Maria Semple Movies
Five years after achieving commercial and critical success with his film Three Kings, director and screenwriter David O. Russell returns to the more idiosyncratic territory of his earlier work with this intelligent and offbeat comedy. Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin) are a married couple who run an existential detective agency where they sift through the lives of their clients in order to discover the source of their angst. The Jaffes' latest client is Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman), an environmental activist who has a very large rock and a great deal on his mind; their study of Albert's problems lead Bernard and Vivian to Brad Stand (Jude Law), a public relations executive with a chain of successful variety stores, Huckabees. While publicly allying himself with Albert's environmental initiatives, behind the scenes Brad is running roughshod over responsible land management with little care for the consequences. When Brad learns he's being watched by the Jaffes, he hopes to co-opt them by hiring them himself; however, the plan has unexpected consequences when their questioning leads Brad's girlfriend, well-scrubbed model Dawn (Naomi Watts), into reassessing her life and relationships. Meanwhile, Albert finds himself joining forces with Tommy (Mark Wahlberg), a firefighter and fellow environmentalist who has been having second thoughts about Bernard and Vivian's ideas and methods after a long-term investigation and has since fallen under the spell of nihilist poet and philosopher Caterine Vauban (Isabelle Huppert). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert, (more)
- 1998
The sixth season of Mad About You was marked by flagging ratings and ever-increasing audience dissatisfaction over the self-indulgences perpetrated by the series' creators and stars, which reached a summit (or nadir) with the single-take, "real-time" episode, "The Conversation." Nonetheless, NBC wanted to hold on to the Emmy-winning sitcom, especially since the demise of Seinfeld had passed the cudgel of offbeat comedy to Mad About You. So eager was the network to keep the series on its schedule that it offered both Paul Reiser (Paul Buchman) and Helen Hunt (Jamie Buchman) a daunting 1,000,000 dollars per episode -- a salary increase that, astonishingly enough, neither actor had requested. Once Reiser and Hunt had acquiesced, Mad About You was a firm go for a seventh season, remaining in its familiar Tuesday-night berth (albeit one hour later). While John Pankow, Louis Zorich, and Cynthia Harris were back as, respectively, Paul Buchman's cousin Ira and Paul's parents, Burt and Sylvia, several other longtime regulars were conspicuous by their absence, notably Leila Kenzle (Fran Devanow), who had joined the cast of the new UPN sitcom DiResta. Anne Ramsay -- now billed as Anne Elizabeth Ramsey -- made only guest appearances as Jamie Buchman's sister, Lisa; ditto Robin Bartlett as Paul's gay sibling Debbie. The emphasis of the series was weaned away from the Buchmans' baby daughter, Mabel, refocusing on the relationship between Paul and Jamie -- a relationship that proved to be far more fragile than in previous seasons. Despite the efforts to return to its roots by concentrating on Paul and Jamie's romantic travails, Mad About You continued its precipitous ratings plunge, prompting NBC to move the series from Tuesday to Monday evenings. Thanks to constant pre-emptions, the series was barely seen at all during March and April of 1999, and when it finally returned with new episodes, it was greeted with almost universal indifference. The program briefly rallied with its one-hour finale, a futuristic episode wherein the grown-up Mabel Buchman (Janeane Garofalo) looked back upon the lives of her parents (and their friends) during the first two decades of the 21st century. Perhaps because everyone knew that the series was on its last legs, Mad About You received no Emmy awards for its 1998-1999 output, though guest star Mel Brooks was honored at the American Comedy Awards ceremony. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt, (more)
- 1997
The title character in this episode manages to disrupt the lives of Paul and Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt, Paul Reiser) without even trying. Complicating matters is Jamie's insistence upon seeing all sorts of sinister conspiracies at her workplace -- the result of a quick reading of Julius Caesar. And incidentally, you can't sneak up on a cockatoo the way they did on Daktari. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Mare Winningham guest stars as Sarah, a divorced mother of three who teaches Jamie (Helen Hunt) the "casual" parenting method. Jamie and Paul (Paul Reiser) are convinced that Sarah would make an ideal blind date for Paul's cousin Ira (John Pankow). Unfortunately, Ira ends up falling for WNBA star Rebecca Lobo (as herself). Oh, and along the way, Paul is declared a genius -- for financial purposes. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1997
David (Sam Lloyd), the cousin of Paul Buchman (Paul Reiser), decides to open his own coffee shop. Fueled with family pride, Paul's very pregnant wife, Jamie (Helen Hunt), volunteers as a waitress, with chaotic results. Meanwhile, another pregnant woman -- this one a total stranger -- causes trouble for Paul and his other cousin Ira (John Pankow). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
With lots of time on her hands, Jamie (Helen Hunt) begins writing letters to her baby daughter, Mabel, to be opened on Mabel's 18th birthday. Before long, Paul (Paul Reiser) has been caught up in the letter-writing mania, as have Ira (John Pankow) and Joan (Suzie Plakson). Trouble is, the words don't quite come out as planned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
After a four-year absence, Spencer Klein returns in the role of Ryan Stemple, the son of Jamie's friend Fran (Leila Kenzle). In her efforts to compliment Ryan's violin virtuosity, Jamie (Helen Hunt) puts her politically incorrect foot into her politically incorrect mouth. On another front, Paul (Paul Reiser) plans to haggle with the Buchmans' therapist over some rather exorbitant fees. Jeff Garlin makes his first series appearance as Marvin, general factotum to Paul's cousin Ira (John Pankow). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Mel Brooks returns as Paul's Uncle Phil, who has been on his deathbed for what seems to be years. Phil wants Paul (Paul Reiser) and Jamie (Helen Hunt) to name their new baby after him. But Paul is convinced that the little visitor will be a "she" rather than a "he." Imagine an episode of a 1960s sitcom getting away with the title of this one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Not surprisingly, most of Mad About You's sixth season was built around little Mabel Buchman, newborn daughter of leading players Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt). Many longtime fans of the series felt that the introduction of Mabel was the "jump the shark" moment, in which the quality of the writing began sliding downhill. Conversely, the series garnered a whole new crop of fans, else why would NBC cease its "football" treatment of the property, uncharacteristically allowing Mad About You to remain in the same (Tuesday night) time slot for two consecutive seasons? (For the record, its competition included CBS' JAG, ABC's Soul Man, FOX's Tuesday-evening movie package, and UPN's Clueless.) The series "new" regulars this year out were not all that new. Graduating from recurring character status, Robin Bartlett was now seen on a weekly basis as Paul's gay sister, Debbie; likewise, Louis Zorich's and Cynthia Harris' appearances as Paul's parents, Burt and Sylvia, became more frequent. Also, Paxton Whitehead, who had played the Buchmans' snooty British neighbor, Hal Conway, during season one, returned to the role, which for the last several years had been essayed by Jim Piddock. Still an Emmy Award "magnet," Mad About You earned Helen Hunt her third Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and Mel Brooks his second statuette for his recurring guest appearances as Paul Buchman's philosophical Uncle Phil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt, (more)
- 1996
Carol Burnett and Carroll O'Connor join the cast as Jamie's parents, Theresa and Gus Stemple, the latest in a long line of actors to essay these roles. When the Stemples arrive for a two-day visit, Paul (Paul Reiser) and Jamie (Helen Hunt) try to determine the best time to tell Theresa and Gus that Jamie is pregnant. Turns out, however, that the Stemples have a little surprise of their own: After 37 years together, they're on the verge of a divorce. Though officially the 100th episode of Mad About You, this installment is listed as number 101 in the current syndication package. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
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
- Starring:
- Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt, (more)
