Louis Zorich Movies

Two Mafia gunmen give new meaning to the phrase "keeping it in the family" in this offbeat comedy. Danny (Christopher Gartin) and Stephen (Greg Lauren) are a pair of mob enforcers who see to it that no one crosses the Family and lives to tell about it. However, Danny and Stephen are hit men with a difference -- they're also lovers; and while they know how to get rid of troublemakers, little things like cooking and sewing are not their strong suits. They find themselves thrown for a loop when Stephen's parents (Frank Pellegrino and Beth Fowler) stop by for an unexpected visit, which leaves them with a bit of explaining to do, about their occupations and their lifestyle. Friends and Family also features Tony Lo Bianco, Tovah Feldshuh, and Anna Maria Alberghetti. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this penultimate Mad About You misadventure, Debbie Buchman (Robin Bartlett) embarks upon a genealogical journey along the Buchman and Stemple family trees. It turns out that the roots are somewhat intertwined: According to Debbie's conclusions, Paul (Paul Reiser) and his wife, Jamie (Helen Hunt), are actually cousins. Where do we go from here? Tune in next week. ~ All Movie Guide

When Paul's father, Burt (Louis Zorich), refuses to sell his broken-down bucket of a car, Paul (Paul Reiser) and Jamie (Helen Hunt) conspire to steal the vehicle. Elsewhere, Paul's cousin Ira (John Pankow) tries to remember a date he missed 20 years earlier. The upshot of these complications include a reunion with Ira's wacky ex-wife, Marianne Lugasso (Cyndi Lauper), and a run-in with a very familiar-looking police detective. ~ All Movie Guide

After nearly two months of pre-emptions, Mad About You returned on April 26, 1999, with a brace of first-run episodes. In "Millenium Bug," Paul (Paul Reiser) is worried about the worldwide computer crash predicted for January 1, 2000. As Paul tries to re-create a dream in which Albert Einstein came up with a solution to his Y2K trauma, Jamie does battle with a recalcitrant dry-cleaning establishment. Jamie Farr appears unbilled as the owner of "Zippy's." ~ All Movie Guide

Part one of Mad About You's series finale is set approximately 22 years in the future. Mabel Buchman (Janeane Garafolo), grown-up daughter of Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt), follows in her dad's footsteps by producing a documentary film about her family. The starting point is the startling revelation that, thanks to a genealogical snafu, Paul and Jamie were never really married. Originally telecast as an hour-long special, this episode has since been divided into two half hours for syndication. ~ All Movie Guide

Mel Brooks is back as Paul's redoubtable Uncle Phil. As Paul (Paul Reiser) stands on the sidelines with mouth agape, Uncle Phil elects to go for his high school diploma -- some 63 years after dropping out. This plot development is almost as fascinating as the breast-transplant treatment undergone by Jamie's (Helen Hunt) mercurial sister, Lisa (Anne Elizabeth Ramsay). ~ All Movie Guide

Rhea Perlman and Richard Benjamin guest star as a suburban couple from whom Jamie (Helen Hunt) purchases a house. Jamie has done this as a Valentine gift for husband, Paul (Paul Reiser) -- but Paul is not entirely grateful. The whole megilla ends in a court trial and an enforced stay in the Land of Crabgrass. ~ All Movie Guide

To save the Buchmans' family store, Ira (John Pankow) offers to give away a new car to the customer who can keep his or her hands on the vehicle the longest. But Ira is reluctant to pony up, so he rigs the contest in the store's favor. Things get more complicated when Ira's temporarily sightless cousin, Paul (Paul Reiser), and Dr. Mark Devanow (welcome back, Richard Kind) are brought in as "ringers." ~ All Movie Guide

Hoping that a Hollywood "superagent" will agree to represent him, Paul (Paul Reiser) heads to L.A. with wife Jamie (Helen Hunt). Upon arrival, the Buchmans immediately adjust to the laid-back ambience of La-La Land. In fact, Jamie is so enchanted by her new, luxurious lifestyle (and the marked absence of maternal duties) that she is reluctant to return to New York. ~ All Movie Guide

Anne Elizabeth Ramsay makes one of her sporadic returns to Mad About You as Lisa, the still-unattached sister of Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt). Envious of Jamie's motherhood, Lisa adopts a surly kitten -- who turns out to be somewhat more than a kitten, and somewhat less than the ideal house pet. Elswhere, Jamie (Helen Hunt) is reinvigorated and Paul (Paul Reiser) is worn out by a noontime sex session. ~ All Movie Guide

Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) will renew their wedding vows before the episode is over, but first Paul must be rushed to the hospital for an emergency tonsillectomy. Jean Louisa Kelly makes her first series appearance as Diane, an attractive nurse whose tender ministrations to Paul arouse Jamie's jealous ire. And by the way, baby Mabel utters her first word. ~ All Movie Guide

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