Victor Levin Movies

Though told to give up coffee during her pregnancy, Jamie (Helen Hunt) must somehow stay awake while burning the midnight oil on Lance Brockwell's political campaign. Meanwhile, Paul tries to decide how best to spend a large financial grant. Coming to Paul's rescue (if not Jamie's) is his aphorism-spouting Uncle Phil (guest star Mel Brooks). With this episode, Harry Groener replaces Alan Ruck as Lance Brockwell. ~ All Movie Guide

In the second installment of Mad About You's three-part fourth season finale, Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) have ruefully decided to separate. It is up to Paul's cousin Ira (John Pankow) and Jamie's sister Lisa (Anne Ramsay) to bring them back together. Originally broadcast as a single hour-long "special," this episode has since been divided into two parts for syndication purposes. ~ All Movie Guide

Mad About You launched its fifth season with yet another time slot change, moving to Tuesday evenings opposite ABC's top-rated Roseanne, CBS's new The Promised Land, FOX's package of first-run films, and Moesha from the upstart UPN. Picking up where season four left off, the fifth season began with the temporarily separated Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) enjoying a tender reconciliation with Jamie's announcement of her long-awaited (and much-delayed) pregnancy. It was therefore inevitable that this season would end with the birth of the Buchman baby, an adventure that all but required a one-hour finale episode. In between, the stories involved Jamie's search for a decent obstetrician, a choice which was narrowed down to the colorfully yclept Dr. Von Derphal (John O'Hurley) and Joan Golfinos (Suzie Plakson), the girlfriend of Paul's out-of-the-closet sister, Debbie (Robin Bartlett, still one season away from her matriculation from recurring to regular character). Meanwhile, Jamie's filmmaker husband, Paul, busied himself with a documentary about his own family, bringing a whole new array of colorful characters into the Mad About You fold, chief among them the great Mel Brooks as philosophical Uncle Phil. Other new fifth season characters included Marvin (Jeff Garvin), handyman to Paul's cousin Ira (John Pankow) and tough-talking therapist Sheila Kleinman (Mo Gaffney). Elsewhere, Harry Groener replaced Alan Ruck as Jamie's politician boss, Lance Brockwell, while the revolving-door casting of Jamie's parents, Theresa and Gus Stemple, briefly settled upon TV icons Carol Burnett and Carroll O'Connor. Finally, Anne Ramsay, previously a series regular in the role of Jamie's sister, Lisa Stemple, was now seen merely on a recurring basis. This year, Emmy awards went (again) to Helen Hunt as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and to Mel Brooks and Carol Burnett for their sporadic guest appearances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After enjoying a year's worth of high ratings by virtue of its "Must See TV" Thursday night time slot, Mad About You entered its fourth season in a new prime-time berth on Sunday evening, opposite CBS's Cybil and ABC's Lois and Clark. The move neither helped nor hurt the series, which resurfaced on Tuesdays when season five rolled around. Beyond the addition of a few new recurring characters -- among Gates McFadden as Paul Buchman's new boss, Allison Rourke; Alan Ruck as Jamie's new employer, Lance Brockwell; and Hank Azaria (the then boyfriend of series star Helen Hunt) as Nat the dogwalker, Mad About You embarked on some fresh story tangents as well. Paul Buchman (Paul Reiser) was hired as a documentary filmmaker for the Explorer Channel cable service, Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt) and her friend Fran Devanow (Leila Kenzle) opened their own PR firm, and so forth. The biggest new development was the pregnancy of Jamie Buchman -- or rather, the non-pregnancy, since actual conception was held off as long as the scriptwriters (and the audience) were able to endure the weight. Having scored excellent ratings in past seasons by offering such pop-icon guest stars as Carl Reiner and John Astin, the series continued in this vein throughout season four, most memorably in the episodes featuring Yoko Ono and several former regulars of the 1960s variety show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. In addition to maintaining its loyal viewership during its fourth year on the air, Mad About You also garnered another Emmy award, this one for series regular Helen Hunt as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is the celebrated "cartoon" episode, with animation provided by Sony Imageworks. Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt) is nonplussed when she learns that her former boyfriend Alan (Eric Stoltz) has been hired as a graphics artist for her new ad campaign. The result is a special edition of Alan's fabled comic-book character Talon, Queen of Outer Space -- a supremely bitchy extraterrestrial who bears a remarkable resemblance to someone we all know quite well. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After a fight with his wife over the proverbial "other woman," building super Mr. Wicker (Jerry Adler) moves in with Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt). An additional crisis arises when it develops that Jamie needs glasses -- or would contact lenses go better with her "trapezoidal face?" Best moment: the faux Dickens recital. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide