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"Mad About You" revival


dragonflies

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This is actually one of the last shows I see ever getting some type of revival. It didn't age well at all and failed almost immediately in syndication, too NYC-centric, too mean spirited, and really only survived on the back on Helen Hunt and the very underrated Anne Ramsey. 

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For real. One of those high rated NBC shows of the 90’s that had a large audience but very little fans, ya know? 

 

Gimme me a SISTERS revival first. Even if just a 9 episode arc like Roseanne. Sela Ward, Swoozie Kurtz etc. let’s see what’s been going on in Winnetka, IL the past 21 years. 

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I was just thinking about Paul Reiser the other day. I saw him on Jimmy Fallon and remembered how endearing he is, but is it wrong that I associate him more with My Two Dads than Mad About You?

 

Mad About You wasn't even a top 10 show in its heyday (maybe 1994/1995?), but it had a solid premise and great starring and supporting cast. Leila Kenzle was a riot, while John Pankow was wonderfully cast as Ira.

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That's also what I tend to associate him with.

 

Mad About You was another show that got critical hype but the viewers never had a lot of interest. The critics turned on it in the last years due to some sort of marital crisis story, and by that time the ratings were in the toilet. 

 

I've never really gotten Helen Hunt's appeal, myself. For me her best work was on St. Elsewhere as Jack Morse's college student girlfriend. 

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She was nominated for a Supporting Actress Oscar in 2012 for THE SESSIONS, where she played a sex therapist. Never saw the movie, but I do remember when she was bragging about saving money on her dress because she bought it at H&M. She deluded herself into thinking people couldn't tell. Trust me, I and everyone else really, really could.

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The premise of a married couple grappling with "empty nest syndrome" is timely, considering where the baby boomers are now.  But I'm not sure if I would want to tell those stories through the lens of these characters.  The original "Mad About You" was a pretty damn annoying show.

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