Roger Director Movies

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. ~ Rovi

Though everybody thinks that they're overreacting, Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) agonize over baby Mabel's nonstop crying. Paul in particular has his undies in a bundle because he has to meet with an important European film distributor after yet another sleepless night. Then, astonishingly, Jamie stumbles upon the "cure." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Now that Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) has returned to LA, David (Bruce Willis) has trouble believing that she has gotten married--or even that her husband Walter Bishop truly exists. Of course, David isn't about to admit how much he loves Maddie, which fact will color the incidents in subsequent episodes. Meanwhile, the Blue Moon Detective Agency has a new client: Lauren Baxter (Cristine Rose), who wants to get rid of her husband's mistress Bridget Graves (Kathleen Layman) by paying her $50,000. Assigned to deliver the money, David and Maddie once again end up in the middle of a murder case--which is unexpectedly untangled by the obsequious Bert Viola (Curtis Armstrong). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This is the only Moonlighting episode in which neither Cybill Shepherd nor Bruce Willis appear. Instead, the focus is on nerdish detective Bert Viola (Curtis Armstrong), who has gone into a deep blue funk over an imagined slight from Blue Moon secretary Agnes Dipesto (Allyce Beasley). In the course of a very long night in which Bert is required to guard an "experimental grapefruit", he dreams of his future with Agnes, in sequences inspired by Rudolph Valentino's silent "Shiek" pictures and the 1940s classic Casablanca (in which "As Time Goes By" is replaced by "Chopsticks"!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This third episode of a four-part story arc begins as fans of Moonlighting are interviewed in the street, offering their responses to, and opinons of, the previous two episodes. The story so far: Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) has fallen in love with her yuppie friend Sam (Mark Harmon), and David (Bruce Willis is none too happy--as demonstrated during a disastrous dinner date. Now, Maddie and David are obliged to go on surveillance together--to investigate a strikingly similar three-way romance. Sharp-eyed viewers will note that this episode is the "feminine doppelganger" of the previous week's (mis)adventure. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Three weeks have gone by since David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) have seen each other. Having retreated to her parents' house in Chicago, Maddie is more depressed than ever, prompting her mom (Eva Marie Saint) and dad (Robert Webber) to throw her a cheer-up party. Meanwhile, back in LA, David and his erstwhile buddy Bert Viola (Curtis Armstrong) have decided to forget their problems by going on a prowl for new girlfriends. Suffice to say that one of the boys is luckier than the other! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this conclusion of a two-part story, David (Bruce Willis) attempts to escape from a chain gang in order to be reunited with his pregnant sweetheart Maddie (Cybill Shepherd, who is represented only by her voice in this episode). It looks like David's only hope for freedom is to follow the "musical" advice of his fellow inmates. Meanwhile, with one of the Moonlighting stars out of circulation, the nervous ABC executives begin auditioning potential "David Addison" replacements! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Whoopi Goldberg earned an Emmy nomination for her guest-star turn as a con artist named Camille Brand (Whoopi Goldberg). While evading arrest, Camille unintentionally saves the life of a politician. Duly impressed, Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) is convinced that the highly untrustworthy Camille might be a valuable addition to the Blue Moon Detective Agency. This final episode of Moonlighting's second season contains a few choice "It's only a TV show, folks" moments (at one point, the villain is disarmed by the studio prop man)--not to mention a cameo appearance by famed dwarf actor Billy Barty. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

David (Bruce Willis) accepts a case from a young and very eccentric business executive, played by future Perfect Strangers star Mark-Linn Baker). The assignment: To find a stolen phone index containing a list of unusual celebrity names--including the Pope. Meanwhile, David's partner Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) considers an offer to sell the Blue Moon Detective Agency to a prosperous rival firm. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi