S01.E10: Marathon-Thon-Thon-Thon-Thon

[Bort]

When Abby's fiancé, Rand, learns she's struggling to connect with Olivia, he encourages Abby to embrace a side of herself she rarely shows. Dan and Gurgs team up to save his favorite thing in the courthouse: a bench.

Airdate: March 14, 2023

[AnimeMania]

Originally episode 14.

Pete Holmes as Rand
Betsy Sodaro as Bert
Arthur J. Davis as Mr. Martin
Murray Gray as Nina 
Frances Callier as Ernie

[nora1992]

Have you seen the tabloid photos of the 20-something woman who has the body of an 8-year-old and her boyfriend who shares a chronological age?  I couldn’t get the images out of my head when Abby stood by Rand.

[ams1001]

Just now, nora1992 said:

Have you seen the tabloid photos of the 20-something woman who has the body of an 8-year-old and her boyfriend who shares a chronological age?  I couldn’t get the images out of my head when Abby stood by Rand.

The one with the TLC show? I've seen ads for the show; just googled her and boyfriend. I can just imagine what people think when they see them together. 

The internet tells me that Pete Holmes is 6'6" (I didn't realize he was that tall!) and Melissa is 4'11". I don't think her high heels and platform sneakers are gonna help. 🙃

"A Tribe Called Questions" 😄

Green juice and mashed potato smoothie? 🤢

Should the judge really be so desperate to be all buddy buddy with the lawyers?

So they're training for a marathon in a week?

 

[Annber03]

Hey, Nancy from "Ghosts" as the janitor, Bert :D! Fun to see her pop up on here. I liked her exchange with Gurgs where she asked if there were any single boats available. 

I have 0 unread e-mails in my inbox, too, so...um. Yeah :p. 

Interesting pick for Abby's fiancé. It was striking seeing them stand next to each other :p. I can see them clicking over a similar goofy sense of humor and general optimistic outlook on things. I felt like Dan's line to Abby about Rand trying to figure out where he fits in with Abby's new life was foreshadowing, though. And of course, there was Rand's comment about Neil's reason for running the marathon, too...

[voiceover]

Sweet ep, esp the bench plot with Dan and Gurgs, who’s rapidly becoming my favorite (loved that scene with her stretched out over the bench, desperately trying to save it).  I could actually relate to Dan’s upset over an inanimate object disappearing from his life.  Been there, more than once.  Glad he is at least allowed to keep the legs.

This was all about the sad but triumphant inevitability of change (Christ I sound like Abby now).  And Rand knows.  Feels like a very slow burn coming.  I’m glad they didn’t make him a dick, but I still like Neil better.

[roseha]

I missed it, what night is the show on?  I guess it will pop up on Peacock soon, that's how I've watched the earlier shows.

[Starchild]

Tuesdays at 8

[roseha]

Thanks I guess I just missed it.  I must have been remembering posters' comments about the original show being on at 9:30.

[AnimeMania]

That bench looked just like all the other benches on the floor. Just move a different one to that location and when they take it, move the original back.

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

And of course, there was Rand's comment about Neil's reason for running the marathon, too...

Neil agreed to hand out water, not run the marathon.

The show probably would have been funnier if they let Olivia take the illegal steroids.

[Claire85]

I like Dan and Gurgs teaming up. More of that. But did he mean he carved his initials in the bench when he won his first case back in 1984? The benches were different in the original I think. 

[merylinkid]

I kind liked this episode.   When Rand and Abby were eating in her chambers, they really seemed like a couple in love.   I hope they keep them together.  I mean the show takes place at the workplace, so he could just make ocassional guest appearances.   There would be no need to SEE him all the time because most people don't have their spouses showing up at work all the time.   

This would also kill that HORRIBLE idea of Neil and Abby.   Just NO with boss and subordinate falling in love.   Just NO.   

Gurgs and Dad are a great team.   This is their second team up.   I think the showrunners realized what they had with the two of them.

Olivia wasn't even that bad this episode.   I guess having to act like she was worn out from working out kept her from over emoting.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, merylinkid said:

I kind liked this episode.   When Rand and Abby were eating in her chambers, they really seemed like a couple in love. 

Yeah.  I was expecting them to not gel but they ended up making a lot of sense together.

[HurricaneVal]

Gurgs and Dan with the bench was awesome.  I had to take a double take when the actress who plays, Nancy one of the cellar-swelling cholera ghosts on Ghosts showed up as the janitor, especially when the two characters were so sarcastically similar.

I laughed out loud when just as I was mentally saying "Hey, that guy looks like John Ritter!" Rand actually comes out and makes the same John Ritter joke.  That was very clever of the writers, or perhaps the actor, to get that out of the way first thing.  Then the viewers could settle down for Rand, Abby's boyfriend.

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, HurricaneVal said:

I laughed out loud when just as I was mentally saying "Hey, that guy looks like John Ritter!" Rand actually comes out and makes the same John Ritter joke.  That was very clever of the writers, or perhaps the actor, to get that out of the way first thing.  Then the viewers could settle down for Rand, Abby's boyfriend.

That was great.  He really did look a lot like John Ritter!

[jewel21]

I kept thinking the actor playing Rand was one of John Ritter's sons, lol. 

Quote

There would be no need to SEE him all the time because most people don't have their spouses showing up at work all the time.  

Heh, you clearly have never met my co-worker. Her boyfriend stopped by three times today to see her. And he was also there on Monday and Tuesday. 

[merylinkid]

10 hours ago, jewel21 said:

I kept thinking the actor playing Rand was one of John Ritter's sons, lol. 

I actually looked him up to see if he was.   Sadly ... no.   But it was a great line.

[libgirl2]

7 hours ago, merylinkid said:

I actually looked him up to see if he was.   Sadly ... no.   But it was a great line.

I did the same! 

[ams1001]

3 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

I did the same! 

I knew he wasn't his son but I did google "are they related?" (No.)

[merylinkid]

2 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I knew he wasn't his son but I did google "are they related?" (No.)

Tell me he did not look like Amy Yasbeck and John Ritter had a son .   Like seriously I saw some Amy Yasbeck in him.  

[Annber03]

6 minutes ago, merylinkid said:

Tell me he did not look like Amy Yasbeck and John Ritter had a son .   Like seriously I saw some Amy Yasbeck in him.  

On a related note, when watching this episode, my mom said that the actress who plays Olivia reminds her a lot of Yasbeck, in her mannerisms and delivery and such. I can see that. 

[Ms Lark]

On 3/16/2023 at 12:45 PM, HurricaneVal said:

I had to take a double take when the actress who plays, Nancy one of the cellar-swelling cholera ghosts on Ghosts showed up as the janitor, especially when the two characters were so sarcastically similar.

That's pretty much her schtick. I don't think I've seen her in anything where she doesn't play similar characters. She may have, but I don't remember it. Gets really old really fast.

[benteen]

Damn, that episode was terrible. Though I'm pretty sure it was meant to air earlier in the season. When the first reviews were released, it was said on one that they screened and one of them was the one where Rand showed up.

Upstate NY is pretty much the St. Olaf of this show.

Dan and Gurgs teaming up remains a highlight of this show but even they couldn't save this episode.

[roseha]

Just to get to the second plot first, I agree that the Dan/Gurgs bench plot was just great.  Every scene was funny and really well played.  When Dan spontaneously said "Laissez les bons temps rouler" I expected the maintenance head to respond in kind but of course she thought he wanted to eat her alligator! 

As for the main plot, I think it was decently written.  However I just don't think I like Pete Holmes.  I'm not really familiar with him, but his acting really turns me off.  He kept making exaggerated facial expressions when the other actors were talking.  It just seemed forced.  I don't know if he will just turn out to be an occasional guest star but I don't think he would be a great regular.  I actually thought he made Olivia and Neil look good by comparison. 

 I have to say though that the concept of Abby having a secret beast mode is a promising one that they should go back to.

Fun line:  When Abby wants Neil to do push ups on the cafeteria floor and he refuses because "It's been cleaned with a rat".  That kind of looney callback repetition is like something out of Green Acres.

[andidante]

I honestly could not even finish this episode and took the show off my taping schedule. I think I will just come on here to see if the episode of the week is any good with you guys and watch that way. 

[cinsays]

10 hours ago, roseha said:

Just to get to the second plot first, I agree that the Dan/Gurgs bench plot was just great.  Every scene was funny and really well played.  When Dan spontaneously said "Laissez les bons temps rouler" I expected the maintenance head to respond in kind but of course she thought he wanted to eat her alligator! 

As for the main plot, I think it was decently written.  However I just don't think I like Pete Holmes.  I'm not really familiar with him, but his acting really turns me off.  He kept making exaggerated facial expressions when the other actors were talking.  It just seemed forced.  I don't know if he will just turn out to be an occasional guest star but I don't think he would be a great regular.  I actually thought he made Olivia and Neil look good by comparison. 

 I have to say though that the concept of Abby having a secret beast mode is a promising one that they should go back to.

Fun line:  When Abby wants Neil to do push ups on the cafeteria floor and he refuses because "It's been cleaned with a rat".  That kind of looney callback repetition is like something out of Green Acres.

yeah, i was not familiar with Pete Holmes but I just didn't buy him for this role at all, didn't buy him as her love interest

[Intuition]

31 minutes ago, cinsays said:

yeah, i was not familiar with Pete Holmes but I just didn't buy him for this role at all, didn't buy him as her love interest

Same here.  I think they could have picked a million other men that would be more believable as her love interest and in a word just funnier.  This guy is a little bland.  Even Howard on BBT was more believable, LOL.  And not that very short women don't pair up with very tall men but I'm just a little tired of it on fictional shows where they could pick anyone.  In real life that probably doesn't happen too often.  They once paired a very short woman with a basketball player on "Married at First Sight" and although the relationship failed for other reasons I don't think the insane height difference helped!

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Intuition said:

And not that very short women don't pair up with very tall men but I'm just a little tired of it on fictional shows where they could pick anyone.  In real life that probably doesn't happen too often. 

Melissa Rauch’s real life husband is 6’3”.

[Intuition]

4 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Melissa Rauch’s real life husband is 6’3”.

And Pete Holmes is 6'6", while Melissa is 4'11".   I've seen photos of Melissa and her husband.  He doesn't seem crazy tall next to her, (maybe because she's wearing heels in the photos), but Pete Holmes does, at least to me.

[AnimeMania]

Next New Episode:  April 4, 2023

[AncientNewbie]

I'm not familiar with Holmes, but JL might have liked having someone his height on set after the original cast was largely so tall. He's a giant in more than one way on this show. 

As an upstate NY native and lawyer, I love all the silly jokes about it. I even had to check the numbers on the bibs at the end because they were NY zip codes, but neither was that close to Skaneateles. 

[merylinkid]

Did not realize they were Zip Codes.    Now that is a cute touch.    

 

 

How to tell someone is from New York - they can pronounce Skaneateles correctly.

[Yeah No]

15 hours ago, merylinkid said:

How to tell someone is from New York - they can pronounce Skaneateles correctly.

People from New York State might know how to pronounce it, but I'll bet most NYC-ers would never have even heard of it much less know how to pronounce it.  I never did.  Just from looking at it online it looks like a quaint little town.

[Gharlane]

On 3/14/2023 at 10:44 AM, kariyaki said:

"Marathon-Thon-Thon-Thon-Thon". When Abby's fiancé, Rand, learns she's struggling to connect with Olivia, he encourages Abby to embrace a side of herself she rarely shows. Dan and Gurgs team up to save his favorite thing in the courthouse: a bench.

I didn't like this ep. I recognized Rand from somewhere but was pretty sure he's not John Ritter's son. The whole story about Abby wanting to befriend Olivia annoyed me and Dan's bench story could easily have been resolved by swapping it for one of the identical bench(es) in the hall. OK, the one thing that really bugged me was Neil's open hostility towards Rand and his not-so-subtle hints about having a crush on Abby. That reminds me, I couldn't help but get the feeling Rand had been there awhile yet I have no memory of seeing his arrival. I think that bugged me too.

[appositival]

I've been wanting to check this out, and finally saw this full episode. This is why my comments are probably what everyone else said in the pilot. I don't really know the characters (except Dan, who has mellowed with age), but they seemed to be a bit one-dimensional.

I didn't recognize Melissa for half the show. I think it's the normal (non cartoon-mouse) voice rather than the glasses. She is a talented (character) actor and she deserved her own show.

This was mostly 'cute' humor which fits Melissa well. I tend to prefer overly clever comedy shows, which tend to get canceled in six months, so good job show for appealing to a more common demographic than my comedy snob group.

I agree with the comments above about bench swapping and long term conditioning training before attempting a marathon, but I don't expect this show to be a paragon of logic.

FYI: The Greek runner was Pheidippides, and he possibly died from "myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock" instead of not breathing, but I'm probably one of the few people who would pick that particular nit.