onto Ira upon retirement. His signature line in the show occurs whenever he visits Paul and Jamie's apartment exclaiming at the door, "It's me Burt! Burt Buchman! Your father, Burt Buchman!".

Mabel Buchman

The arrival of Paul and Jamie's daughter was a turning point in the show. She was finally named when Jamie's overbearing mother proclaimed that "'M'others 'A'lways 'B'ring 'E'xtra 'L'ove."

Cast

★ Paul Reiser (Paul Buchman)

★ Helen Hunt (Jamie Stemple Buchman)

★ Anne Ramsay (Lisa Stemple)

★ Leila Kenzle (Fran Devanow)

★ Richard Kind (Dr. Mark Devanow)

★ John Pankow (Ira Buchman)

★ Maui the Dog (Murray)

★ Cynthia Harris (Sylvia Buchman)

★ Louis Zorich (Burt Buchman)

★ Robin Bartlett (Debbie Buchman)

★ Tommy Hinkley (Jay Selby)

Regular guests

★ Judy Geeson (Maggie Conway, British neighbor across the hall)

★ Paxton Whitehead (Maggie's first and third husband Hal)

★ Jim Piddock (Maggie's second husband Hal)

★ Lisa Kudrow (Ursula Buffay)

★ Suzie Plakson (Dr. Joan Golfinos)

★ Hank Azaria (Nat Ostertag)

★ Mo Gaffney (Dr. Sheila Kleinman)

★ Nancy Dussault (Theresa Stemple 1992)

★ Penny Fuller (Theresa Stemple 1993-1996)

★ Carol Burnett (Theresa Stemple 1996-1999)

★ Carroll O'Connor (Gus Stemple, Jamie's father 1996-1999)

★ Patrick Bristow (Troy, Jamie's scheming office underling)

Trivia

★ Helen Hunt was the second person (after Cloris Leachman) to win an Oscar while still doing a weekly TV show.

★ On September 12 1999, Helen Hunt won her fourth consecutive Emmy Award for her performance on the show.

★ The role of Jamie Buchman had been offered to Bonnie Hunt, who turned it down. Helen Hunt was awarded the role over Teri Hatcher, who was also considered.

★ Helen Hunt's father, Gordon Hunt, won a Director's Guild Award for directing the third-season episode ''The Alan Brady Show''. ''TV Guide'' named it one of the greatest episodes in TV history.

★ Lisa Kudrow played Ursula, the forgetful waitress at Riff's. She also played Phoebe in ''Friends'', who was Ursula's twin sister. Ursula, played by Kudrow, appeared as a recurring minor character in ''Friends''. (See "Crossovers" below.) She also once played a woman called Karen who was on a date with Paul Buchman in a flashback episode at a time before he met Jamie.

★ ''Mad About You'' was produced in association with TriStar Television Inc. under Sony. Hunt currently owns her own production company called Hunt/Tavel Productions under Sony.

★ Lifetime Television paid USD$58 million for the rights to broadcast ''Mad About You''.

★ Hunt's favorite episodes of ''Mad About You'' are: "Our Fifteen Minutes" in season three and in season six "Moody Blues" (she won her third Emmy Award for the latter).

★ Helen Hunt directed five episodes, including the series finale.

★ John Pankow (Ira Buchman) is the brother of James Pankow of the band Chicago.

★ In an episode of ''The Simpsons'', there is an advertisement on the side of a bus that is illegible unless played in slow motion. The sign reads: "Right Now you are missing ''Mad About You'' on NBC Must See Thursday." At the time, ''Mad About You'' aired opposite of ''The Simpsons'' on Fox. According to the commentaries for that episode of ''The Simpsons'', the sign was intended as a dig, with Executive Producer Josh Weinstein questioning how anyone could be watching ''Mad About You'' when a new Simpsons was on, however, Paul Reiser was honored and responded by putting a Bart Simpson doll on the set of ''Mad About You''.

★ In the original episode Jamie and Paul were living together and not married. Because of the attention to morality that was brought about by Murphy Brown's unplanned pregnancy this was quickly changed and the couple were married.

★ The original title of the series was "The Final Frontier." That title was kept for the theme song.

★ Ira always referred to Jamie as James. Other main characters can also be heard referring to Jamie as James in several episodes.

★ ''Mad About You'' was remade in the United Kingdom as ''Loved By You'', starring John Gordon Sinclair as Michael (Paul) and Trevyn McDowell as Kate (Jamie). The series was made by Carlton Television and ran for two seasons, from 1997-1998.

★ In a earlier episode of Mad About You during the first season, Paul reveals that his two sisters use to playfully dress him up, as the sitcom progressed over the years the character Paul was written as having only one sister Debbie Buchman.

Awards

''Mad About You'' was honored with a Golden Globe Award, a Peabody Award, a Genesis Award, five Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series, and was chosen Best Quality Comedy by the Viewers for Quality Television.

Soundtrack

In 1997, Atlantic/Wea released a Mad About You soundtrack. The soundtrack from and inspired by the sitcom, is composed of fun and sentimental songs and clips from the show. The tracks are organized chronologically marking the milestones of the couple's relationship. The album is bookended by the two versions of Paul Reiser's song Final Frontier--the first track is the classic version fans are used to, and the last track is Anita Baker's jazzy, full-length rendition, with Reiser on keyboard. The 21 tracks are as follows:
# "Final Frontier (TV Theme)" - Andrew Gold
# "Who I Am" - Faith Hill
# "No Pressure" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
# "I've Been Lonely Too Long" - The Young Rascals
# "At Last!" - Etta James
# "That's Marriage?" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
# "Ice Cream" - Sarah McLachlan
# "I Love The Way You Love Me" - Eric Martin
# "Nobody Knows Me" - Lyle Lovett
# "Sneaky Feelings" - Elvis Costello
# "A Talk In The Park" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
# "Love And Forgiveness" - Julia Fordham
# "A Magic Moment" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
# "The Things We've Handed Down" - Marc Cohn
# "Lullaby For You" - BeBe Winans
# "She Crawls Away" - Hootie & the Blowfish
# "My First Child" - Nil Lara
# "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" - John Lennon
# "Baby Girl" - The Tony Rich Project
# "Unconditional Love" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
# "Mad About You - The Final Frontier" - Anita Baker

Episode list

''See List of Mad About You episodes''.

DVD releases

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is releasing Mad About You on DVD in Region 1. As of 2007, the first three seasons have been released. It is not known whether the remaining 4 seasons will be released at some point. The Complete First and Second Seasons were released 7 months apart, and due to poor sales Sony Entertainment decided to not release anymore of the remaining sets and Mad About You was put on the Sony "cancelled DVD list". However, in late 2006 it was decided that season 3 would be released. There was nearly a 4 year difference between the season 2 and season 3 releases.
'Season Releases'

DVD Name	Release Date	Ep #
The Complete 1st Season	October 22 2002	22
The Complete 2nd Season	April 22 2003	25
The Complete 3rd Season	February 6 2007	24

'Best Of Releases'

DVD Name	Release Date	Ep #	Additional Information
Mad About You Collection	February 8 2005	22	Blooper Reel: The Seven Warning Signs of Madness, Audio commentaries: Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt on "The Final Frontier" and "The Pilot", Featurette: Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt Are Mad About the Theme, Featurette: Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt Are Mad About the Guest Stars, TV spots, Paul and Helen Introduce and Discuss each episode.

Crossovers

Mad About You has had numerous connections to other NBC sitcoms set in New York City, as well as various other programs.
'''Friends''': Lisa Kudrow played the recurring role of Ursula, a flaky waitress at Riff's, a local restaurant that Paul and Jamie frequented. Kudrow went on to star in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', playing the also somewhat flaky character of Phoebe Buffay, and for a time both series shared the same Thursday night line-up. While not originally intended, the characters of Ursula and Phoebe were later found to be identical twin sisters. In a ''Friends'' episode, as part of a night of NBC sitcom crossovers, Jamie and Fran walk into Central Perk and mistake Phoebe for Ursula. Possibly for legal reasons (''Mad About You'' was produced by Columbia/Tristar, ''Friends'' by Warner Brothers), Hunt and Kenzle were not identified on screen as Jamie and Fran.
'''Seinfeld''': In one episode, Paul, pressured by Jamie, decides to sign over the lease of his old "bachelor pad" to the current tenant who is subleasing. This tenant is revealed to be Cosmo Kramer of ''Seinfeld''. ''Seinfeld'', however, twice contradicted this connection, one even featuring a running joke about a character's distaste for his fiancee's fondness for watching ''Mad About You''. In another episode, Paul, under the effects of ''Viagra'', ran into ''Jerry Seinfeld'' in the street, who tells Paul to go away.
'''The Dick Van Dyke Show''': Carl Reiner reprised the role of Alan Brady from the 1960s sitcom (a series acknowledged as an inspiration for ''Mad About You''). The episode made several references to the older show, such as Jamie at one point crying and whining "Oh, Paul!!!" - a signature move by Mary Tyler Moore's character Laura Petrie. However, they contradicted this connection ten episodes earlier when Paul almost trips over a box and says "Get me, I'm Dick Van Dyke."

External links

★ Official site

★ Lifetime site

★ faqs.org site

References

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