Mad About You - General Discussion

[Queena]

2 hours ago, Queena said:

I can't remove the quote box, but Paul's mother looks younger than Helen Hunt. At worse they look the same age. I don't see Mrs. Buckman dating a Black man. I just don't. I can see Mark in a interracial relationship. 

Wait, Mrs. Buckman was the ambassador to Ghana... 😂 That I can see her saying. 

[msani19]

On 12/7/2019 at 6:30 AM, Queena said:

BTW I can't be the only Black person who loved this show. Everyone loves Frasier (you wouldn't believe the love that Kelsey Grammar gets from the Black community. Most from a show called Girlfriends) but I have yet to find a MAY fan. 

You are not alone my friend! It is hard to find other Black people who liked MAY but it was on when I was in college and my roommates and I would sit together and watch it every week. We loved it, but people were like you guys watch that show! Well at least we had each other. I also LOVE Frasier and Girlfriends, lol. 

I haven't seen any of the revival cause I don't have whatever Spectrum is. It sounds ok-ish but not something that I'd be clamoring to try to find at some point based on the comments on here. 

[cleo]

For anyone in Canada, CTV has all seasons up and the new one. Just started watching. The pilot is good, all the characters seem well fleshed out already except Selby. Don't think he lasted long.

I knew this was in Friends universe, but didn't think it was in Seinfeld's. It has a mild Seinfeldy vibe with the focus on daily minutia. (Sp?)

[Crs97]

Jamie seems meaner, and Mabel seems just like her.  Some cute moments, but I feel bad for Paul.

[Ashforth]

On 11/16/2019 at 7:04 AM, Kohola3 said:

Just saw a close up of Helen Hunt in a commercial. Zounds, what the heck has she done to her face?  I realize that it's tough in Hollywood for older actors but I was staring in horror.  That is some really bad work!  I have a feeling I'll be focusing more on her face that the story in the reboot.

I haven't seen the reboot, but I frequently see the ads for it, and Helen Hunt looks disturbingly like Odo from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

[arc]

On 12/12/2019 at 5:56 PM, cleo said:

For anyone in Canada, CTV has all seasons up and the new one. Just started watching. The pilot is good, all the characters seem well fleshed out already except Selby. Don't think he lasted long.

I knew this was in Friends universe, but didn't think it was in Seinfeld's. It has a mild Seinfeldy vibe with the focus on daily minutia. (Sp?)

I just checked on the CTV app and they have the old seasons up but not the new one. I’ll check on desktop later.

as to shared universes, besides Phoebe and Ursula being twins, NBC also came up with “Blackout Thursday”, but Seinfeld just refused to join in. That said, on an episode of MAY (I think?), it was revealed that Paul used to live in the apartment Kramer now occupies.

Edited December 15, 2019 by arc

[The Crazed Spruce]

32 minutes ago, arc said:

I just checked on the CTV app and they have the old seasons up but not the new one. I’ll check on desktop later.

Near as I can figure, the new season will start airing January 7, after it airs on CTV Comedy Channel.

[cleo]

5 hours ago, arc said:

I just checked on the CTV app and they have the old seasons up but not the new one. I’ll check on desktop later.

Yeah my mistake I guess, I thought I saw it but obviously not. Sorry. Ah well. They do have the first 7 seasons which are probably better anyway!

[sd dude]

It's been many years since I've watched this show. I'm trying to do a rewatch of the first 7 seasons before I watch the new episodes. I've rewatched the first 9 episodes of season one and I'm running into a quandary that may greatly interfere with my mission. To wit: when I watched this series back in the 90's I apparently thought it was funny. Did this show get better in later seasons? I hope so, otherwise, I don't think I'm going to make it.

ETA: I just watched episode 10 with the British neighbors across the hall and it wasn't bad. Maybe it's getting better already. 

Edited December 17, 2019 by sd dude

[Ohwell]

On 12/7/2019 at 6:30 AM, Queena said:

BTW I can't be the only Black person who loved this show.

✋

I thought in the original series finale that Jamie and Paul had split up but remained friends.  Am I mistaken?

[luna1122]

13 hours ago, Ohwell said:

✋

I thought in the original series finale that Jamie and Paul had split up but remained friends.  Am I mistaken?

Yes. they separated briefly, and then got back together, and lived, as Janeane Garofalo's Mabel told us, 'happily ever after'. 

Edited December 17, 2019 by luna1122

[Ohwell]

58 minutes ago, luna1122 said:

Yes. they separated briefly, and then got back together, and lived, as Janeane Garofalo's Mabel told us, 'happily ever after'. 

Ok, thanks!

[Queena]

My people! When do the rest of the episodes come out? 

[opus]

59 minutes ago, Queena said:

My people! When do the rest of the episodes come out? 

Nice timing on the question. Tomorrow!

[Queena]

11 hours ago, opus said:

Nice timing on the question. Tomorrow!

Cool. I've really enjoyed it. I'm going to re-watch them all. 

[madfortv]

I watched all 12 episodes of the new show and overall enjoyed the reboot.  While I didn't like some of the episodes there was enough good stuff to keep me watching.  Several episodes were satisfying and fun.  From reading here, it seems like many have not seen the new episodes so I won't give out detailed spoilers. 

The main disappointment for me is that the character of Mabel is entitled, selfish and opinionated.  She is being written more like a thoughtless, self-centered 12 year old than a young woman of college age, yet sometimes in appearance the actress shows her real age which is about 5 years older than Mabel.  She is a cliche character; one who makes me wonder if the writers have experience with young people around the age of Mabel's character. This is not about the actress' acting. It is about the writing!

[Queena]

I hate to talk about a woman's looks, especially since I'm a few months from being halfway in my 40s, but my God Helen Hunt didn't have to do that to her face. There's nothing wrong with a few lines, and there's nothing wrong with a little work. Emphasis on little. 

 

I'll be back after I'm done with all of the episodes. 

[Crs97]

What bothers me is they opened up the series by making fun of a woman who has aged.

[Queena]

 

6 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

What bothers me is they opened up the series by making fun of a woman who has aged.

Maybe they were acknowledging her changed appearance. 

 

I love this show. I thought that the reboot was great. I'll watch another season or two. I thought that the new characters got stronger in the later episodes, especially Tonya. I need more! More! I even tweeted to Paul! We need more this was good. Just me? 

[libgirl2]

On 12/19/2019 at 2:36 PM, Queena said:

I hate to talk about a woman's looks, especially since I'm a few months from being halfway in my 40s, but my God Helen Hunt didn't have to do that to her face. There's nothing wrong with a few lines, and there's nothing wrong with a little work. Emphasis on little. 

 

I'll be back after I'm done with all of the episodes. 

I'm surprised she had work done. She always struck me as someone not terribly caught up in that. 

[Ailianna]

I don't know that she has had work done.  No one with any actual knowledge has said so, and even one of the gossip rag "experts" said it could be differences in lighting and make-up.

She was in a serious car crash in October (which I just learned,), and the photos of her after her hospitalization look quite different.

[iMonrey]

I saw Helen Hunt on Game Night (the prime time game show with Jane Lynch) at least a year ago, and she had already messed with her face then, so this isn't a recent thing that had anything to do with a car crash. 

Most actresses have eye lifts at some point because as you get into your 40s your eyelids start to sag. Now, for some women the procedure just makes their eyes look like they did before, but on others it changes the way their eyes look altogether. That's the situation with Hunt. Two women can have the exact same procedure done by the exact same physician and have completely different results. It just depends on the individual's face.

On a completely unrelated note, I did not care for who they cast as Mabel. She looks absolutely nothing like either Paul Reiser or Helen Hunt. I realize that's often the case in TV shows but the fact that she doesn't even act the way I would expect their child to act makes matters worse. I just don't buy they had and raised this kid. 

[AnnaRose]

On 12/18/2019 at 8:07 PM, madfortv said:

The main disappointment for me is that the character of Mabel is entitled, selfish and opinionated.  She is being written more like a thoughtless, self-centered 12 year old than a young woman of college age, yet sometimes in appearance the actress shows her real age which is about 5 years older than Mabel.  She is a cliche character; one who makes me wonder if the writers have experience with young people around the age of Mabel's character. This is not about the actress' acting. It is about the writing!

Oh my God, I hate Mabel!  She pretty much ruins the show for me.  And it worries me that it might be a fairly accurate description of college kids her age, from my experience and from what I've read/seen. 

In that episode in which Paul spoke to Mabel's film class -- those students were so rude, nasty and obnoxious to him, and so convinced that they had the moral high ground giving them the right to behave horribly.  It was very difficult to continue suffering through these episodes.

I feel like the show/writers have lost everything that gave the original its humor and charm. 

[Queena]

On 12/27/2019 at 9:22 PM, AnnaRose said:

Oh my God, I hate Mabel!  She pretty much ruins the show for me.  And it worries me that it might be a fairly accurate description of college kids her age, from my experience and from what I've read/seen. 

In that episode in which Paul spoke to Mabel's film class -- those students were so rude, nasty and obnoxious to him, and so convinced that they had the moral high ground giving them the right to behave horribly.  It was very difficult to continue suffering through these episodes.

I feel like the show/writers have lost everything that gave the original its humor and charm. 

She's not in a lot of them. 

 

Having recently raised a teen, she's exactly like the teens of today. Exactly. 

[Crs97]

When Paul accidentally called her honey in front of the class and they assumed he was a misogynist pig, most teenage girls I know would have explained she was his daughter rather than watch classmates throw things at him.  I think she is awful, but I didn’t like Jamie by the end of the series so am not totally surprised Mabel is the same way.

[madfortv]

I am sorry to hear that teenagers today act this way. The ones I know have jobs while they are in high school and are very responsible people. A few younger teens visited from different families over the holidays. They were great and even pitched in to help when needed. Mabel is dependent and is like a very young person who has no thought for others except when she needs her parents to step in to help. There is one scene where Paul takes over for Jamie for a time. He gets stressed out with Mabel constantly reaching out for help and asks Jamie if it's always like this. The girl is supposed to be in college and lives in a dorm room. Why would she be reaching out to her parents for help all the time? She even let someone stay at her parents home without asking them first while she is not living there. These are a only a couple of reasons I think she is so poorly written. Since she lives so close, visiting her parents often or coming over to actually help them with something would be more realistic. I just don't get her character.

[QQQQ]

I wonder why the theme song's lyrics have changed from "jump" to "fly" into the final frontier. It's a small change, but throws me every time. 

[curbcrusher]

Ok, my pop culture IQ sucks. In the new series episode where they are considering selling the apartment and Ira finds the stinky cheese, who is the "celebrity" or who are they supposed to be?

 

Thanks.

 

[Kohola3]

Finally getting around to watching, too busy during the holidays.

Helen Hunt's face - SO bizarre to see especially when she has all of her old mannerisms.  So I have hit on something that works for me - closed captioning.  That way I don't have to look at her face at all, I just read the words but can peripherally see her gestures.  

So far I am enjoying it and get at least a chuckle or two from each episode.  Just saw the one with Sylvia and she looks good for her age.  And the one with Cloris Leachman was a hoot.  

So it's worth a watch, at least once.  Doubt I will rewatch like I did with the original recipe.

[Queena]

On 1/3/2020 at 10:35 AM, curbcrusher said:

Ok, my pop culture IQ sucks. In the new series episode where they are considering selling the apartment and Ira finds the stinky cheese, who is the "celebrity" or who are they supposed to be?

 

Thanks.

 

I thought that I was the only person who had no idea a who he was. 

[spazchic]

9 minutes ago, Queena said:

I thought that I was the only person who had no idea a who he was. 

That is the guy from Stranger Things on Netflix, David Harbour.

[Kohola3]

19 minutes ago, Queena said:

I thought that I was the only person who had no idea a who he was. 

He looked familiar but I have no idea who he is. Count me in as one of those clueless old ladies.

[QQQQ]

Heck, I watched Stranger Things and didn't recognize him! Apparently he's made a bazillion dollars to be able to purchase the entire floor and pay any price. Between that and thinking 

Spoiler

Mabel would be able to set up her last-minute overseas experience as a minor (she only turned 18 the night before departure) with no discernible skills or qualifications)

really requires big time suspension of disbelief.

[Crs97]

I did not recognize David Harbour, but I only know him from Newsroom and he looks quite different!  So he bought the rest of the floor, but now won’t move in because of the cheese??  Didn’t really follow all that.  I was not expecting Paul’s diatribe, and I hated that some of his very good points were lost in his groveling apology.  Man, Jamie continues to bug me.

[sd dude]

I had a very busy holiday season, doing a complete rewatch of all 7 seasons over just a few weeks, before watching the new episodes.  That's a lot of episodes to binge!  Given that the series was produced well before streaming and binge-watching became a thing, it may be that the series is not overly suited for that kind of rapid digestion. The situation of the week may change (somewhat), but Paul's over the top whininess, Jamie's over the top rigidity, Lisa's over the top self-absorption, Ursula's over the top ditziness, etc. can be hard to take over and over and over back to back to back.

In spite of that noted limitation, this clearly must have been a strong series, as I found myself overall enjoying very much my revisit to this show.  I cannot recall ever watching it in syndication, so I hadn't seen any of these episodes since they first aired in the 90's.  I quickly discovered a couple of things.  Many of the episodes I remembered vividly, while others I had zero recollection of at all, leading me to conclude that in fact there are many episodes from the original run I had never seen.  Always a pleasure to experience some classic TV for the first time.  The second thing was that I realized I did not discover the series until midway through the first season.  I could not recall any of the first dozen or so episodes and wondered why they had made so little impression on me back when.  I also did not find these episodes all that funny.  I even posted above a few weeks ago that I wondered why I liked the show so much given the limited enjoyment I was getting from the rewatch.  Then I watched S1 E13 "Togetherness" and recalled most of the episode.  I realized this was almost certainly the first episode of the series that I had watched and I had been very impressed with the clever and witty dialogue.  I would wager that episode is the first and last time in TV sitcom history that "Estes Kefauver" was a punchline and not once but several times.  My watching of MAY began with that episode, which is why Selby was completely unknown to me.  A couple of other interesting tidbits that were brand new to me from the first dozen episodes:

Had no idea that Cosmo Kramer lives in Paul's old apartment and that the two shows share a universe (of course the fact that actors Jerry Seinfeld and twenty years later Jason Alexander appear as themselves in the series sort of puts a question mark on that).

Another interesting piece of trivia is that shortly before meeting Jamie, Paul was set up on a blind date by Selby with none other than. . .(wait for it). . .Lisa Kudrow (as someone other than a Buffay sister). 

One of the things that impressed me greatly with the series overall was the tight attention to character timelines and continuity.  This is something that will come back to bite them in the newer episodes.  More generally, it had a comedic style that was still very non-traditional and innovative for the early 90's and was not afraid to take creative chances with how to pace and tell a story within the 22 minute sitcom format. I loved how often they broke character and went meta in the closing credits segments.  Surely, other shows around that time period were doing these same type of things and MAY was probably not the first to try them, but they did do these things well.  I also can hardly think of another show which had so many awesome guest stars (Lucy Ricardo in Hollywood, maybe, and that is going waaaaaay back).  It is clear how much Reiser worships pioneers of TV and film comedy.  To get Jerry Lewis, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Carroll O'Connor is quite a coup just to name a few.  I note that every time he was on the screen with Brooks, Reiser couldn't help but smile at everything Brooks said or did.  It was pretty clear that he idolized him, and what's not to idolize.  And Yoko Ono, for God's sake, and she was actually funny???  Nuff said.

There are some outstanding questions about the original run of the series that I remain curious about, mostly regarding cast changes over the years:

I wonder why the decision was made to switch the buddy character from Selby to Ira.  I thought Pankow did a great job with the Ira character so I don't know if there was a choice made to change actors, but the truth is there was never an attempt to develop the Selby character into anything much so it's hard to blame the actor. (The one-line shout out to Selby in a season five episode is one of those little continuity things that I loved about MAY.)

I wonder why the decision to ramp up the roles of Paul's parents and sister significantly to the point that they were added to the opening credits for S6 and the parents for S7.  Cause adding a baby to the story isn't that big a deal just on it's own, ya know (sarcasm).

Why was Fran/Leila Kenzle's role reduced so much in S6 and S7 to the point she was removed from the opening credits in S7?

And the most curious of all:  Why was Lisa/Anne Ramsay completely absent from all of S6 only to return to opening credits/supporting status in S7?  My first instinct is that the actress was working on some other project during S6, but hard to know.

I have numerous comments on S8 but will put those in a separate post.

[sd dude]

So, on to S8.

I had read a review online by one critic who characterized the return something like this: "Yet another unnecessary series update."  Overall, I have to agree.  I enjoyed the nostalgia of seeing the characters again but the episodes were not up to the standard of the earlier version.

General thoughts:

Since everyone else has commented on Hunt's face, I guess I should get my two cents in.  Yes, the marked change in her appearance was distracting.  I give credit though for the cold open in the first episode, which I saw as a total meta commentary about the work she had done to her face, which was ballsy to do and brave of Hunt to allow it.

I had noted in my post about S1-7 how much I liked the attention to timelines and continuity.  I was hoping that S8 would continue that trend, including respecting the flash forwards and future reveals from the S7 finale "The Final Frontier", but I'm afraid they fell a little short.  First off, Mabel was born in 1997, so unless S8 is set in 2014-2015 (with no reason to think it does), they've compressed the timeline by 4-5 years.

I didn't see anything that directly conflicted with any of the flash forwards in TFF, in fact, the troubles that Paul and Jamie ran into in S8 and caused them to start therapy again (in 2019 I presume), could foreshadow the eventual temporary separation that occurs in 2021.  On the other hand, the "where are they now" segment that Janeane Garafolo narrated over the closing credits of TFF seemed to be ignored at least in part.  It was mentioned that Ira and Marianne had 8 children, 1 from each continent and 2 more from New Jersey (I could've sworn there were 7 continents, but maybe Antarctica doesn't count, unless one of their kids was a penguin).  In the S8 episode where he meets his biological son, it is a missed opportunity that there is no mention at all of the other children he raised.

I appreciate that they stayed consistent with the Buchman's purchasing their neighbors' apartment and building a bedroom for Mabel connected through their bathroom (although they maintained the bathroom floorplan from S1-7 as opposed to the updated floorplan revealed during that flash forward in TFF).  I'm curious what they did with the rest of the second apartment.  Perhaps they walled off Mabel's room from the rest of the apartment and rented it to a different tenant.     

Combat pay to Jerry Adler.  90 years old and looking frail.  Nice to see him though.

One small continuity issue that may be on the sensitive side, but if we are talking about Helen Hunt's face with impunity, I suppose this is fair game:

With Lisa's reappearance in S8, I was wondering if she would still have breast implants.  Not that I am overly obsessed about it, but it was one of the final episodes of S7, where she reveals to Paul and Jamie that she had augmentation, let's them both feel the goods, and leads to Paul having some temporary sexual attraction to his sister-in-law until her usual zaniness quickly cures him of that infatuation.  Kind of weird plot element TBH, but in the episode Ramsay's chest was noticeably larger and left we wondering if the actress had actually had the surgery or if it was just a one-off gag for the series using prosthetics.  Really, I was just curious.  Well, one thing is for sure Lisa in S8 does not have breast implants.  In fact, compared to how the actress appeared during S1-7, in looks very much like Ramsay has had her breasts removed at some point in the last 20 years, although she appears otherwise very healthy.  Thus, the sensitivity of the initial comment.  I did a cursory on line search to see if she had any history of cancer or other mention of mastectomy, and I found nothing.  Actually, there is exceedingly little personal information about Anne Ramsay on line.  One site that talks about celebrity relationships and family info actually noted that it is presumed she has never been married nor had children, but acknowledged that there is essentially no info as to the actor's relationship status, orientation, or anything else of a personal nature.  So as to her appearance in the new episodes, your guess is as good as mine. 

[blondiec0332]

16 hours ago, sd dude said:

The situation of the week may change (somewhat), but Paul's over the top whininess, Jamie's over the top rigidity, Lisa's over the top self-absorption, Ursula's over the top ditziness, etc. can be hard to take over and over and over back to back to back.

This show was character driven. A lot of sitcoms are written to get laughs from the situation the characters are in.  But IMO the best ones are when the laughs come from the characters. I agree Paul could be whiny and Jamie sometimes was too rigid but that was who the characters were.  My favorite episode was when Jamie and Lisa switched purses.  I still literally LOL at the airport scene when Paul uses the stun gun on himself thinking it was an electric razor.

[Kohola3]

12 minutes ago, blondiec0332 said:

My favorite episode was when Jamie and Lisa switched purses.  I still literally LOL at the airport scene when Paul uses the stun gun on himself thinking it was an electric razor.

I loved that one!  They not only changed purses they ended up swapping personalities. It was great.

[Anela]

14 hours ago, blondiec0332 said:

This show was character driven. A lot of sitcoms are written to get laughs from the situation the characters are in.  But IMO the best ones are when the laughs come from the characters. I agree Paul could be whiny and Jamie sometimes was too rigid but that was who the characters were.  My favorite episode was when Jamie and Lisa switched purses.  I still literally LOL at the airport scene when Paul uses the stun gun on himself thinking it was an electric razor.

I did, too. That was hilarious.

I didn't manage to re-watch the entire series - I didn't know that would disappear at the end of the year, leaving us with only the new episodes, so I'm disappointed there. I did make it through seven of the new episodes the other night, as I was cooking (and wearing wireless headphones, playing the show on my phone). I liked what I've seen. 

[Kohola3]

9 hours ago, Anela said:

I didn't manage to re-watch the entire series - I didn't know that would disappear at the end of the year, leaving us with only the new episodes, so I'm disappointed there.

Are you sure they are gone?  I can still get them on my Spectrum On Demand channel.

BTW, watching on a phone might be a good idea.  That way you can't see the details (like Helen Hunt's face) so clearly!

I did enjoy the remake for the most part.  There was at least one laugh in each episode so I'm good with it.

[Anela]

13 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Are you sure they are gone?  I can still get them on my Spectrum On Demand channel.

BTW, watching on a phone might be a good idea.  That way you can't see the details (like Helen Hunt's face) so clearly!

I did enjoy the remake for the most part.  There was at least one laugh in each episode so I'm good with it.

Both the old and new episodes showed up on my spectrum app, until the new year. I'll have to check the on-demand on the cable box. Someone here said that the episodes disappeared for them, so I wonder if it's something to do with different areas. I've just checked the website, and only the new episodes are available to me.

We're supposed to be getting rid of cable before the beginning of next month. Ugh, I don't really want to, but spectrum keeps raising their prices. 

Edited January 10, 2020 by Anela

[Anela]

I've almost finished the last episode. I'm glad I watched, it's like visiting with old friends. I missed Fran, but like the new wife (although her name has slipped my mind). I wonder if they will do another season. 

[UsernameFatigue]

I am only able to see a couple of episodes a week, so have just watched the one where Jamie is going through menopause. While I am enjoying seeing Jamie, Paul and the old regulars again, I really really dislike Mabel. I would have been just fine with her going to some school far far away so she was not a part of the show every week.

I know the purpose of having Mabel go to university and live in a dorm 5 blocks from home is for reasons of convenience, so she can be part of the show but not live with Jamie and Paul, but it is eye rolling for me. I know there are parents who will indulge their children and pay for them to live a few miles from home so the child can have the full "university experience", but it still bugs.

Also, why did Jamie not work all these years? Because she has one kid? So right up until Mabel went to university Jamie needed to be at home FT? Another plot point that bugs. 

In the menopause episode, I was so annoyed that Mabel would not let Paul tell the class that he was Mabel's father. If that were me, I would have been proud to have my father there, and mortified that my classmates think he is some terrible person when he is not. Mabel really is a special snowflake. I wish she would melt away. 

OTOH, I love Paul's assistant. More of her, please. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by UsernameFatigue

[arc]

On 12/15/2019 at 2:54 AM, The Crazed Spruce said:

Near as I can figure, the new season will start airing January 7, after it airs on CTV Comedy Channel.

This is indeed what happened! CTV Comedy Channel is running them two eps per week, and so it’s on the CTV Comedy Channel app instead of the main CTV app. Go figure.

[buffynut]

Just discovered the reboot online on the CTV website, and watched episode 1.  Loved it.  Felt like nothing had changed between Paul and Jamie, other than they'd aged, like me.   

 

[aemom]

I've been watching the episodes on the CTV Comedy Channel.  It's not the greatest TV in the history of the world, but I've seen far worse.  For the most part, I am enjoying it and I'm about 8 episodes in.

I really don't like to comment on people's bodies, but episode after episode, I am often so distracted by Helen Hunt's face.  My God, I wish that women in Hollywood would just stop jacking with their faces and more importantly, that Hollywood would be fine with women aging naturally.  Stop the insanity!

[Kohola3]

4 hours ago, aemom said:

Stop the insanity!

I totally agree but sadly parts for women of a certain age are few and far between.  I, too, was very distracted by Helen's face since her mannerisms haven't changed at all.  I am so distressed that society dictates that women (not men) have to alter their normal looks as they age.

[UsernameFatigue]

The final two episodes aired last night on the network where I am able to see the reboot. I thoroughly enjoyed the reboot and hope that another season follows. The best part of another season would (hopefully) be no Mabel. I did not like the character or the actress playing her. Loved the rest of the cast - the oldies and the newbies. 

I found the fight between Jamie and Paul at the end of the "Anderson Cooper and Other Fantasies" episode to be riveting. Helen Hunt's reaction to Paul's rant was heart breaking, as was Reiser's acting when Paul realizes that maybe he went too far. I found that scene to be very moving. 

[luna1122]

20 minutes ago, UsernameFatigue said:

. 

I found the fight between Jamie and Paul at the end of the "Anderson Cooper and Other Fantasies" episode to be riveting. Helen Hunt's reaction to Paul's rant was heart breaking, as was Reiser's acting when Paul realizes that maybe he went too far. I found that scene to be very moving. 

I'm unable to watch at this point...can you give a brief synopsis of his rant?

[UsernameFatigue]

7 minutes ago, luna1122 said:

I'm unable to watch at this point...can you give a brief synopsis of his rant?

 Paul and Jamie were having a conversation about what bothers them about the other person. It stemmed from them both saying that they enjoyed the time apart from each other when Paul stayed at Anderson's apartment (for Lisa who was fish sitting at Anderson's). Paul said he didn't want to tell Jamie that he enjoyed the time apart as he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Jamie said that it wouldn't hurt her feelings, and they should be able to tell each other what bothers them about the other person. They each gave each other an example or two.  Paul then said that Jamie is often short with him, short with other people, and that he has had to do a lot of damage control over the years. He then went into more depth, and Paul's rant where Jamie didn't talk at all went on for about 2 minutes. It ended with Paul telling her that when Mabel was 5 and cut her lip on the kitchen counter, and Jamie thought it was her fault, Paul told her it wasn't. But he really wasn't sure that it wasn't her fault, and to this day wasn't sure that it wasn't her fault. Then he saw the look of hurt on Jamie's face, got tears in his eyes and says "OK, now what" with his voice faltering. In the next shot they are at the marriage counselor's office. 

I think this scene hit home for me as Jamie and Paul are a lot like my hubby and me. He is a nicer person than I am, and I am more direct and to the point. But I also know that many times he likes that about me, and likes that it doesn't bother me to be the "bad cop" in situations that involve us both, because he gets to be the "good cop" even though he agrees with me. I think (though I know they are fictional characters) that Paul has liked that with regards to Jamie as well. So you have to take the good with the bad. In the same vein, while sometimes I love my hubby's kindness, other times I think he is kind to people who don't deserve it. Good with the bad, once again.