From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mad About You
Mad About You title screen.
Genre	Sitcom
Creator(s)	Paul Reiser Danny Jacobson
Starring	Paul Reiser Helen Hunt Anne Ramsay Leila Kenzle John Pankow Richard Kind
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	164
Production
Running time	approx. 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 23, 1992 – May 24, 1999
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Mad About You was 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 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.^{[citation needed]} Mad About You was more serious and sentimental, however.

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.)

Contents 1 Main characters 1.1 Jamie Buchman 1.2 Paul Buchman 1.3 Murray 1.4 Fran Devanow 1.5 Lisa Stemple 1.6 Ira Buchman 1.7 Sylvia Buchman 1.8 Burt Buchman 1.9 Mabel Buchman 2 Cast 2.1 Regular guests 2.2 Guest stars 3 Trivia 4 Awards 5 Soundtrack 6 Episode list 7 DVD releases 8 Connections to other sitcoms 9 External links 10 References

Jamie Buchman 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 relationship with her mother-in-law is a revolving source of jokes on the show.

Buchman 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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Burt ran a sporting goods store until he passed it onto Ira upon retirement.

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 "Mothers Always Bring Extra Love."

• 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)

• Judy Geeson (Maggie Conway)
• 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)
• Penny Fuller (Theresa Stemple 1993-1996)
• Carol Burnett (Theresa Stemple 1996-1999)
• Carroll O'Connor (Gus Stemple, Jamie's father 1996-1999)

• John Astin
• Kevin Bacon
• Mel Brooks
• Steve Buscemi
• Sid Caesar
• Dan Castellaneta
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Janeane Garofalo as (Mabel Buchman)
• John Gegenhuber as Dr. Ben in "The Birth"
• Al Gore
• Seth Green
• Billy Joel
• Nathan Lane
• Cyndi Lauper
• Eugene Levy
• Jerry Lewis
• Mark McGwire
• Larry Miller
• Yoko Ono
• Paul Parducci as (Dante)
• Regis Philbin
• Carl Reiner (as Alan Brady)
• Michael Richards
• Jerry Seinfeld
• Eric Stoltz
• Bruce Willis
• Steven Wright

• 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 "Connections to other sitcoms" 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 a sign on the side of a bus that reads: "Are you missing mad about you?"

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.

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:

1. "Final Frontier (TV Theme)" - Andrew Gold
2. "Who I Am" - Faith Hill
3. "No Pressure" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
4. "I've Been Lonely Too Long" - The Young Rascals
5. "At Last!" - Etta James
6. "That's Marriage?" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
7. "Ice Cream" - Sarah McLachlan
8. "I Love The Way You Love Me" - Eric Martin
9. "Nobody Knows Me" - Lyle Lovett
10. "Sneaky Feelings" - Elvis Costello
11. "A Talk In The Park" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
12. "Love And Forgiveness" - Julia Fordham
13. "A Magic Moment" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
14. "The Things We've Handed Down" - Marc Cohn
15. "Lullaby For You" - BeBe Winans
16. "She Crawls Away" - Hootie & the Blowfish
17. "My First Child" - Nil Lara
18. "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" - John Lennon
19. "Baby Girl" - The Tony Rich Project
20. "Unconditional Love" - Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt
21. "Mad About You - The Final Frontier" - Anita Baker

See List of Mad About You episodes.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is releasing Mad About You on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. Thus far they have released the first 3 Seasons, it is unknown if the remaining 4 seasons will be released at some point. Initially they had decided not to release the series on DVD but it appears that has now changed.

Season Releases

Cover Art	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.

The third season DVD set was released on February 6, 2007,^[1] almost four years after the last box set release and the longest between subsequent TV-DVD full season sets in the relatively young history of the medium.

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 the 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.

• Official site
• Lifetime site
• faqs.org site

1. ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6681