"Mad About You" revival in the works

Will the characters be out gays finally?

If NBC has to revive programs, may I suggest Another World?

r2, according to the article, NBC isn't bothering with this nonsense that no one wants nor will watch.

The show performed terribly in syndication and the ratings tanked in the last season even though they paid Hunt and Reiser a million per episode. Is there an audience for this?

Why? Whiny character sitcoms may have worked in the late 80s, but we're not interested anymore.

Both of them have got bigger schnozzes than Jimmy Durante.

I just started rewatching reruns again.

Maybe there's hope for "Caroline in the City".

As with Will and Grace - they destroyed the fundamental premise of the show in the series finale.

If Will and Grace are not bosom pals, then there is no show. So too, if Paul and Jamie divorce (as they did in the finale), how mad about each other could they really have been?

BARF ME OUT!

I hate both of these two! Hate 'em! Hate 'em! Hate 'em!

Their two faces will be so covered with so many drag lines we'll only recognise them by their two differently-shaped schnozes.

oh dear

Don't worry Brooke , I'm sure that Suddenly Susan revival is next!

Helen Hunt aged horribly and/or had some weird plastic surgery so she will look a fright in hi def.

Why?

This is a sit-com that wouldn’t work if they brought it back. The self destruct finales of Will & Grace and Roseanne didn’t stop them coming back, so the fast forward divorce in Mad About You wouldn’t be the issue as to why a reboot wouldn’t work.

Will & Grace and Roseanne had cutting humour and that will survive a reboot. For example Seinfeld would reboot perfectly. But Mad About You was ultimately about a pair of smug 80’s yuppies who were managing marriage in the 90’s. When they finally had a child they were the most boring self obsessed parents. You just know Mabel would be a spoilt SJW type and the show would be full of preachy plots about female inequality.

Also since Helen Hunt turned into a Vodoo shrunken head I think it would just look wrong.

I always hated that shit show.

Oh just what I've been waiting for!

I’d rather watch a reboot of Kate & Ally.

I have to admit - I really like the first couple of seasons. It was cute, light-hearted, funny and didn't take itself too seriously. It got earnest, shrill and very overly-aware of itself around season 4 or so and became a chore to watch. I've been enjoying the reruns but I agree that there is no reason whatsoever for a revival of any kind.

It had it's day and overstayed it's welcome the first time around...

[quote]When they finally had a child they were the most boring self obsessed parents

One episode had them leaving their kid alone in her room for the first time, and the whole fucking episode revolved around the two of them standing outside the door worried.

How did Helen Hunt win four Emmys for this shit? Fran Drescher, Cybill Shepherd, Patricia Richardson and Ellen DeGeneres all were much funnier.

So what....they'll be playing grandparents this time? That kid they had is probably about 30.

I don't really care. I wish them luck. I'll take a look if they do it. The only remake I hope crashes and burns is Roseanne. She doesn't deserve what she has, nevertheless more. She hates the poor and working poor and loves Trump and loves the tax scam bill. How is that in any way connected to what that show originally was or what she was? I hope it gets cancelled by the third episode and the rest in the can never show. There is actually a promise not to watch the show going around on Twitter. Of course those who don't watch would have to be part of the ratings people for their not watching it to count so me not watching won't do shit other than make me not feel like a hypocrite.

All these shows are coming back with the original cast. Why doesn't NBC bring back The Golden Girls. They can have Betty White play all the parts, maybe from a wheelchair, but still...

OMG just what I wanted!!!

So much for the myth of superior Jewish creativity

The Weinstein era draws to a pathetic close

[quote]adding that the idea of his kids growing up and leaving the house was of particular interest

This has been done to death.

I’d rather watch a sparrow devour a big pile of cow flop.

R23 I actually think they should do a one off special called “The Golden Girl” about Rose living at Shady Pines and instead of telling St Olaf stories she says “Back when I lived with the girls.....” and then goes on to tell some ridiculous story we know to be true.

[quote]The show performed terribly in syndication and the ratings tanked in the last season even though they paid Hunt and Reiser a million per episode. Is there an audience for this?

Somebody watched it the first time.

R25 Well the Jews were really creative in the old days of Gershwin etc but now they have become complacent, lazy and fat like the Weinshteins and smug like Jon Stuart Leibowitz

And the gentiles haven't? It was McGovern who helped make that "fat makes you fat" lie into American dietary policy. He wasn't Jewish.

"I’d rather watch a reboot of Kate & Ally."

We'd rather watch a reboot of Kate & Ali.

Reboot Facts of Life!

Or Cheers. That was an NBC show, wasn't it? As long as that Scientology bitch isn't in it.

The one I really want to see is ER. I love medical shows.

I'd love the original L&O brought back too. I don't get why SVU is still on and the original was cancelled long ago.

This was my favorite show of the 90s. Loved it, especially Helen Hunt.

[quote] "I’d rather watch a reboot of Kate & Ally."

We'd rather watch a reboot of Kate & Ali.

"Kate & Allie," you morons.

I hated hated hated this show. Bring back Moonlighting!

[quote] I’d rather watch a reboot of Kate & Allie

Susan Saint James has retired from acting

Frasier is the one that would probably work as a reboot.

Remember when Riser had that show a few years ago on NBC that only aired for 1 or 2 episodes and quickly got cancelled

r40 yes, I remember.

The straightest of the straight shows...

Reuters reported that the show's premiere was "NBC's lowest rating ever for an in-season comedy premiere". The second episode's ratings dropped even further and the show was canceled shortly after.

is hank azeria going to come back too? what happened between him and helen hunt?

R39, that one would be difficult, since the star of “Frasier” died in 2006.

The Paul Reiser character married the uptight Ivy League blonde and endured headaches

The Ira guy married a fun ethnic gal (Cindy Lauper) and ended up rich and forever happy

It's only a matter of time before I become America's sweetheart again!

R45, you're obviously thinking of someone else -- Kelsey Grammer is very much alive. And there has been talk of a "Frasier" reboot, though I'm not sure what the holdup is (perhaps not all of the cast is interested?). I agree that that would be one people would really want to see.

r45 is thinking of the dog

Is the Frasier father still alive and acting? I would hope Miles this time around would come out as gay. Daff could still be his best friend. It could be that he was so obsessed with her because he was trying to hide being gay from himself. I would miss Eddie the dog very much. Oh and I would like Frasier back with my favorite of his girlfriends, that Jewish one with the mother. They were so funny and I like that actress from Judging Amy.

He moron at R36, it was Kate & Ali, which was a skit on SNL and a parody of the Kate & Allie show. Martin Short was Katherine Hepburn, and Billy Crystal was Muhammad Ali, hence the name Kate and Ali.

Asshole.

I'd love a reboot of St. Elsewhere but only if they keep it in that snow globe.

I loved "Mad About You" in its first few seasons, but like most shows it jumped the shark when Paul and Jamie had the baby (something that was reportedly forced upon them by NBC, despite the objections of Reiser and Hunt). At its creative peak, it truly was a well-acted and smartly-written show with great chemistry between the leads and a wonderful supporting cast. (Anne Ramsay was so great as Lisa, Jamie's ne'er-do-well sister, and should have been Emmy-nominated.)

I think the downfall of the show was two-fold: 1) having the baby, which was completely unnecessary, and 2) the reported $1 million dollar salaries for Reiser and Hunt, which people thought was totally insane given that the show was never anything resembling a ratings powerhouse to justify that kind of dough. (The fact that Hunt won a Best Actress Oscar during the show's run was also not seen as any kind of justification.) And as others have noted, the show has virtually disappeared since its original network run (popping up only on a very spotty basis in syndication over the last 20 years), yet another reflection of its limited appeal with viewers. All of these factors combined are what make the news of this reboot kind of a "huh?" moment for most.

The Thanksgiving show with multiple ruined/stolen turkeys was a classic - Jamie throwing one of the turkeys out the window in a panic was hilarious...

The show was fun for a while, but became unpleasant over time.

Jamie had some office worker take her surprise by kissing her and Paul carried on about it for an hour of prime time like she killed his mother or something.

Bring back fraiser!!

Wtf NBC Why ??i am guessing the friends and seinfeld actors all said no thanks

The Nanny ships be rebooted for a season. Guest starring Yetta from heaven. Fran Drescher still looks great at 60 and I want to see what she would wear.

Janeane Gabarfalo better not be in it.

I would love for Frasier to come back for another season. That show was perfectly cast, written and acted.

This show was boring and had the worst characters. I never understood why I should care about two boring people in a boring marriage's lives. And Paul Reiser was a whiny bitch.

Helen Hunt is a cunt.

Frasier was a nearly perfect show, so I'd be the most happy to see that one rebooted, too. Bring Ted Danson & Shelley Long back for an episode, for old time's sake.

Frasier was very whiny himself.

I could never get into it...hate Reiser and don't like Hunt much either.

Are Helens Hunt and Slater still an item?

r2

I'm waiting by the phone

Paul Reiser and his mom jeans. I don't miss that.

Will Ursula show up?

Lisa kudrow will laugh and then hang up.

I liked Mad About You. Strangely, it was sorta true to representing NYC in that 90/91/92 era.

A couple years later, Friends happened, and it had zero Manhattan vibe to it.

R55, where I worked at the time, everyone went psycho about the episode and "cheating" and I realized I now lived in A Different World from where I grew up.

^^ Mad About You had characters /situations which felt definitely New York.

Friends could have been set in Omaha.

Julia Louis Dreyfus must b e shitting her pants over this. No more Emmys for you!

It was just another "Bridget Loves Bernie" show, blonde chick marries Jew and hilarity ensues.

The latest in that BLB genre is the big bang theory.

Helen Hunt never thought she would have to go back to shit 18 years later, her career was so big at the end of that show.

She is doing much better than Kevin Spacey now though.

"Mad About Everything: The Nursing Home Episodes"

That thing about Murray the dog in the finale was a trip.

I also loved it for the first 3 or 4 seasons. But the network kept forcing stuff on them and it went downhill fast. I loved Penny Fuller as Jamie's mother, walking around with a cigarette dangling out of her mouth until they dumped her for Carol Burnett, who was totally wrong but they thought she would bring in rating...which it didn't.

Must See TV!

Try not to cry after this scene, I double dare ya!

r23, I would watch that!

I would love the see a Seinfeld reboot/reunion episode, but Michael Richards (Kramer) can never come back to TV since his racist breakdown.

They had Mark McGwire in an episode (I don't really remember why), which made my night.

Dear DL - please read the body language in this photo.

[quote] She is doing much better than Kevin Spacey now though.

Now, there's a low bar to jump over...

This revival most definitely will happen...Sony loves money!

Around the world there are remakes of:

Married with Children (Colombia)

The Nanny (Argentina)

AND you guessed it....

Loco por Vos aka Mad About You (Argentina) in 2016 aired on Telefe network 66 episodes.

I'd rather see a Belinda Carlisle revival.

I really enjoyed the first few seasons, but once they started trying to get pregnant, they lost me. It wasn't just the (unnecessary) kid, it was that their funny quirks blossomed into full-blown psychosis. An entire hour-long commercial-free episode about Mabel crying while they stopped outside her door agonizing? On what planet is that remotely entertaining or funny? Before long, every episode was "very special," light on wit and heavy on somber, painful discussions about Paul and Jamie's relationship. Jesus God, kill me now.

I almost want this revival to happen just so it tanks spectacularly.

Almost.

I'm too old to be doing that Ursula shit again!

I loved the episode where they were on vacation and decided to be liars.

Another episode I liked was the sleep study one where they found out that Jamie beat Paul up every night.

She was such a controlling bitch of a character.

I fucking hated this show so much in the 90s. Like, just fucking hated it.

r51 an SNL skit from 35 years ago is not something many people would instantly recognize.

[quote]A couple years later, Friends happened, and it had zero Manhattan vibe to it.

All of those characters were so LA, I don't know why the show was set in NY.

The funniest thing about this show was MAD TV's spoof [italic]Mad About Jew[/italic] in which Whoopi Goldberg was married to Louis Farrakhan.

[quote]Why doesn't NBC bring back The Golden Girls. They can have Betty White play all the parts

EXCUSE ME! I’m still available.

IIRC, Paul Reiser wrote a book of "humorous" observations or trite wisdom or something called "Couplehood." I remember seeing it prominently displayed in the NEW section of one of those big book chains (Barnes & Noble, etc.) around 1992-93.

It was white with a cover photo of Paul pulling a face, tapping his finger on his temple or some such gesture indictating that he's supposed to be witty.

I didn't go near it.

Everyone who defended NBC bringing back that stealth anti-gay minstrel show, this is your fault.

Does/did anyone find Paul Reiser attractive? I'm a lesbian, but there are men that just ooze sex appeal. Reiser just didn't have any, in my opinion.

^ He had a handsome face. That was about it.

He was better looking than anyone on [italic]Friends[/italic], and that's the nicest thing I can say about him.

He's a classic "nice guy" which made his role in Aliens so interesting.

He's not that objectionable compared to Bob Saget. And at least [italic]My Two Dads[/italic] had Chad Allen on it to make up for [italic]Our House[/italic] getting pushed out for Disney just as that show pushed out [italic]Silver Spoons[/italic] and [italic]Punky Brewster[/italic] when Disney came back to TV.

AGRee r89 and r92. It had no redeeming qualities. And Paul Reiser is a charisma free zone.

Wasn't it already revived (i.e. ripped off) as "Dharma & Greg"?

Paul Reiser looks really old now.

R106, Sad. I thought he was cute at the beginning of Mad About You.

Helen Hunt is only 54!

I still can't believe Helen Hunt won the Oscar. Definitely the biggest "WTF?" Oscar moment in the acting category of modern times.

A road hard and put up wet 54.

[quote] When they finally had a child they were the most boring self obsessed parents. You just know Mabel would be a spoilt SJW type and the show would be full of preachy plots about female inequality.

The producers obviously thought the same, considering they cast Janeane Garofalo as their daughter when grown.

No matter how much this show sucked, it never sucked as bad as Thirtysomething, which had two of the leading characters leaning over their baby's crib hoping that the baby wouldn't grow up to be ugly. And the best friend of the new mother having a meltdown on a playground because the new mother didn't have as much time to spend with her.

My Boomer parents and their Boomer friends loved Thirtysomething back in the day. It was "like watching their own lives" lol! They felt the same about The Big Chill. Even back then, my siblings and I thought they were self-absorbed navel-gazing narcissists.

r113. It was difficult back then. Thirtysomething was one of the shows that everyone talked about the next day at work. I watched it just because I wanted to be part of the "in" crowd at work. But I never liked the show. It was much more fun to speculate on what was going on with "Twin Peaks."

R109 To this day I still cannot understand how Helen Hunt won that Oscar! She gave an OK performance in a well written film, but that performance shouldn’t have even be nominated let alone win!

That Oscar caused those silly $1 million per episode salaries for Mad About You. That show became boring as hell when they had that baby and wasted entire episodes on dull storylines like getting the baby to sleep and Jamie not being able to express.

Everyone really wants a My Two Dad's redux. Reiser will be married to Evigan in this one. The daughter will be a Manny.

Horrible series. Despised NBC and it's must shit tv. Loathed the Neanderthal Cheers too, loser, unlikable, ugly stereotypes spewing one liners. I'd rather watch The view and it blows.

I never really understood what made that show so successful. In spite of some cute moments, it was not particularly funny or groundbreaking, nor did I find the two leads particularly charismatic. I have to assume that it was one of those shows that targeted primarily female demographic, since it had a feel of a generic, middle of the road romcom.

Hated it.

They were trying to be Lucy and Ricky and Gary should have talked them out of it!

Here's another vote for don't bother.

R118. Mad About You was successful because it appealed to a certain type of last of the baby boomer generation. These were the people born in the late 50’s who’d been yuppies in the 80’s and were getting married in the early 90’s. The first few seasons were OK, but it was game over for it when Friends started up.

Mad About You is now so dated it wouldn’t hold up. Nobody would recognise these characters or be able to relate to them. You could show Mary Tyler Moore to a 25 year old girl now and she’d relate to something. Even Fran Drescher would evoke something, but Jamie in Mad About You would have nothing about her that a new viewer would get. Likewise Paul would be seen as bland and pointless.

The next issue is, if they brought it back Mabel the daughter would be this fourth wave University student feminist type. This would only evoke humour if her Dad was Al Buddy or Archie Bunker as you’d get conflict. However, you know full well Paul and Jamie will be depicted as the kind of parents who indulge this annoying child and start supporting her theories of inequalities and sexism. So immediately there is no conflict and all three characters appear as smug, annoying and looking down upon most of the people watching NBC!

Actually, I can see their daughter turning into someone like S.E. Cupp.

The show never did well in reruns and the final season, in particular, killed off whatever capital they had with the audience. The Will & Grace reboot seems a bit tired. I think a Frasier reboot would suck--the show really doesn't wear well, esp. the later seasons with the implausible Niles-Daphne courtship.

That show really sucked!

Why?

Omg why?

Wow, R51, you sure are triggered, aren't you? I was correcting people who were misrepresenting the title, an established practice here. If you were specifying a different, yet related program, it was your duty to clarify that, assuming it even exists. If anyone's the asshole, it's you. Piss off.

Mothers Always Bring Extra Love

r129s joke having been stolen from a 1962 episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show when Richie learned his middle name was ROSEBUD ( Robert Oscar Sam Edward Benjamin Ulysses David ).

[110]

oh dear

[quote]How did Helen Hunt win four Emmys for this shit? Fran Drescher, Cybill Shepherd, Patricia Richardson and Ellen DeGeneres all were much funnier.

IIRC, the first couple of seasons she lost the Emmy to Candace Bergen (the TV critics were writing articles about "what a shame Helen Hunt doesn't get recognized") and only began winning once Candace was out of the running. They then stuck to her like glue all the way to the end of the show's run. (To be fair, I seem to recall Hunt looking embarrassed to have won the last year and even said something to that effect in her acceptance speech.) Paul, on the other hand, never stood a chance against Kelsey Grammer despite multiple nominations.

I love Fran Drescher and thought she was very deserving for "The Nanny" but critics were never particularly enamored of the show, dismissing it as low-brow, so the fact she was even nominated I guess was something of a miracle.

[quote]To this day I still cannot understand how Helen Hunt won that Oscar! She gave an OK performance in a well written film, but that performance shouldn’t have even be nominated let alone win!

I think it's been oft-theorized that Hunt benefited from being the only American in the category.

UPDATE:

Noooo! I hate Helen Cunt!

Good God NOooooQ!

Everybody I knew hated Mad About You back in the 90s.

I loathed this show.

Oh no

Who in gods name asked for this?

I saw the thread title, reflexively played the haunting theme music in my head and almost vomited. This is a terrible development for humanity. Everybody involved with the resurrection of this abomination should be rounded up and summarily executed.

Paul Reiser was enough to make even Jesus Christ an anti-Semite.

I actually liked the "Mad About You" a great deal back in its heyday but even I'm confused by this. The show has never had a very successful life in syndication as it never proved to be popular like other shows from its era like "Seinfeld," "Frasier," and "Friends," so why on earth do they think people are clamoring for a revival? Plus it will be interesting to see what network/outlet decides that there is an audience for this enough to shell out the money to finance it. Something tells me it will either end up on Hulu or Netflix as opposed to its old home on NBC but we'll see.

So bad it is full house level trash.

Always thought this show was boring as hell and unfunny. Never understood why it was popular.

I really loved the early seasons - and I was so jealous of their apartment. But the later seasons were just so shrill and self serious and unfunny. To the point where I couldn't even watch episodes from earlier seasons. A revival seems like a horrible idea to me.

This show sucked. Why can't they revive shows people actually liked?

why so many revivals

No, no, no. Kill this show with fire.

Paul Reiser looks like he's 105 years old now.

What's next, a reboot of [italic]Fresh Prince of Bel-Air[/italic] or [italic]Silver Spoons[/italic]?

😂 Just watched the Seinfield episode where Susan makes George watch this. The horrified look on his face during the closing credits perfectly sums up my feelings about this show.

i like him

never cared for her, cold., trys too hard.

[quote]The show has never had a very successful life in syndication as it never proved to be popular like other shows from its era like "Seinfeld," "Frasier," and "Friends," so why on earth do they think people are clamoring for a revival?

Because Helen Hunt has the power to make people do stupid things.

Is Belinda Carlisle going to be in this one?

LOL! The only buyer was Charter Spectrum.

So now no one will see it.

I am not sure anyone wants to see this.

Money

Always

Brings

Extra

Laughs

The Deadline article linked in r156 says that the characters are still married. Didn't they get divorced in the last season?

They’re pretending it never happened.

Not surprising none of the big networks/streaming services picked it up. It wasn't really at hit (only made the top 20 for one season) and had been largely forgotten. Plus the leads are in their 50s.

Paul Reiser wishes he were in his 50s

R163 I thought he was in his late 50s, but yeah he's 62.

I liked the show at first. Only upon watching re-runs did I begin to see the problem: Helen Hunt's Jaime was a real bitch. So no.

So, um, what channel will this be on???

I remember watching this as a kid but honestly couldn't tell you one scene, storyline or joke that I recall or stayed with me. I doubt I'm alone lol. What a strange show to bring back. Murphy Brown was a stretch but this is just dumb. All network shows are stupid anyway so they might as well bring the stupid ones back rather than taint the good ones.

I'd only watch if they had a cute openly gay male character on the show.

[quote]Not surprising none of the big networks/streaming services picked it up.

True, though to be fair, if NBC could renew a rancid piece of shit like "A.P. Bio," they could've picked this up.

Who else isn't excited???

Who gives a crap about these two unlikable characters/actors? It's hard to believe this show was indeed very popular at one time. Nobody talks about it or yearns for more of it, imo.

Fresh, youthful and FUN!

Didn't watch it then, won't watch it now. Can't stand either one of them although if forced to choose I'd go with Reiser. Hunt's reputation as an uber-cunt followed and precedes her.

I had no idea Kramer made an appearance on this show.

This cannot work, unless the daughter character (who would now be in her 20s) was brilliantly funny. Hunt and Reiser would be TV roadkill now. They were ok when the original series first started, but the last few seasons they were so smug and cunty. They will only have gotten worse. As I said, this show could only work if the daughter was the polar opposite to them and funny. So Paul and Jamie are the “aren’t we so worthy, political and open minded” passive aggressives. Mabel is the vain, selfie taking, instagram influencer who voted for Trump because she likes Melania’s clothes. Give her all the Karen Walker or Suzanne Sugarbaker styles lines and it could work.

Sadly, I would imagine the show will be a pathetic echo chamber of unfunny dross. Where blue haired SJW Mabel cries about how hard her life as a woman in the 21st century is. As she lives in a huge Manhattan apartment working in a job in PR. Paul will conform to being the Male apologising for his whole gender and Jamie will be the arrogant voice of all women getting synthetic loud applause every three minutes for her tirades about society. All without any actual humour.

r37 I loved Moonlighting. My cat's name is Maddie after Cybill's character

Oh god, R176 just kill yourself now.

Didn't Paul and Jamie get a divorce at the end of the series?