GIBLETS FOR MURRAY

Mad About You

Season 3 (1994)

After watching a disappointingly dull Halloween episode of this show last month I had low expectations for this Thanksgiving offering of Mad About You.  It ended up being terrific, however, perhaps because Thanksgiving is a holiday better suited to the more adult contemporary vibe of this show. 

Turkey Troubles

Manhattan couple Jamie and Paul are hosting their first Thanksgiving with both sides of their families in attendance.  As their relatives arrive and lodge their various complaints and requests the couple make repeat trips to a ubiquitous NYC deli-grocery to appease everyone: vegetable lasagna for a suddenly vegetarian sister, salad for Jamie’s mom, canned cranberry sauce (as opposed to fresh) for Paul’s dad. 

Their frantic efforts to prove their hosting abilities are thrown for a loop when their dog decimates the turkey.  Their attempts to keep it a secret from their guests as well as replace the turkey also spiral out of control as more and more relatives secretly learn of the problem and smuggle in fresh turkeys, only for all of them to meet with foul (couldn’t resist) fates-- at least one gets thrown out of a window.  Finally the entire family comes together and feigns ignorance over the turkey debacle in order to please their hosts.

The Unholy Trinity: Grumpy Aunt, Disgruntled Sister & Bitchy Mother

This episode is Thanksgiving from top to bottom, whether it’s the opening scene of the couple staggering out of bed early in the morning to cook the ill-fated bird, the frequent references to the parade, or the various neurotic relatives.  The heartwarming ending, of the family banding together despite their flaws, encapsulates the love-hate pull of family ties.  Plus you get plenty of slapstick and dashing around and hasty cover-ups, which I always enjoy.

The Menu: Several turkeys, Three Types of Potatoes, Vegetable Lasagna, Sweet Potato Soufflé (a Martha Stewart recipe), Three Bean Salad, Fresh & Canned Cranberry Sauce

Thanksgiving Quotient: A pleasantly surprising 5.

See It, Skip It, Own It?

Worth owning for annual holiday viewings.

THE UNPLANNED CHILD

Mad About You

Season 2 (1993)

This episode of Mad About You ranks very low in the Halloween department but is fun as a sort of 90s time capsule.  I never followed the show (except for one episode guest starring Yoko Ono, who wants to make a documentary about “the wind” that has somehow stay trapped in my mind for years).  This episode, as I suspect the show as a whole, nicely captures relationship dynamics but is a bit on the dry side.

It’s Halloween and Manhattan couple Paul and Jamie have plans: Paul is going to shoot documentary footage of the Halloween parade from their rooftop and Jamie is going to meet a girlfriend to shop.  Their plans are derailed when Paul’s sister drops off her son and then later fails to retrieve him (seriously, at least in the episode she is the WORST MOTHER EVER.  She abandons her kid.  On Halloween, no less!). 

The two bicker over taking care of the kid and, in one of the episode’s few cute moments, Jamie is forced to improvise a homemade Aladdin Halloween costume for him and then later take him trick-or-treating.  Outside of the costume (complete with their dog transformed into a camel) the episode’s highlight is Jamie trying to explain to a snobby British neighbor exactly what trick-or-treating is.

Behold Last-Minute Aladdin & Camel-Dog

I emphasized the Halloween aspects of the plot but this episode is very low on holiday cheer. The majority of the time is spent on Jamie and Paul arguing and, perhaps the biggest crime, there is not a single Halloween decoration or even a freaking pumpkin to be seen throughout the entire episode.  Someone eats some candy corn at one point.  That’s it!

Lack of Halloween and general excitement aside, you can glean some enjoyment from the aforementioned 90s feel that pervades the whole episode.  The kid is obsessed with Aladdin, as was every self-respecting child of the 90s (I saw it three times in the theater).  Jamie and Paul go to a video store and rent an actual VHS.  A neighbor references Bosnia.  The episode even ends with them on their rooftop with the Twin Towers in the background.

Recurring Themes: Jamie is forced to improvise a Last Minute Costume (and does a pretty good job of it).

Halloween Quotient: 1

See It, Skip It, Own It?

This is definitely skippable.