m usenet Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part1 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions List (1/5) for "Mad About You" and the Usenet newsgroup alt.tv.mad-about-you ---------------------------------------------------------------- Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part1 ---------------------------------------------------------------- This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List for the TV Comedy show "Mad About you" is, as a collection of information, Copyright (c) 1994, 1995 by Ramaswamy [rama@cac.stratus.com]. All Rights Reserved. Distribution through any means other than normal Usenet channels must be by permission. No fee may be charged for distribution. This material is for non-commercial use only. The removal of this copyright notice is prohibited. ---------------------------------------------------------------- New Stuff: Split into five parts and updated for season #3. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Introduction 1.0 What is MAY? 2.0 Character information 2.1 Principal Characters 2.2 The Family Members 2.3 Other Supporting Characters 2.4 Cast Filmographies 3.0 Frequently Asked Questions (Paul and Jamie) 3.1 How and when did Paul and Jamie meet? 3.2 When did Jamie and Paul get married? 3.3 Are the Buchmans an inter-faith couple? 3.4 Where do Paul and Jamie live? 3.5 Why did Jamie quit her job? 3.6 What does Jamie do after she quits? 3.7 What college is Jamie attending? 3.8 Do Jamie and Paul lie often? 3.9 Do Jamie and Paul admit mistakes? 3.10 What was Jamie's big secret? 3.11 When did Mark hear about Paul? 3.12 Why were the Buchmans a day early to Yoko Ono's party? 3.13 What's with the Buchmans and the NY Subway system? 3.14 What were the Buchmans' winnings at Belmont? 3.15 What happened at the Buchman Wedding? 3.16 Will the Buchmans have kids? 4.0 Frequently Asked Questions (The Rest) 4.1 What is Murray's real name? 4.2 Who is Selby and where is he now? 4.3 Who is better - the new Ira or the old Ira? 4.4 Who is better - the new Fran or the old Fran? 4.5 Who is Lou? 4.6 Is Lisa's shrink a man or a woman? 4.7 Does everybody come to Riff's? 4.8 What is the time-line of the series? 4.9 What about Birthdays? 4.10 Are there crossovers to other shows? 4.11 What sports figure in the story-line? 4.12 Has anyone played multiple characters? 4.13 Have multiple actors played the same character? 5.0 Mostly MAY 5.1 MAYlanguage 5.2 The Theme Song 5.3 The Sisters' Duet 5.4 The Wedding Song 5.5 Susannah's Song 6.0 MAY Trivia Pursuit 6.1 TBS 7.0 Show Related Information 7.1 The Seasons 7.2 The Episode Titles 7.3 Production Facilities and Addresses 7.4 Tickets to Taping Sessions 7.5 Worldwide Telecasts 7.6 Syndication Information 7.7 Emmy Awards 7.8 Tapes of Early Episodes 7.9 Scripts of Episodes 7.10 Books by Cast Members 7.11 Souvenirs and Such 8.0 Group Related Information 8.1 The Newsgroup 8.2 Mail Server Site 8.3 Anonymous FTP Sites 8.4 World Wide Web Sites 8.5 The Episode Guides Acknowledgments ---------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction This FAQ document does not attempt to provide information only in the form of questions listed in Sections 3 and 4. Consult the other sections for pertinent information. For example, answers to questions regarding contact addresses and tickets to taping sessions can be found in Sections 7.3 and 7.4 respectively. Guarantees cannot be made about the accuracy of any of the information in this document. If you wish to point out my lack of knowledge or correct a point, or wish to contribute information on new topics, please provide me the correct information via e-mail addressed to [rama@cac.stratus.com]. Included are references to episodes where facts mentioned in this document were revealed; these episode numbers are from the Mad About You Episode Guides (see section 8.5). The numbers are listed in [] after a particular reference. Please consult the Episode Guides for titles and synopses. For quick reference, Section 7.2 of this document includes a list of the episode titles. Please do not send individual requests to me for copies of this FAQ. This document, as well as the associated Episode Guides, can be retrieved with a request to a mail-server. See section 8.2 for details. A reminder notice on how to access this FAQ via anonymous FTP and WWW is posted weekly to the alt.tv.mad-about-you newsgroup, and includes all the details in "Newsgroup Related Information" (Section 8). The date of last update and version number is indicated at the top of this document. Updated sections are indicated at the very beginning; they are not marked by change-bars (|) at the left margin. All deletions are indicated by, well, deletions. Abbreviations used in this document: - FAQ Frequently Asked Questions list - MAY Mad About You ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1.0 What is MAY? MAY is a half-hour television comedy show that currently airs in North America on NBC Television network at 8:00pm (7:00pm in some time-zones) on Thursdays. A move to 8:00pm (7:00pm in some time-zones) on Sunday evenings has been announced for Fall 1995, for season #4. It premiered on Wednesday September 23, 1992 at 9:30pm, and was telecast first on Wednesdays and then Saturdays in its first season, before settling in its current time-slot on Thursdays during summer reruns in 1993. The show runs 30 minutes with commercial interruptions, and about 22 minutes otherwise. MAY is the story of a newly-wed couple, Paul and Jamie Buchman, adjusting to their daily life together in Lower Manhattan, in New York City. Other characters in their lives are Jamie's sister Lisa and friend Fran (and Fran's ex-husband Mark), Paul's cousin Ira and college buddy Selby (only in season #1), and both sets of parents. Paul's dog Murray is also featured prominently. MAY was created by Paul Reiser and Danny Jacobson and is produced by TriStar Television. The current contract for the show is for 5 seasons. Danny Jacobson (Executive Producer) is in-charge of the day-to-day running and production of the show. Among his earlier TV credits are "My Sister Sam," "Davis Rules" and the first 2 seasons of "Roseanne." MAY was originally pitched to NBC by Paul Reiser as "Thirtysomething, only shorter and funnier." After co-starring with Greg Evigan in "My Two Dads" for three years, he decided to do an intelligent comedy for adults by considering what it should NOT be. He didn't want the show to be an odd-couple mixing, interplay between wacky characters, or one of those "are they going to get together or not?" gimmicks. By stripping away all the things it could not be, he got it down to its bare essence, a very low concept show about a marriage. In effect, MAY is "scenes from a marriage" that has nothing to do with Ingmar Bergman. Episodes of MAY are put together by a group of people that were responsible for the Off-Broadway production (in New York) of "Grease." Danny Jacobson switched from acting to writing and is now associated with Paul Reiser, Jeffrey Lane (the first 3 seasons), Steve Paymer (the first 2 seasons), Liz Coe, Victor Fresco and a team of other writers on MAY. The writing is always a collaborative effort, and the 'Written by' credit for an episode goes to the person doing the first draft; the rest of the team hides behind exotic titles such as Co-Executive Producer, Co-Producer, Story Editor, and such. Richard Hissong (first 2 seasons) and Mikel Neiers have supervised the filming, while Craig Knizek (Associate Producer, then Co-Producer) has been responsible for post-production, along with editor Sheila Amos. 2.0 Character information Only Paul and Jamie Buchman have been featured in each and every episode of MAY. Selby was written out of the show midway through season #1, and Ira was introduced. Mark Devanow left at the end of season #1 and returned toward the end of season #2 in 2 episodes. Ursula, the waitress at Riff's, was introduced in season #2. Jamie's ex-boyfriend Alan and Ira's new girlfriend Susannah have been introduced in season #3. 2.1 Principal characters Paul Buchman [Paul Reiser] Born and raised in New York, Paul is a documentary filmmaker (Buchman Films [1.6]) who attended New York University (NYU) Film School and won an NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) grant [1.11] and some awards, but hasn't yet won a Silver Sprocket (which he covets) [2.23]. He finds a collie-mix puppy in Central Park one night [2.1], adopts and names the dog Murray [2.20], who becomes a significant part of his life. Paul lived in an apartment at 129 West 81st Street [1.11] (in reality, an apartment building) before he met Jamie. He doesn't own a car, and takes the subway or a cab, but never a bus [1.8]. he lived with his parents until age 18 and after college lived with Ira for a while before being booted out [3.16]. Paul is quite the dutiful son, calling his mother often and then regretting telling her things. He has a typical father-son relationship with his father [1.18], who has a better understanding of Paul's abilities than Paul gives him credit for [3.5]. Paul usually gets along well with his in-laws [1.5]. Paul likes the Three Stooges [2.5], is a big Beatles fan [1.17, 2.17], is strangely attracted to Saved By The Bell [3.13], and watches/tapes Baywatch regularly [3.11, 3.22]. He hates the Opera [1.10, 1.17] and hates to shop even more [1.2, 2.12]. He loves pizza [1.10, 3.21] and cinnamon toast [2.5, 2.10]. Jamie Stemple Buchman [Helen Hunt] Born and raised in New Haven, Conn., Jamie graduated from Yale having gone through 2 majors and 7 boyfriends [2.10] and done some time hanging out at a biker bar, sporting a tattoo [3.11], she went to work at the Public Relations firm of Farrer and Gantz. After 5 years, she was promoted to become Regional VP, succeeding her mentor Fran Devanow [2.16], and landed many big accounts like Computron [1.6], the NY Tourism campaign [1.13] and the Central American Tourism account [2.4]. She quit her PR job because her boss Jack Farrer didn't appreciate her talents [2.4]. Jamie has gone back to school [2.21], and has joined forces with Fran to form her own PR business [3.5, 3.17, 3.19]. She lived in an apartment at 142 West 81st Street [1.11] (in reality, a Church is located at that address) before moving in with Paul on Valentine's Day, 1991 [2.16] and marrying him a year later. She likes to shop at sales [2.6, 2.17], has a weakness for chocolates [2.2] and ice cream [2.20] and cannot program a VCR Plus [3.16]. Lisa Stemple [Anne Ramsay] Jamie's unmarried older sister (by 3 years [1.19]), who spent 5 years in high school [1.16] and is a college dropout [1.5]. She has no steady employment, but somehow manages to support herself. A character with decidedly odd logic [2.8, 2.21], Lisa is able to handle her parents in a manner Jamie is not [1.5]. She rode a horse to her prom [3.17] and is firmly convinced that she is a screwed-up showbiz kid, once facts about her mother have been revealed [3.15]. With a semi-permanent eating disorder and on Prozac [1.9], Lisa is under a therapist's care, who features her under the pseudonym of Edna in a book [2.11]. Among her friends in the group are two bulimics named Harriets [2.11] and a man named Gunther [1.14]. Jamie tries to fix her up from time to time [2.7] and can monitor her telepathically [1.19], while Lisa goes through a string of boyfriends. She gets through the day with 7 kinds of pills, readily available in her purse [3.20]. Lisa did her laundry on Tuesdays at the Buchmans' [1.4], where her entrances are preceded by full use (or abuse) of their buzzer [2.1, 2.11, 2.12], seemingly in Morse code [3.3]. She constantly raids their fridge [2.12, 2.14]. We do not know where she lives, but it is in the vicinity of the 103rd Street subway station [3.17], and her fifth floor apartment [3.1] is featured in [1.19]. Her purse is a world to itself and figures prominently in [3.17]. Fran Devanow [Leila Kenzle] Jamie's former boss and confidant, 3 years her senior and formerly married to Mark Devanow. A Regional VP at the Public Relations firm of Farrer and Gantz for 5 years [2.4], she quit her job to spend more time with her young son [2.16]. Fran likes to shop [1.11, 1.12, 2.17], take charge in every conceivable situation, and fix up her single friends at her annual Valentine's Day parties [1.16] (at least before Mark left). Fran's husband Mark often took his cue from her [1.1, 1.2]; in fact she proposed to him [1.8]. However, after they separate [1.21], Fran had a rough time adjusting to single life again. She had quick affairs with Jamie's ex-boyfriend Sherman [1.21] and Paul's cousin Ira [2.9], and last dated Jamie's college classmate Nick [2.22]. Fran appeared to have adequate means of support in Mark's absence, even though she was not working (in season #2). She went back to work at Farrer and Gantz [3.1], but quit because she thought Jamie resented her taking Jamie's old job at Farrer and Gantz [3.9]. She's now Jamie's partner in her PR business [3.11]. She drives in NY [2.1, 2.4, 2.21] and the Buchmans often borrow it (to get to La Guardia in [3.17] or to transport a bed in [3.16]). She has also joined a fitness program and jogged through New York at night [2.2]. Her apartment (#1925 [2.14], at 171 [3.7] on an unnamed street) is in the Upper East Side of New York and the subject of a re-painting exercise [2.14]. She packs off her young son Ryan to her mother's in Boca Raton, Florida from time to time [1.9, 1.21]. Mark Devanow [Richard Kind] Fran's husband, a gynecologist and obstetrician who had a considerable practice in Manhattan ($300,000 a year) [2.22]. An easy-going, good-natured person who likes opera [1.10] and eating out [1.2, 1.10], he summed up his outlook on life on the train-ride back from a Connecticut Thanksgiving [1.9]: "... gotta live in the moment, keep moving on; everything else is just riding backwards." After 10 years of marriage [2.9], he left Fran and Ryan to lead a bohemian existence on the road [1.22], with no regard to his wife's or son's welfare. Returning a year later to attempt a reconciliation with Fran [2.22], he ·_ found her indifferent to the idea [2.24]. He now gets to spend some weekends with his son Ryan [3.1], and Thanksgiving as well [3.8]. Jay Selby [Tommy Hinkley] Paul's college buddy and bachelor-at-large, who was a constant visitor at the Buchman apartment in the first months of their marriage [1.1]. An inveterate womanizer who considered donating to a sperm bank [1.9], he caused Paul great anxiety by dating Paul's ex-girlfriend [1.4]. He also counseled Paul strongly against surrendering the lease on his old apartment to Kramer [1.8]. He works for his Dad's (unnamed) business, goofing off at the first opportunity [1.4]. For $50, he posed as Lisa's boyfriend during the Thanksgiving outing at her parents' in Conn. [1.9], and one-up'd Paul by getting invited to a day of golfing with her father (Gus Stemple). - The character was written out of the series after the 12th episode [1.12], although Tommy Hinkley was retained in the opening credits until the 13th episode. Ira Buchman [John Pankow] Born and raised in Sheepshead Bay, NY [1.20], Ira is Paul's fraternal cousin, older by a few years. They've competed all their lives. First referred to in [1.3], Ira was introduced in [1.15]. He is a sometime Band leader of Ira and the Nightcaps Ira loves to gamble, and often took Paul with him on Atlantic City junkets, without Jamie's knowledge [1.15]. On another trip to Atlantic City, he takes the house for $700 after asking Paul not to give him money [2.9]. His connections at the racetrack help find the final resting place for the ashes of Jamie's uncle Van [3.3]. Ira is now attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings [3.3]. Ira advised Paul not to get involved with Jamie [3.19], which Paul correctly ignored, but Jamie is sufficiently used to Ira's ways now, to the point of referring to him as "my cousin Ira" [3.12]. Ira was married in late 1973 to Marianne Lugaso; they were together for all of 6 months, officially divorcing after 20 years [2.9]. But Ira has been playing the field for a long time. He has liaisons with one of Jamie's clients, Diane Caldwell ("Spy Girl") [1.20], with Lisa at Paul and Jamie's Wedding [1.18, 2.1] and then with a separated Fran [2.9], leading to Fran's possible pregnancy [2.14]. After a brief liaison with Velma [3.10], he now has a surprisingly steady relationship with Susannah Gould [3.12, 3.19, 3.20, 3.22], even brushing off Paul rather than miss a date with her [3.16]. Ira's mother is very much alive [2.16, 3.19] and it can be speculated that he is Uncle Jules' and Aunt Betty's son [1.8], although this is not even hinted at. Ira lives at 196 West 93rd Street, apartment 6-X [3.22], He owns a car [1.18, 2.1, 2.17]. he also has a cat named Roscoe that Murray probably dislikes. Murray [Smiley/Maui] Paul's out-to-lunch 7-year-old dog is a collie-shepherd mix [1.10] that Paul found in Central Park as a puppy [2.20]. After 7 years, he meets his mother Mona [2.20]. Murray has been walked to great advantage by Paul and Ira to meet girls, and also by Lisa to meet guys [2.1]. Murray also has had a brief acting career, doing TV commercials [3.14], even doing his own barking and appearing in a MegaDeath video. He ends it all for Paul's and Jamie's sake by doing an impression of Cujo [3.14], something only Mark Devanow has seen before [1.7, 1.21]. Known primarily for his immobility ("a rug with organs" [2.20]) and lack of awareness of his surroundings (Murray-ness) [2.1], his tendency to chase an imaginary mouse [2.2] acquired legendary status in season #2. In season #1, he had an affair with Sophie [1.10], the Conways' Cairn Terrier show dog from across the hall, but love really bloomed in season #3, and they had 5 puppies [3.2]. He has been Maggie Conway's favourite ever since [3.14]. Murray sees in black 'n' white, but dreams in color [3.14], a sure sign of a wonder dog! 2.2 The Family Members Burt Buchman [Louis Zorich] Paul's father, who gains his 15-minutes of fame on the Regis Philbin show [1.18]. Burt is owner of Buchman's Sporting Goods store (#867 Broadway [2.16, 3.5], which in reality is the site of Paragon Sports), and had a mild angina attack when attempting to move a fibreglass pool-table in the store [2.3]. He is adored by his daughter-in-law Jamie. After running the store for 43 years, complete with an annual Midnight Madness sale, he hands over the reins to Ira [3.5]. Sylvia Buchman [Cynthia Harris] Paul's mother, whose barbs never miss their mark, whether directed at son Paul, daughter Sharon or daughter-in-law Jamie [2.3]. Sylvia is heard only on the phone in season #1 [1.3, 1.10, 1.18] and it is at her suggestion that Freddy Statler presents Paul with Ringo's drums [1.17]. Sylvia was 19 when she married Burt Buchman [2.24], possibly in 1954 [3.2]. Paul chafes under her constant reminder of his 'bad' career choice as a filmmaker rather than a doctor [2.3], but his cousin Ira and Jamie's sister Lisa have no problem dealing with her [2.20]. And Sylvia always makes a point of calling Lisa "sweet" [2.3, 2.24, 3.1]. Jamie is always suspicious of her motives in giving gifts (an electric blanket in [2.2], an answering machine in [2.8]), forever wishing she'd move to Florida [2.3], but nevertheless admires Sylvia's spirit [2.20, 2.24]. Sylvia had similar problems in dealing with her mother- in-law as well [3.8]. She is also the force behind Burt's decision to retire and hand over his store to Ira [3.5]. Sharon [Randy Graff] Paul's older sister (by 2 years) [2.24], who is a divorcee with 2 children, one being a 4-year old daughter [2.3]. An MBA, Sharon lives on Long Island, and is not a very good driver. Debbie [Talia Balsam/Robin Bartlett] Paul's sister, possibly a younger sibling, who has 2 sons, Jed and Noah. She is a working mother who drops her older son off with the Buchmans as she attends a client's funeral [2.6], and talks constantly on her cellular phone, both with co-workers and her husband [2.24]. Debbie is known to go to Barbados for her vacation [2.3]. She is not mentioned by Sylvia when discussing Paul's birth, and so was probably born after Paul [2.24]. Surprisingly, Debbie is also shown on the brink of divorcing Gary, her (then) husband of 15 years, on the eve of Paul and Jamie's wedding [3.13]. We can't be certain she went through with it, though Gary did not attend the wedding. The character of Debbie has been played by 2 different actresses (in the same season). Jed [Bradley Pierce] Debbie's 7-year old son, who spends Halloween with Paul and Jamie [2.6]. Jamie takes him trick-or-treating in an Aladdin costume she makes, with Murray in tow as a camel. Jed holds the distinction of being the best- behaved kid on MAY, making Jamie wish for a child. Noah [Andrew J. Ferchland] Debbie's 5-year old son, whose noisy demeanor at his mother's lunch celebrating Paul & Jamie's anniversary impresses the couple no end [2.24]. His mother copes by using a trip to Disney World as the stick. Gus Stemple [Paul Dooley/John Karlen] Jamie's father, a successful butcher [1.5] who has spent more than 34 years in the business [3.14]. He likes Paul, but has no high opinion of his tool-handling skills [1.5], and never invites his son-in-law to a golf outing [1.9]. He lobbies very hard for beef to be served at the wedding reception, in place of squab [3.13]. But he can be quite helpless without his wife, and Jamie has to go up to keep him company when her mother is away [3.16]. The Stemples live comfortably in New Haven, Conn. [1.9] and drive down to New York often to spend time with the Buchmans [1.5, 2.20, 3.8]. The character of Gus Stemple has been played by two different actors (in different seasons). Theresa Cooper Stemple [Nancy Dussault/Penny Fuller] Jamie's mother, who is naturally bubbly [2.20] and tortures her daughter with advice [1.5]. She also uses Lisa to get at Jamie when they are fighting [2.20]. Theresa is heard on the phone [2.2, 2.20], but like her husband Gus, has been seen infrequently [1.5, 3.8, 3.13, 3.14]. A former beauty who snagged parts in five episodes of the Alan Brady Show [3.15], she has undergone a face-lift [3.11] and, presumably, breast-reduction surgery [2.11]. Jamie resembles the young Theresa, so much so that when Alan Brady first meets Jamie at Paolucci's Ristorante, he wonders if they have met before [3.15]. The character of Theresa Stemple has been played by two different actresses (in different seasons). Ryan Devanow [Spencer Klein] Fran and Mark's 5-year old "devil child" [1.16], whose tantrum prevents his parents going to the circus with the Buchmans [1.7]. Ryan can recite Hiawatha's poem [1.9] and sing the Muffin Man song [1.6], and plays Cupid at his mother's Valentine's Day parties [1.16]. Ryan is featured only in season #1. After his parents separate [1.21], he is packed off to his grandmother's in Boca Raton, Florida [1.22]. But he is back in school in NY, as Fran watches "101 Dalmatians" with him [2.4], while Paul, Jamie and Ira go with Fran to a benefit at his school [2.14]. He also gets to spend a weekend with his father Mark [3.1] and Thanksgiving as well [3.8]. Marianne Lugaso [Cyndi Lauper] Ira's long-forgotten wife of 20 years, who manages a casino in Atlantic City. They had been married and lived with both sets of parents for 6 months beginning in 1973, and are finally divorced in season #2 so that she can legally marry her unseen beau and move to Luxembourg [2.9]. She returns briefly as the widowed Contessa [3.19], and tries to engage Ira's attentions by offering him an interest-free loan to finance his new catalog business. It is possible she was feeling guilty about the peyote incident in 1974, the night before Ira took his SAT exams. Aunt Lolly [Meg Wyllie] Jamie's 73-year old maternal aunt [3.15], who initially had trouble figuring out whom she was related to [3.8]. She was the toast of the Catskills in the 50's, when she played the harp in Grossinger's Lobby [3.15], and dated Alan Brady, among many others. She also played the viola at Paul and Jamie's wedding, except Paul insists it was a ukelele). Twice widowed [3.13], she dated Paul's editor Sid for a while [3.20]. She drives a Buick Skylark and lives in Connecticut [3.20]. 2.3 Other Supporting characters Hal Conway [Paxton Whitehead/Jim Piddock] The Buchmans' neighbour in 11-C, a visiting professor at Columbia University teaching Diplomacy [1.10], who is Maggie's husband. The Conways are from Cambridge, England, and believe New York is populated by raving loons. They are undiplomatic enough to tell Paul and Jamie they don't like them, but accept an invitation from their friends (the Devanows) to go to Opera at the Met in place of the Buchmans. When rumors abound about the building going co-op, they try to buy out the rights to the Buchmans' apartment, to enlarge their own. Hal Conway had been seen once in season #1 [1.10], and then again in season #3 [3.2, 3.6], and is also heard off-camera in season #2 [2.6]. The Conways have been visiting New York for a long time now, and lately Hal has been writing a novel [3.6]. He has brunch with his publisher at the opera [3.16]. He is also keenly interested in comic books [3.21] and claims to having been a middleweight boxing champion at Oxford [3.22], but that may not have been reality. The character of Hal Conway has been played by two different actors (in different seasons). Maggie Conway [Judy Geeson] Hal's wife, allergic to flowers, and proud owner of Sophie, a Cairn Terrier show dog [1.10]. Maggie refuses to trick-or-treat Paul's nephew Jed [2.6], but shows up with eats when mistakenly believing that Paul had died [2.12]. When Ira drags her out of her own party into an exercise of keeping an eye on Susannah, she expertly hides the wine glass when asked if she was having a party [3.12]. Murray is the only Buchman she cares for [3.14]. She also takes in early morning Yoga classes [3.14]. Alan Tofsky [Eric Stoltz] Jamie's last significant other, a year or so before she met Paul [3.21], a commercial graphics artist who did the cover for a Peter Gabriel album [3.7], and is now famous for a comic book MegaVoid [3.21]. Apparently he had the last word at their breakup, something Jamie will not admit to [3.7]. They do manage to work together on an advertising campaign [3.21] and Alan even shows up in a what-if sequence in [3.22]. He is known to carry his own tea-bags [3.7] and refers to Paul as Ken [3.21]. It is unlikely that Alan was being referred to in [1.3] when Jamie talks about an artist (commercial) that she'd slept with once. However it is fairly certain that Alan and Jamie did not co-habit [3.22]. Susannah Gould [Anne Booby] Jamie's class-mate in Psychology class, who charms Ira at their first encounter in the Buchman apartment [3.12], so much so that he buys towels and washes them before first use [3.19]. It is interseting to note that but for Fran's expert interpretation of a schizoid personality [2.21], Ira and Susannah may never have met! Like Ira, Susannah was briefly married when young [3.12], and like Ira, she has a band [3.22] with a keyboard player named Derek. She has also worked at a psychic phone-line [3.12] and has a knack for figuring people out, mostly by just listening. In less than an hour she reads Ira and they are off on their first date. Susannah hates being called Sue [3.20] and feathers fly when a cabbie addresses her as Mamma [3.19]. She used to have a pet canary, which met a sudden end [3.20]. Mel Wertzel [Louis Goss] The Buchmans' landlord, who patiently fields their interminable questions as they look over the apartment six times before signing the lease [2.16]. When an obituary of a Paul Buchman appears in the paper, he sends around a note on a Saturday indicating the need for a 60-day notice to vacate the apartment [2.12]. Bill Wicker [Jerry Adler] The previously pageable super of the Buchman apartment building, who was first alluded to in [1.5]. Always leaving a job to get to another [2.19], he has been a super for 33 years [2.23], but his first day on the job is referred to in letters written by a former tenant in 1943-44, 50 years ago [2.19], an apparent contradiction. He is 64 years old, and has been married for 40 years [3.4] to Claire, whose Nyquil commercial won Jamie a $5 bet [2.19]. Mrs. Wicker is now featured in a Soap opera [3.6]. The Wickers live in apartment 5-J, next to the elevator [3.4]. Eddie [Lou Cutell] The doorman at the Buchman apartment building, who brings up Jamie's boxes [2.4] as well as her tossed out jersey [1.8]. He also critiques Paul's films [2.5] and offers suggestions on explaining away Jamie's outburst at Riff's regarding her boss [2.4]. Eddie is mistakenly referred to as "Lou the doorman" by Paul and Jamie in [2.5]. Ursula [Lisa Kudrow] First seen in season #2 as an unnamed Waitress [2.4], later introduced as Ursula (a name she hates) in [2.7]. A routinely ditzy character that has been waiting tables at Riff's for at least 3 years [2.16], she has a side job as a museum tour guide [2.7]. Ursula has a brother with a gimpy car [3.6], and possibly a sister named Phoebe (a character in "Friends"). Dutch [Steve Paymer] The sales clerk at the Village Vogue [2.6], later known as the Village Video [2.18], the place that has brought us the category: Comedy, Comedy. It is located next to an antiques shop. Dutch entertains Paul's nephew Jed with an impersonation of Larry, one of the Three Stooges, but is severely reprimanded by his boss. Kim [Darrell Kunitomi/Ping Wu] Owner of a neighborhood mini-market [2.24, 3.8], who was also Mark's Zen Master for the short time he employed Mark as a stocker and delivery boy. Kim has a tendency to talk in triples. He and his wife Tammy now have a daughter named Rose. His market, open 23 hours daily, is located at #1120 on an unnamed street [2.24], but then again, maybe not [3.8], since no location in the neighborhood should have a 4-digit street address. The character of Kim has been played by ... Oh well, you know the drill by now! Ike [Art Evans] ·_ Paul's editor in season #1, who claims to know or have known a number of luminaries of the screen, like Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese and Orson Welles [1.4, 1.6]. He pulls no punches when criticizing Paul's work or his bumbling efforts at trying to find out what Jamie's job at Farrer and Gantz really is. Warren succeeded Art as editor/cameraman at Buchman Films. Stacey [Kerri Green] Paul's assistant in season #1, who screens all incoming calls and is free with her opinions of his films. She deftly rebuffs Selby [1.4] and holds a low opinion of Paul as a husband [1.6]. Connie succeeded Stacey as Paul's assistant in season #1. Connie [Meagen Fay] Paul's assistant, who appears to do a lot without getting anything done, and is in a constant state of confusion. She accompanies Warren to Paul & Jamie's first anniversary party [1.22], but is not heard of after that. All we know about her is that she has a cat that feels isolated [1.22]. Remy succeeded Connie in season #2 as Paul's assistant. Warren [Steven Wright] Paul's editor and cameraman, whose real name is Eddie Mermelman and whose credentials are mostly true [1.17]. He suffers Lou as much as Paul [2.5], burns for Connie [1.22], is a self-proclaimed peripheral visionary [2.1] and recognizes Lisa as Edna in her shrink's book [2.11]. Warren has since left Buchman Films, having been succeeded by Sid Novak. Lou Bonaparte [Larry Miller] Paul's new producer, who replaces an unnamed, unseen, hands-off producer [2.4]. Lou hovers around Paul and Warren, and tries to get his fingers in every aspect of production of Paul's films. He is a former accountant [2.5], who also practiced tumbling and was the class validectorian at Amherst [2.10]. His accomplishments at Buchman Films include eliminating a 3-minute montage [2.10], getting Jamie's opinion about another film [2.5], and rearranging all the camera positions for shooting a Halloween parade [2.6]. Lou has since left Buchman Films. Remy [Marva Hicks] Paul's assistant in seasons #2 and #3, introduced in [2.4]. She is a straight-shooter and sticks to business [2.6}. Not much is known about Remy, but she shows up at Jamie's bridal shower [3.13], at a time when presumably Stacey was Paul's assistant. Sid Novak [George O. Petrie] Paul's new editor (who travels back in time, as much as 3 years [3.20]), born in Minsk [3.20] and a former employee of Alan Brady (from whom he got a pineapple for Christmas) [3.15], who appears to have known all the comics of the Borsch Belt. With the looks of Errol Flynn, he charms Jamie's Aunt Lolly for the better part of a year [3.20], though the affair appears to have colled off now. Even Ira's ex-wife Marianne takes him out to lunch after his offer to fetch her some cinnamon crullers, though that was probably Marianne's scheme to pump him for information [3.19]. Ricky [Cameron Thor] Jamie's assistant at Farrer and Gantz, who is heard only on the phone in season #1 [1.6], but finally featured in season #2 [2.4]. It was also his last appearance, since Jamie quit her job the very next day. In season #3 he is again heard on the phone in flashback episodes [3.13, 3.20, 3.22], so the memory lives on. Manny Gantz [Wayne Tippitt/Jack Shearer] Fran's boss (and thus Jamie's as well), who hands out the Christmas bonus checks in [1.11] and bores everyone except Mark Devanow with his Rose Bowl story (he played in the game, but NOT the way anyone would think). Yes, in season #3 a new actor plays Manny [3.9], and yes, the character mistakes Ira for Mark in Fran's office! And closing credits of the episode refer to Manny Ganz. Jack Farrer [Ken Jenkins] Jamie's boss, who unfailingly gives insipid gifts to his sub-ordinates, but never any credit for their good ideas [2.4]. His remarks about why Jamie snagged the Central American Tourism account cause her to quit in disgust. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2.4 Cast Filmographies Paul Reiser Born March 30 1957, New York, NY Bye Bye, Love! 1995 [Donny] Mr. Write 1994 [Charlie] Family Prayers 1993 [Dan Linder] Tower, The (TV) 1993 [Tony Minot] Mad About You (TV) 1992 [Paul Buchman] Marrying Man, The 1991 [Phil] Crazy People 1990 [Stephen Bachman] My Two Dads (TV) 1987 [Michael Taylor] Beverly Hills Cop II 1987 [Jeffrey Friedman] Cross My Heart 1987 [Bruce] You Ruined My Life (TV) 1987 [Dexter Bunche] Aliens 1986 [Carter Burke] Beverly Hills Cop 1984 [Jeffrey Friedman] Odd Jobs 1984 [Max] Sunset Limousine (TV) 1983 [Jay Neilson] Diner 1982 [Modell] Helen Hunt Born June 15 1963, Culver City, CA Kiss of Death 1995 [Bev Kilmartin] Sexual Healing (Cable TV) 1993 [Rene] Wild West, The (TV mini-series) 1993 [voice: Abbie Bright] In the Company of Darkness (TV) 1993 [Gina Pulasky] Mad About You (TV) 1992 [Jamie Buchman] Bob Roberts 1992 [Rose Pondell] Mr. Saturday Night 1992 [Annie] Trancers III 1992 [Lena Deth] Waterdance, The 1992 [Anna] My Life and Times (TV) 1991 [Rebecca Miller] If Looks Could Kill 1991 Into the Badlands (TV) 1991 [Blossom] Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story (TV) 1991 [Pamela Smart] Only You 1991 [Claire Enfield] Trancers II 1991 [Lena Deth] Incident at Dark River (TV) 1989 Next of Kin 1989 [Jessie Gates] Miles from Home 1988 [Jennifer] Shooter (TV) 1988 [Tracey] Stealing Home 1988 China Beach (TV) 1990 [Sissy] Project X 1987 [Teri McDonald] Peggy Sue Got Married 1986 [Beth Bodell] Girls Just Want to Have Fun 1985 [Lynne Stone] Trancers 1985 [Lena Deth] St. Elsewhere (TV) 1984-86 [Clancy] French Lesson (Frog Prince, The) 1984 [Henrietta] Sweet Revenge (TV) 1984 [Debbie Markham] Bill: On His Own (TV) 1983 [Jenny Wells] Choices of the Heart (TV) 1983 [Kathy] Quarterback Princess (TV) 1983 [Tami Maida] It Takes Two (TV) 1982-83 [Lisa Quinn] Desperate Lives (TV) 1982 [Sandy Cameron] Angel Dusted (TV) 1981 [Lizzie Eaton] Child Bride of Short Creek (TV) 1981 [Naomi] Miracle of Kathy Miller, The (TV) 1981 [Kathy Miller] Transplant (TV) 1979 Fitzpatricks, The (TV) 1977-78 [Kerry Gerardi] Rollercoaster 1977 [Tracy Calder] Spell, The (TV) 1977 [Kristina Matchett] Mary Tyler Moore Show, The (TV) 1977 [Laurie Slaughter] Swiss Family Robinson (TV) 1975-76 [Helga Wagner] All Together Now (TV) 1975 [Susan Lindsay] Death Scream (TV) 1975 [Teila Rodriguez] Amy Prentiss (TV) 1974-75 [Jill Prentiss] Pioneer Woman (TV) 1973 [Sarah Sargeant] Anne Ramsay (Anne Elizabeth Ramsay) Perfect Alibi Unfinished Business The Taste of Hemlock Critters 4 Murder of Innocence (TV) Mad About You (TV) 1992 [Lisa Stemple] League of their Own, A 1992 [Helen Haley] Class Action 1991 [Deborah] Doctor Doctor (TV) 1989 Star Trek, The Next Generation (TV) 1988-89 [Assistant Engineer Clancy, Ensign Clancy] Leila Kenzle Born July 16 19??, Patchogue, NY Something Wilder (TV) 1995 [Lena] Mad About You (TV) 1992 [Fran Devanow] Other People's Money 1991 [Marcia] Richard Kind A Whole New Ballgame (TV) 1995 Blue Skies (TV) 1994 [Kenny] Clifford 1994 [Julien Daniels] All-American Murder 1992 [Lou Alonzo] Mr. Saturday Night 1992 [Reporter] Tom and Jerry: The Movie 1992 [Tom] (voice) Mad About You (TV) 1992 [Mark Devanow] Carol & Company 1990 Unsub 1989 Vice Versa 1988 [Floyd] John Pankow Born February 18 19??, St. Louis MI Mad About You (TV) 1992 [Ira Buchman] Stranger Among Us, A 1992 [Levine] Mortal Thoughts 1991 [Arthur Kellogg] Year of the Gun 1991 [Italo Bianchi] Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear 1988 [Geoffrey Fisher] Talk Radio 1988 [Dietz] Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, The 1987 (TV) [Ron Luchesse (1990-1991)] *batteries not included 1987 [Kovacs] Secret of My Success, The 1987 [Fred Melrose] First Steps (TV) 1985 [Fred] To Live and Die in L.A. 1985 [John Vukovich] Hunger, The 1983 [1st Phone Booth Youth] Doctors, The (TV) 1980-82 Tommy Hinkley Five Mrs. Buchanans (TV) 1994 Mad About You (TV) 1992 [Jay Selby] Maid for Each Other (TV) 1992 Human Shield, The 1991 [Ben Matthews] L.A. Story 1991 [Ted] Naked Obsession 1991 [Mitch] Angel of Death (TV) 1990 Men at Work 1990 [Jeff] Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation 1990 [Hank] Lethal Weapon 2 1989 [Cop #2] Back to the Beach 1987 [Michael] Louis Zorich Married to Olympia Dukakis Young at Heart (TV) 1995 [Joe Garraventi] Mad About You (TV) 1993 [Burt Buchman] Cheap Shots 1992 Brooklyn Bridge (TV) 1991-92 [Jules Berger] City of Hope 1991 [Mayor Baci] Missing Pieces 1991 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 1988 [Greek Millionaire] Club Paradise 1986 [Swiss Businessman] Death of a Salesman (TV) 1985 Walls of Glass 1985 Master of the Game (TV mini-series) 1984 [Lieutenant Pappas] Muppets Take Manhattan, The 1984 [Pete] Vengeance Is Mine 1976 [Dinelli] For Pete's Sake 1974 [Nick] Newman's Law 1974 Fiddler on the Roof 1971 [Constable] Made for Each Other 1971 [Pandora's Father] Coogan's Bluff 1968 [Taxi Driver] Cynthia Harris Mad About You (TV) 1993 [Sylvia Buchman] Distinguished Gentleman, The 1992 [Vera Johnson] Mannequin On the Move 1991 [Mom/Queen] Ask Me Again (TV) 1989 Pancho Barnes (TV) 1988 Three Men and a Baby 1987 [Mrs. Hathaway] Special Friendship, A (TV) 1987 [Mrs. Van Lew] L.A. Law (TV) 1986-87 [Iris Hubbard] Izzy and Moe (TV) 1985 Reuben, Reuben 1982 [Bobby Springer] Princess and the Cabby, The (TV) 1981 Doctor Franken (TV) 1980 Husbands, Wives & Lovers (TV) 1978 [Paula Zuckerman] I Could Never Have Sex With a Man Who Has So Little Respect for My Husband 1973 Isadora 1968 [Mary Desti] Lisa Kudrow Born July 30 1963, Encino CA Friends (TV) 1994- [Phoebe Buffay] Mad About You (TV) 1993- [Ursula] In the Heat of Passion 1992 Unborn, The 1991 [Louisa] Steven Wright Born 6 December 1955, New York NY Mixed Nuts 1994 Canadian Bacon 1994 Swan Princess, The 1994 (voice) Mad About You (TV) 1993 [Warren] So I Married an Axe Murderer 1993 [Pilot] Reservoir Dogs 1992 [K-Billy DJ] (voice) Men of Respect 1991 [Sterling] Short Time 1990 Stars and Bars 1988 Fire with Fire 1986 [Helicopter Pilot] Desperately Seeking Susan 1985 [Larry] Steven Wright Live (TV) 1985 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please send in corrections/comments to: [rama@cac.stratus.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------- m usenet Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions List (2/5) for "Mad About You" and the Usenet newsgroup alt.tv.mad-about-you ---------------------------------------------------------------- Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List for the TV Comedy show "Mad About you" is, as a collection of information, Copyright (c) 1994, 1995 by Ramaswamy [rama@cac.stratus.com]. All Rights Reserved. Distribution through any means other than normal Usenet channels must be by permission. No fee may be charged for distribution. This material is for non-commercial use only. The removal of this copyright notice is prohibited. ---------------------------------------------------------------- New Stuff: Split into five parts and updated for season #3. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Introduction 1.0 What is MAY? 2.0 Character information 2.1 Principal Characters 2.2 The Family Members 2.3 Other Supporting Characters 2.4 Cast Filmographies 3.0 Frequently Asked Questions (Paul and Jamie) 3.1 How and when did Paul and Jamie meet? 3.2 When did Jamie and Paul get married? 3.3 Are the Buchmans an inter-faith couple? 3.4 Where do Paul and Jamie live? 3.5 Why did Jamie quit her job? 3.6 What does Jamie do after she quits? 3.7 What college is Jamie attending? 3.8 Do Jamie and Paul lie often? 3.9 Do Jamie and Paul admit mistakes? 3.10 What was Jamie's big secret? 3.11 When did Mark hear about Paul? 3.12 Why were the Buchmans a day early to Yoko Ono's party? 3.13 What's with the Buchmans and the NY Subway system? 3.14 What were the Buchmans' winnings at Belmont? 3.15 What happened at the Buchman Wedding? 3.16 Will the Buchmans have kids? 4.0 Frequently Asked Questions (The Rest) 4.1 What is Murray's real name? 4.2 Who is Selby and where is he now? 4.3 Who is better - the new Ira or the old Ira? 4.4 Who is better - the new Fran or the old Fran? 4.5 Who is Lou? 4.6 Is Lisa's shrink a man or a woman? 4.7 Does everybody come to Riff's? 4.8 What is the time-line of the series? 4.9 What about Birthdays? 4.10 Are there crossovers to other shows? 4.11 What sports figure in the story-line? 4.12 Has anyone played multiple characters? 4.13 Have multiple actors played the same character? 5.0 Mostly MAY 5.1 MAYlanguage 5.2 The Theme Song 5.3 The Sisters' Duet 5.4 The Wedding Song 5.5 Susannah's Song 6.0 MAY Trivia Pursuit 6.1 TBS 7.0 Show Related Information 7.1 The Seasons 7.2 The Episode Titles 7.3 Production Facilities and Addresses 7.4 Tickets to Taping Sessions 7.5 Worldwide Telecasts 7.6 Syndication Information 7.7 Emmy Awards 7.8 Tapes of Early Episodes 7.9 Scripts of Episodes 7.10 Books by Cast Members 7.11 Souvenirs and Such 8.0 Group Related Information 8.1 The Newsgroup 8.2 Mail Server Site 8.3 Anonymous FTP Sites 8.4 World Wide Web Sites 8.5 The Episode Guides Acknowledgments ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3.0 Frequently Asked Questions Some of these are frequently asked, while others are just interesting (to some) and are being answered, asked or not. 3.1 How and when did Paul and Jamie meet? They met at a news-stand on West 81st Street on a Sunday evening before Christmas, and Jamie conned Paul out of the last copy of the NY Sunday Times at the stand by telling him the paper carried her parents' obituaries. While paying him, she unknowingly dropped a drycleaning slip, which Paul used the next day to track her down to her place of work (the Public Relations firm of Farrer and Gantz). Paul asks her out, but Jamie is initially quite reluctant to date him. But she invited him to the office Christmas party that afternoon, and they went out for the first time that evening. The Farrer and Gantz office building (Jamie's work-place) is near the 52nd St subway station [1.14], which may place it on Seventh Avenue. The drycleaning store is Lombardo's Drycleaning at 54th Street and Third Avenue [1.11]. The [Met Someone] episode [1.11], set in December 1989, describes the events of just 2 days. However there is a problem with the days of the week involved in their first meeting, as set in 1989. - The meeting at the news-stand was late Sunday evening, as Paul picked up the last (ripped) NY Times. He had a 10-second date that same evening, after failing to locate entries for the Stemples in the obituaries (in Selby's copy of the NY Times). - The next day Paul followed up with the drycleaning slip. Jamie perhaps didn't miss it since it was the first weekday. Paul explained in Fran's office "You dropped your slip last night as you hijacked my newspaper." Both he and Jamie admitted to thinking about each other "last night," so the day had to be a Monday. - Fran's talk of "2 more days to Christmas... I hope it snows!" implies the date was December 23. She also had a 12:30 lunch appointment the next day, which also had to be a working day. - Thus Christmas Day had to be a Wednesday. In 1989, Christmas fell on a Monday and the preceding Sundays were December 17 and 24. - Christmas day in 1991 was a Wednesday. It is probable that late in 1992, the writers were consulting a 1991 calendar (instead of 1989): December 1989 December 1991 S M T W T F S S M T W T F S 31 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 * 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 * 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 * 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 29 30 31 Incidentally, Selby's references to "Driving Miss Daisy" and Roseanne Barr in "She Devil" (with Meryl Streep) are right on target, since both movies were released in the November/December 1989 time-frame. It is interseting to note that in the flashback in [3.22], the separation takes place on a Saturday (Ursula's board of specials, Susannah's band's gig) and the reunion takes place the next day, late in the evening, on a Sunday. A strong believer in fate, Jamie thinks she and Paul were meant to get together, while Paul considers their meeting at the news-stand just a big coincidence. This theme is played out in [2.7], when memories of a childhood encounter surface under unusual circumstances. An obscure reference to this is made in [3.13] when Jamie talks of having known Paul was it even when she was 5. 3.2 When did Jamie and Paul get married? There is no specific mention of the date in any of the episodes (as yet). Since they had been married 5 months in the Pilot [1.1], telecast in September 1992, they were married in 1992. Working back in time, the month would appear to be April 1992. This is confirmed in the Wedding episode [3.13] An interesting side-bar [contributed by Ann Winner]: In [3.13], when Saul the dressmaker is quizzing Jamie and Fran about the wedding date, both say "March!" It is a well-known tip in the wedding-planning business that one should lie to the dress-maker, since they tend to cut it *very* close. As for the date itself, the third anniversary (in 1995) is supposed to fall on a Friday [3.22], which indicates April 7 or 14 as probable dates. However, in 1992 they would be weekdays, and a somewhat improbable wedding day. April 1992 April 1995 S M T W T F S S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 30 1 5 6 7* 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7* 8 12 13 14*15 16 17 18 9 10 11 12 13 14*15 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 26 27 28 29 30 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 There is a reference to March 12 in [1.20], which could imply March 12, 1992 was the date of their wedding, but that was a Thursday, again an unlikely wedding day. In other words... nobody knows! March 1992 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12*13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 There is no indication yet of where they spent their honeymoon. Rumors that they went to the Berkshires are unfounded. They certainly did not go to Italy, since Lisa failed to return their copy of Roman Holiday for 3 years [3.11]. 3.3 Are the Buchmans an inter-faith couple? It is highly probable that they are, although the show steers a strictly secular course. Paul Buchman is probably Jewish. He is concerned about "shellfish within fowl," referring to oysters stuffing at Thanksgiving, as well as the mince pie [1.9]. Paul also wonders if Mona's special meatloaf for Murray is kugel [2.20]. Jamie Stemple is a non-Catholic [1.9], possibly a Protestant. There is a side reference to having family in Israel in the Tag to [2.22], but that would appear to be a Helen Hunt reference, not necessarily a Jamie Stemple reference. Mark and Fran were a Jewish couple; they observed Seder [1.9] and Fran made kugel for her sister-in-law. The only holidays featured in MAY have been secular: Halloween [2.6], Thanksgiving [1.9, 3.8] and for obvious reasons, Valentine's Day [1.16, 2.16]. An office Christmas party is featured in [1.11]. Even the actual wedding ceremony was not shown, leaving the proceedings to the viewer's imagination; they exchanged their own vows in a civil ceremony in the dead of night [3.13]. 3.4 Where do Paul and Jamie live? They are currently living about 2 blocks from Greenwich Village [1.2], in apt. 11-D of a brickfaced 16-storey [1.7] building at 51 Fifth Avenue [3.22], at the corner of 12th Street and Fifth Avenue [1.5, 1.17], that is at least 50 years old [2.19]. The nearest subway stations are W 4th St [1.7, 1.14. 3.17] and 14th St [2.8]. When they met [1.11], Paul was living at 129 West 81st Street and Jamie was living nearby at 142 West 81st, so it is understandable that they met at a local news-stand. They moved in together on Valentine's Day, 1991. Most of the action in MAY takes place in this apartment. Slanty floors in both the living room and kitchen are Jamie's frequent complaint [2.12, 2.16, 2.19]. Their bedroom has a piano [2.11] and there are 3 interesting (framed) photographs above the head-board [1.15, 2.2] that change from time to time. The tiled bathroom is the scene of an entire episode [1.16]. There is talk of there being no fire-escape [1.13], and all exterior shots reflect this. However, there has to be one, as Paul climbs out of the bathroom window onto one [2.13]. In the third season, the fire-escape is featured often [3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.6, 3.11]. This amounts to a contradiction, since the whole premise of Paul and Jamie being locked up in the bathroom [1.16] depends on there being no fire-escape. - A reality check: Pre-war 16-storey buildings in the Lower Manhattan and Greenwich Village area do not have fire-escapes; they have interior stairwells. 14 floors of fire-escapes, running bedroom to bedroom [3.2, 3.4], makes for a rather heavy exterior metal structure, that usually has short spans. Their neighbors on the 11th floor are the Conways in 11-C [1.10, 3.2], and the Hamiltons (apartment number unknown, but possibly 11-A) [2.23]. Another neighbor is the young Mrs. Annabelle Stern in 11-J, near the elevator [3.4]. It is possible John Astin lives in the penthouse [2.23], and a Brenda Vaccaro lives in the building as well [2.24]. 3.5 Why did Jamie quit her job? Four words precipitated Jamie's departure from Farrer and Gantz: "Latin men love blondes!" [2.4] Jamie Stemple Buchman had been Regional VP at her firm for about two and a half years when she quit. In that span, she had landed some very important accounts, like Computron [1.6], the "I Still Love NY" campaign [1.13], and the Central American Tourism account [2.4]. With the last account, she had to overcome her boss's faux-pas in suggesting an insulting line to the client: "Central America! Come take your chances!" But Jack Farrer, her boss, refused to recognize her contribution, took the credit himself and sent a box of cigars to a male co-worker (Jack Erdman), whom he considered the point-man in the presentation to the client. At Riff's that evening Jamie let off steam, and Paul helped out by describing Mrs. Farrer in disparaging terms ("built like Don Shula"). Too late did the Buchmans realize they'd been overheard by the Farrers seated nearby. The next day, Jack Farrer came over to Jamie's office with a bottle of Kristall, as per his habit of rewarding his employees with little gifts instead of giving credit where it's due. Surprised that she was not being fired, Jamie tried to put things right between them. But he offered an explanation of why they could not have landed the Central American account without her, and it had nothing to do with what actually happened. Jamie let him know her mind in no uncertain terms and quit. 3.6 What does Jamie do after she quits? Jamie has a hard time adjusting to not being "a suit," [2.10] and indulges in a number of highly original activities like arranging books by color [2.19], cleaning out closets [2.18] and worst of all, saving on haircut expenses for Paul, Lisa and Ira using a Vacuu-Trim II [2.5]. After seeing how Paul has something to call his own (his documentaries), Jamie considers a number of choices and opts to go back to school [2.10], with Paul's full support. In the days leading up to the registration [2.21], she tries her hand at writing [2.19]. While still at school, she undertakes some PR work for her father-in-law and decides to launch her own business [3.5]. And Jamie's first client? It's just Ira [3.6]. But since then there have been many more [3.11, 3.17,3.21]. 3.7 What college is Jamie attending? We don't know for sure, but exterior shots for the ·_ registration episode [2.21] were filmed at Columbia University. The building with the columns where registration takes place is Ferris Booth Hall, while the student centre and the outside shot after that is on one of the lower campus paths, looking south, with Ferris Booth to the right, Butler Library to the left, and Carman Hall in the background right, with Carman Gate in the background. The message kiosk is in the foreground right. Columbia University may also be the medical school of Sylvia Buchman's choice. Paul thinks his mother would consider him a medical student if his donated organs were used for teaching at Columbia, rather than for transplants [1.8]. (Note: Dr. Joel Fleischman of "Northern Exposure" is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Medicine, class of 1990, 54th out of a class of 140). Paul himself went to NYU. The Buchman daughters (Sharon and Debbie) didn't attend Columbia either. Daredevils both, they went to college "out of state" [1.11]. Jamie graduated from Yale [1.11]. It is likely she is now attending Continuing Education classes, not Graduate School, since she started school in April 1994, and registered for courses in Ethics, French, Logic, and Psychology [2.21], not really indicative of graduate studies. 3.8 Do Jamie and Paul lie often? Jamie is fluent in lying as the occasion demands. Paul is constantly amazed at her imagination and effectiveness ("You are so good, it scares me!") [1.10, 1.14, 2.24]. She lied her way into Paul's heart with a earthquake-and-her-parents'-obituaries story when they first met, all to wangle the last copy of Sunday Times from him [1.11]. Failing to find the Stemple obituaries in the paper later that evening, Paul uses Jamie's dropped drycleaning slip the next day to track her down to her place of work. A more interesting lie concerns Jamie's middle name [3.11] -- just how she signed her marriage certificate is anyone's guess! Paul, on the other hand, is extremely uncomfortable telling lies, even when trying to retrieve his own tape from the premises of CineGroup Films [2.10]. Significant exceptions are [2.14], where everyone lies to everyone else with abandon, and [3.18], where Paul doesn't quite match Jamie lie for lie, but comes awfully close. 3.9 Do Jamie and Paul admit mistakes? Yes and no. Jamie doesn't make too many mistakes, but when she makes a whopper [1.13], she admits it: Paul: "So, so, in other words..." Jamie: "You were right!" Paul: "But more importantly..." Jamie: "I was wrong!" Paul: "There you go..." A similar exchange ensues after Jamie rigs up an extra cable outlet with Fran's help, and is found out [3.6]. Likewise, in the matter of the taupe shirt [2.17], Jamie admits that she was trying to prove a point and stops at Macy's for a replacement blouse en route to Yoko Ono's party. Similarly, she admits her error to Sylvia in the matter of the printer used for the wedding invitations [3.13]. Paul is quite willing to backtrack in his arguments (about the fired urchin in [1.13], the steamed fish in [1.15], the first kiss in [2.22] -- "When you're right, you're right!"), and does apologize for his sulking in [1.6]: "I was unsupportive and selfish ... you reward this kind of behavior (with a kiss)? ... I am really sorry!" But Paul fails to admit a mistake when it matters most to Jamie [2.15], who expends most of her 10 minutes of a virtual reality experience to hear Paul endlessly repeat "I was wrong!" 3.10 What was Jamie's big secret? An entire episode is devoted to this matter [1.15], where Paul badgers Jamie into revealing the secret. Two weeks before they moved in together (Valentine's Day, 1991) into the apartment at 12th Street and Fifth Avenue, as she was packing up her things (including her toaster), Jamie felt "a door closing on a whole part of her life" and panicked at the thought of sharing her life with someone else. She had an afternoon affair at work with a co-worker (Stan Franklin) she used to have a crush on, and who was about to relocate to London. Jamie quickly realized her mistake, which made her appreciate Paul all the more, and she kept the affair a secret from everyone, including Fran, until Paul forced her hand. 3.11 When did Mark hear about Paul? This represents one of the bigger problems with the MAY story-line, as presented in 2 episodes from season #1, [1.2] and [1.11]. In the former: Mark told Paul during their chat at the Department store about how Jamie had first told him about Paul: "this great guy she had met, named Paul, who dressed like a manic-depressive psych professor." This was said during a routine gynecological examination and may imply Mark heard of Paul from Jamie (NOT Fran). It may also be inferred that Jamie had met and known Paul for some time before her examination by Mark. In the latter: Jamie met Paul (and first knew his name: Paul) in Fran's office the afternoon of her firm's Christmas party. Fran got to know of Paul at the same time. Jamie and Paul went directly from the office to the party, where Fran introduced Mark to Paul, and Mark was effusive: "... they do look good together! ... I understand you two met at a news-stand and you tracked her down all day! ... No, it's fantastic!" Mark therefore heard about Paul from Fran. Later, Mark pumped Paul for information on Fran and Jamie's behalf: "How much do you make? Own or rent? Previous marriages? Smoker? Drinker? Ever been with a man?" It is likely Fran told Mark to question Paul, not Jamie. Fran also had Paul's biography faxed over from the Director's Guild. - The latter scenario is more dramatic, but was written 2 months into the season, after the characters and their interactions had been better established. 3.12 Why were the Buchmans a day early to Yoko Ono's party? The episode about Jamie's ill-gotten gains [2.17] had an interesting twist at the end -- the Buchmans got to an important cocktail party a day early. The facts: - Yoko Ono wrote to Paul, praising his work, which Paul repeatedly read to all that would listen before they drove to NJ in Ira's car. - When the Buchmans returned from NJ later that evening after dining Chinese, they found Yoko Ono had called, but Lisa didn't take a message or write down Y. Ono's telephone number. - The next day, Jamie tossed the "blouse of death" out of the window, in broad daylight, on a sunny day. - Within seconds, Yoko called again, and invited them to a party at her house "tomorrow night." - The Buchmans arrived at Yoko's place the next night, only to be informed by the maid that they were on the guest list for "tomorrow night's party" and that her mistress would be returning from London "in the morning." A possible explanation: - Unbeknownst to the Buchmans, Yoko Ono was calling them from London, where the local time is 5 hours ahead of New York. Therefore, assuming she called a bit after midnight local time and she was aware of it, Yoko's "tomorrow" would become the Buchmans' "day after tomorrow." And the Buchmans would not have realized this. There is a problem with the above explanation. Yoko Ono's call came in during daylight hours, which in a New York winter (there is snow on the sidewalk outside the Chinese restaurant) would mean earlier than 5PM, possibly even 4PM. Therefore, it would be improbable that Yoko Ono called after midnight in London. However, a writing error that uses a time differential of 8 hours, as is the case between California and London, can make the post-midnight-call-from-London explanation work. Midnight in London would be 4PM in California, with plenty of daylight (and sun!) about. There is precedence for such an error. In an episode of "St. Elsewhere," (E-4.22 in season #4, telecast in 1985-86), Nurse Rosenthal (Christina Pickles) is talking about her daughter Marcy, who had moved to Switzerland. She mentions that "local time in Switzerland is 9 hours ahead." "St. Elsewhere" was set in Boston, but produced in Los Angeles. Switzerland would only be 6 hours ahead of local time in Boston, but 9 hours ahead of LA. Along similar lines: - The time differential between Chicago and New York (1 hour) is handled correctly in [Same Time Next Week], in the exchange between Paul and Jamie when he is snowed-in in Chicago, and she is in New York: Paul: "... it is getting late anyway..." Jamie: "It is late here, it's even later..." 3.13 What's with the Buchmans and the NY subway system? Episode 2.8 [Surprise] dealt with the Buchmans getting separated at the 14th St subway station on their way to see "Tommy" at the St. James Theatre, although Jamie didn't know where they were headed. While getting separated in a crush of people boarding a subway carriage is not improbable, even for experienced riders like Paul and Jamie, there are a few problems with what followed in this episode. The Buchmans live at 12th Street and Fifth Avenue. The nearest subway stations are W 4th St and 14th St. The latter, on the Broadway Local and Lexington lines, is also the Union Square station. The St. James Theatre is at 44th Street and 8th Avenue. The nearest subway station is 42nd St on the 8th Avenue line, with the 42nd St station on the Broadway Local or the Broadway-7th Avenue line a bit further away. For the Buchmans, the most direct way to St. James would have been on the A,C line (8th Avenue) from the W 4th St station (Washington Square). This is also the station most often mentioned when they talk about their commutes (Jamie working at Farrer and Gantz and Paul at his studios on 655 Avenue of the Americas, aka Sixth Avenue, between 20th and 21st Streets), and the site of the encounter with Paul's 'token' friend Howie [1.7]. However their odyssey begins at the 14th St station. In the confusion following their separation, Jamie believes Paul asked her to go to Union Square station, and she asks a fellow passenger at the platform: "How do I get to Union Square?" There are 2 problems with the question: - Jamie should be sufficiently familiar with Lower Manhattan stations to know where the Union Square station was and how to get there. - If they were taking the N line (Broadway Local), they were already at the 14th St-Union Square station. But Paul may have been taking a circuitous route to St. James "to throw Jamie off the scent." If the 14th St station shown was in fact on F line (Sixth Avenue Local), Union Square would indeed have been a different station, reachable on the cross-town L line (14th St-Canarsie, Manhattan to Brooklyn), not on an uptown line. So while Paul rode a station up and back down to 14th St, Jamie had to go cross-town to Union Square and back. This makes the scene back at 14th St, with Paul getting on the train just as Jamie is getting off via another door of the same carriage, each oblivious of the other, quite improbable. All in all, a conundrum. In the other subway episode [1.7], set in W 4th St station, Jamie intentionally mis-directs a woman asking for directions to Hunter's Point (in Queens), sending her off instead to Hunt's Point. Paul: "Grace under pressure! You did good, sweetie!" Jamie: "Actually I did great! I just sent her to the South Bronx... she'll be dead in 2 hours!" However, in her hurried reading of the map, she gets the directions all mixed-up ("take #2 train uptown to Jackson Avenue and then transfer to the 6th.") Since the W 4th St station is not on Line 2, Jamie's directions wouldn't have been followed. The woman would have been initially confused, but not for long. 3.14 What were the Buchmans' winnings at Belmont? We can't be sure, but they were considerable. Jamie bet on a longshot (About To Be Glue) at 50-1, which won the race in Episode [3.3] by three lengths, after stumbling at the gate. The big uncertainty in determining the payoffs is due to lack of information about the horse that came in second (placed), and at what odds. Then the track percentage has to be accounted for, while cancelled bets on #6 by its owner also affected the money pool for the winner and exacta. We also don't know the number of horses in the field, affecting the dollar amount of Jamie's bets. The Field: About To Be Glue was horse #6 in the race. Five horses (with their ponies) are shown in the post parade leading to the starting gate, possibly ten horses at the gate, eight in the race to the first turn, eight again on the backstretch, six at the far turn and then eight again on the final stretch and the finish. A field of eight is assumed in the following calculations. Types of bets: - Win: the bettor has to pick the winner. - Place: the bettor collects a payoff if the horse finishes first or second. - Show: the bettor collects a payoff if the horse finishes first, second or third. - Exacta: the bettor is required to pick the first two finishers, in the exact order. Also known as Perfecta. - Quinella: the bettor is required to pick the first two finishers, but the order doesn't matter, so this is not as demanding as an Exacta. (Maurice asks Paul if he was going for a Quinella). - Trifecta: the bettor is required to pick the first three finishers, in the exact order. - Wheeling: the bettor combines the horse with all others in the field in an Exacta. - Boxing: the bettor combines more than 2 horses in all possible Exacta combinations. Jamie's bets: "Give me a $5 wheel on the sixth horse, front and back, and give me a 6-3-1 box. Give me a $30 baseball 1-3-6, also on the sixth (let me have) a $10 across the board, ... and $20 to win, $20 to place and $20 to show." 1. $5 Wheel on #6, front and back, means Exacta #6/All-others . . . . . . . . . . . $35 Exacta All-others/#6 . . . . . . . . . . . $35 2. 6-3-1 Box ($5 implied here), means 6 possible Exacta combinations with #6, #3 and #1 . . $30 3. $30 Baseball 1-3-6 means (in New York) a Box bet on the 3 horses, i.e. the same bet as above (2), but heftier . . . . $180 4. $10 Across the Board means to bet the horse (#6) to win, place or show . . . . . $30 5. $20 to win, place or show on #6 . . . . . . . . $60 ---- Total $370 ---- The potential payoff: Apart from the longshot #6, Jamie bet on #3 and #1 horses, possibly the favorite and runner-up horses in the field. Two other names mentioned by the track announcer are Gentle and Kenny Lane, but the identity (and odds) of the horse that placed is not known. Statistics on post positions indicate that #3 and #1 horses have the best chance of winning a race. If we assume the favorite was #3 horse, bet to win the race at (say) 3-1, and actually placed, the odds can be calculated with a few more guesses at the betting pool. The cancellation of the $500-to-win and $500-to-place bets on #6 by Maurice would have affected the payoff, but that effect is not being considered. The probable tote board: (payoffs on a $2 ticket) win place show #6 at 50-1 102.00 ~31.00 ~8.00* #3 at 3-1 ~3.40 ??? ?? (we won't go there!) ??? Exacta ?? (say 234.00*) (*) a rough estimate; place odds are a bit more realistic. In the following calculations, the payoff of bet 1 is somewhat certain, that for bets 2 and 3 depends on the assumption made above, while the payoffs for bets 4 and 5 are more precise: ·_ probable | possible payoff 1. $5 Exacta #6/All-others depended on the odds of the place horse (#3 in our case) . . ~$585 Unlike bets 2 and 3, this bet definitely paid out. $5 All-others/#6 bet paid nothing. If the favorite horse did not place, the odds may actually be longer for this Exacta. 2. $5 Exacta #6/#3 or #6/#1 is sole possibility to collect, with #6 having won. Let's assume an Exacta mutuel price . . ~$585 3. $30 Baseball with #6, #3 and #1 will collect only on the #6/#3 or #6/#1 Exacta . . . ~$3510 4. $10 on #6 to win, place or show collected on the win at 50-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . $510 the place at ~14-1 . . . . . . . . . . ~$155 the show at ~3-1 . . . . . . . . . . . ~$40 5. $20 on #6 to win, place or show collected on the win at 50-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . $1020 the place at ~14-1 . . . . . . . . . . ~$310 the show at ~3-1 . . . . . . . . . . . ~$80 ------------- ~$2700|~$4095 ------------- Most likely Paul and Jamie left the track with more than $2500 in winnings, and perhaps as much as $10,000. Not bad for a $370 investment. 3.15 What happened at the Buchman Wedding? In seasons #1 and #2, certain events at Paul and Jamie's wedding were mentioned, Jamie's wedding dress and her bridesmaids' dresses were shown, as well as Paul's tuxedo [1.22]: - There were no pictures of the stuffing-cake-down-the- loved-one's-throat ritual -- the photographer quit because Paul kept interfering with his work [1.22], - Ira pinched Jamie's grandmother and got slapped for his troubles [1.22], - Lisa got drunk and had a fling with Ira [1.18, 2.1], - Ira's band played [1.15], and - the Wedding song was "Color My World" [1.7]. However when the wedding episode [3.13] was shown, a number of things were right, and others were either missing or wrong: Things the producers got right: - The complete theme song was played with the opening credits for the first time in many moons, - The couch/love-seat was missing, as it should have been, - The Aemes (pronounced Eeems) chair was where it should have been, - Jamie's hairstyle was in keeping with those early days, - Aunt Selma and Ricky from the office called, - Ira's band played, - "Color my World" was mentioned as a song by Ira, - The color of the bridesmaids' dresses was right, - There were 3 bridesmaids, Lisa, Fran and Debbie, but Sharon was mentioned as a possibility by Sylvia, and - Last but far from least, an inspired, impromptu wedding. Things the producers omitted, or missed, or got wrong: - The face-mask on the wall in the living-room was missing, (Note: A different style mask showed up for the early years flashed-back to in [3.20]), - The photographs in the hallway and above the head-board in the bedroom were wrong, - Remy was shown at Jamie's bridal shower, whereas Paul's assistant at that time should have been Stacey, - The bride's and the bridesmaids' dresses were off-the-shoulder style, but the saved dresses shown at the first anniversary were not, and had more lace [1.22], - The groom's tuxedo and shirt were also different from [1.22], - There was no Best man, definitely no Selby, who should have been officiating with the official ring, - Debbie was contemplating divorce on wedding eve, and if she did go through with it, we have a contradiction with a phone conversation in [2.24], - Ira and his keyboard player Lenny spent a lot of time on the dance floor while the music was playing, - Mark was shown with Fran at the rehearsal dinner, but not on the dance floor with Fran, - Jamie's grandma was missing, Ira didn't get slapped, and we made good with Aunt Lolly's advice to Jamie, - Lisa did not get drunk or take advantage of Ira, or at least not as far as we know, and - Nobody gave Paul and Jamie a nut-pick or a pasta-maker [1.15], only a truckload of gravy-boats. 3.16 Will the Buchmans have kids? They do not have any kids, and things will probably stay so. The series opened with Jamie claiming to be pregnant [1.1], but only to coax Paul to get up and make the coffee. Over the years, they have talked about kids, in particular when Paul's nephew Jed spent Halloween with them [2.6]. On their second anniversary, Jamie started wondering again after her encounter with the grocer Kim's new-born daughter Rose [2.24]. Fran, in one of her moods, gives explicit advice: "Never have children" [3.14]. But Sylvia tries her best to assist the process by suggesting names [3.1]. But the baby is still not in the cards. We do know that Jamie is on the pill [3.1]. In the summer of 1994, the alt.tv.mad-about-you newsgroup was polled by Ali Lemer, and the overwhelming sentiment that the introduction of a baby would disrupt the dynamics of the show was conveyed to the producers. No telling if it had any effect. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please send in corrections/comments to: [rama@cac.stratus.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions List (3/5) for "Mad About You" and the Usenet newsgroup alt.tv.mad-about-you ---------------------------------------------------------------- Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List for the TV Comedy show "Mad About you" is, as a collection of information, Copyright (c) 1994, 1995 by Ramaswamy [rama@cac.stratus.com]. All Rights Reserved. Distribution through any means other than normal Usenet channels must be by permission. No fee may be charged for distribution. This material is for non-commercial use only. The removal of this copyright notice is prohibited. ---------------------------------------------------------------- New Stuff: Split into five parts and updated for season #3. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Introduction 1.0 What is MAY? 2.0 Character information 2.1 Principal Characters 2.2 The Family Members 2.3 Other Supporting Characters 2.4 Cast Filmographies 3.0 Frequently Asked Questions (Paul and Jamie) 3.1 How and when did Paul and Jamie meet? 3.2 When did Jamie and Paul get married? 3.3 Are the Buchmans an inter-faith couple? 3.4 Where do Paul and Jamie live? 3.5 Why did Jamie quit her job? 3.6 What does Jamie do after she quits? 3.7 What college is Jamie attending? 3.8 Do Jamie and Paul lie often? 3.9 Do Jamie and Paul admit mistakes? 3.10 What was Jamie's big secret? 3.11 When did Mark hear about Paul? 3.12 Why were the Buchmans a day early to Yoko Ono's party? 3.13 What's with the Buchmans and the NY Subway system? 3.14 What were the Buchmans' winnings at Belmont? 3.15 What happened at the Buchman Wedding? 3.16 Will the Buchmans have kids? 4.0 Frequently Asked Questions (The Rest) 4.1 What is Murray's real name? 4.2 Who is Selby and where is he now? 4.3 Who is better - the new Ira or the old Ira? 4.4 Who is better - the new Fran or the old Fran? 4.5 Who is Lou? 4.6 Is Lisa's shrink a man or a woman? 4.7 Does everybody come to Riff's? 4.8 What is the time-line of the series? 4.9 What about Birthdays? 4.10 Are there crossovers to other shows? 4.11 What sports figure in the story-line? 4.12 Has anyone played multiple characters? 4.13 Have multiple actors played the same character? 5.0 Mostly MAY 5.1 MAYlanguage 5.2 The Theme Song 5.3 The Sisters' Duet 5.4 The Wedding Song 5.5 Susannah's Song 6.0 MAY Trivia Pursuit 6.1 TBS 7.0 Show Related Information 7.1 The Seasons 7.2 The Episode Titles 7.3 Production Facilities and Addresses 7.4 Tickets to Taping Sessions 7.5 Worldwide Telecasts 7.6 Syndication Information 7.7 Emmy Awards 7.8 Tapes of Early Episodes 7.9 Scripts of Episodes 7.10 Books by Cast Members 7.11 Souvenirs and Such 8.0 Group Related Information 8.1 The Newsgroup 8.2 Mail Server Site 8.3 Anonymous FTP Sites 8.4 World Wide Web Sites 8.5 The Episode Guides Acknowledgments ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4.1 What is Murray's real name? Paul's dog Murray is a bonafide character on MAY, and is now played by a collie-mix named Maui. Murray has been played by 2 different actor dogs. In the Pilot [1.1], the character was played by Smiley, who was a little too alert, and so did not adequately fit the bill of being unaffected by the activity around him. Another actor dog named Maui therefore got the role [1.2]. In [1.1], Smiley is featured for 10 seconds in the last scene, lying on the rug next to Selby, as Jamie tries (playfully) to boot Selby out of the apartment. According to Paul, Murray is a 7-year-old "rare Flatbush Pound Collie-Shepherd" [1.10]. Maui is a 7-year old Collie-mix (found by famed animal trainer Boone Narr in Castaic, CA, and trained by Betty Linn) whose job is "to melt into the chair," and "just lie there, while Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt are yelling around him." Maui's favorite snack is an occasional ham bone. 4.2 Who is Selby and where is he now? Selby (first name: Jay) is Paul's college buddy, called only by his last name. Paul and Selby went through a number of escapades (a microwave clambake for example, [1.8]) since their college days in the 1970's, and often double-dated [1.11]. Selby was also in character when winning the Chelsea 10K race [1.3] by showing up first at the finish line after skipping part of the race. In real life, Rosie Ruiz pulled a similar stunt at the Boston Marathon on April 21, 1980, depriving Jackie Garreau of Canada a well-deserved victory celebration. Selby's character was never really developed, except in [1.4] and [1.9], and written out of MAY midway through season #1. Selby picked up the maid Masha's Stroganoff to eat on the subway and went off to escort his grandmother to the Museum of Natural History [1.12], never to be seen or heard of again. A very untidy end. Rumors that he joined the Peace Corps are unfounded. 4.3 Who is better - the new Ira or the old Ira? Only one actor has played Paul's cousin Ira: John Pankow. As a childhood buddy, he serves much the same function on the series as Selby (Paul's college buddy) did. Introduced in [1.15], Ira as a character has been developed beyond the habitual womanizer/bachelor that Selby portrayed, interacting well with Jamie, Lisa and Fran in season #2 [2.1, 2.7, 2.9]. The two 'buddy' characters share another trait: both get slapped by Paul at the back of the head from time to time. But Ira reacts, both as a kid [2.7] and as an adult [3.2]: "Hey! Watch the hair!" Lately, even Jamie has acquired the habit of slapping Ira on the head [3.22]. 4.4 Who is better - the new Fran or the old Fran? Only one actress has played Fran, Jamie's friend and confidant: Leila Kenzle. She was credited as a Guest Star in the first 13 episodes, before getting billed in the opening credits. Confusion arose in season #2 with a lead character (Fran Fine) on another show, "The Nanny," played by Fran Drescher, who is dark-haired like Leila Kenzle, but plays her character with a strong nasal accent. There are 3 ties between MAY and "The Nanny" though: - Sally Lapiduss and Pamela Eells left MAY after the first season to write for "The Nanny," and then moved on to write for "Madman of the People." - The shows share Bernard Vyzga as Art Director and Mikel Neiers as Director of Photography. - The male lead character of Maxwell Sheffield on "The Nanny" is played by Charles Shaughnessy, who played Lisa's thrice-married beau Michael [1.19]. 4.5 Who is Lou? Lou Bonaparte was Paul Buchman's hovering producer, introduced in [2.4]. He arrived at Buchman Films from CineGroup, the same outfit that commissions "New York by Night." [2.5]. Played by Larry Miller, Lou provided a manic foil to Paul at work. In real life, Larry Miller is a stand-up comic and a close friend of Paul Reiser. With Jerry Seinfeld and Mark Schiff, the quartet is known as the "Funniest Men in the World Club," and meets each New Year's Day for lunch (somewhere in the world). Mark Schiff has been featured as a subway passenger in [2.8], while the "Jerry guy" is mentioned by Paul and Kramer in [1.8]. And now for something completely different... There is an interesting scene in [2.5] involving the name "Lou." Just after the opening credits, Paul is seen looking for a tape "to show Lou." Jamie asks if he means "Lou the doorman" to which Paul responds: "Lou the producer; Lou the doorman I've already shown! ... He had some notes!" This amounts to either a writing error or perhaps a tongue-in-cheek plant by the writers, since the doorman is named Eddie, played by the actor Lou Cutell. 4.6 Is Lisa's shrink a man or a woman? Lisa's shrink is a woman, Dr. Wallach [3.17] with a practice near the 72nd Street subway station. The topic is examined at length in [2.11], which features Dr. Wallach's book 'Manics,' complete with the author's photograph at the back of the jacket. As Lisa is the subject of a whole chapter (#26) in the book under the pseudonym of Edna, it is reasonable to assume she has been under the care of the author of 'Manics' for the past three years. However, in season #1, Lisa's shrink is once referred to by Jamie as a man [1.19], an apparent contradiction. In other references, gender was not disclosed [1.5, 1.16]. 4.7 Does everybody come to Riff's? Just about. Riff's is the neighborhood restaurant introduced in [1.4], from where Selby (with Lynne Stoddard) invited Paul to "come down, meet us for a drink, pick up the check and get lost." Since then, and certainly even before [2.16], Paul and Jamie have shared many a salad and chicken or fish there, as have Lisa, Fran, Mark and Ira, not to mention Lisa's beau Michael [1.19] and Fran's dates Lou [2.5] and Nick ("he's 25!") [2.22]. Even Jamie's boss Jack Farrer comes to Riff's with his wife, a circumstance that changed Jamie's life [2.4]. And Garth Brooks can identify a song to go with a Riffsburger [2.23]. Presumably fate drags Paul and Ira to Riff's in the flashback episode dealing with Paul and Jamie's meeting at the news-stand [3.22]. Service at Riff's was provided by anonymous waiters and waitresses [1.4, 2.5] until season #2. Then Ursula arrived on the scene and stole many more [2.4, 2.7, for starters]. But that is another story. Riff's location is not known, but the exterior shots are of The Old Town Bar and Restaurant, 45 West 18th Street (between South Park Avenue and Broadway). Of course the interior of Riff's is a set at Culver City Studios. 4.8 What is the time-line of the series? The following is the best that can be managed: December 22, 1989 - Paul and Jamie meet at a news-stand a Sunday evening [1.11]. They meet again in Fran's (NOT Jamie's) office the very next day, in the afternoon. December 28, 1989 - The first time Paul ends up at Jamie's apartment at 142 West 81st Street [2.2]. February 14, 1991 - Jamie gets her promotion to Regional VP (Fran's job). Fran quits her job to spend time with Mark and Ryan. Paul and Jamie move into their new apartment at 12th Street & Fifth Avenue [2.16]. April, 1992 - Paul and Jamie get married, 5 months prior to the series premiere [1.1]. The month is confirmed in the Wedding episode [3.13]. The date is still in question; see Section 3.2. 4.9 What about Birthdays? Paul Buchman's birthday is almost revealed in [1.5], but he quickly sidesteps Gus's inquiry to buy him a meat locker for his birthday. But it has to be late March or (more likely) early April. It has to be on or after March 30th since there is a reference to "The Silence of the Lambs" having just won an Academy Award (Oscar) [3.20], which it did on March 30, 1992. Yet, Jamie was at work on that snowy day and on her desk is the name-plate of JAMIE BUCHMAN (not STEMPLE). So unless Jamie jumped the gun and ordered the new plate ahead of time, Paul's birthday *follows* their wedding day or anniversary. Since the wedding took place in April, it follows that Paul was born in April as well. Also the 1992 snowstorm in New York was in April. Note: "The Silence of the Lambs" has been featured once before in MAY [2.16], when on Valentine's Day, 1991, Paul tries to recall the name of the actor that played Hannibal Lecter. There is just one problem with that scene: it was not a old movie by then; in fact, it had been released that very week! (Anthony Hopkins!) The year of Paul's birth is probably 1957. - He was in high school when 16 [2.6]. - He was in college in 1975 [1.4]. - He got Most Promising Filmmaker of the Year Award at the NYU Film School in 1980 [1.11], presumably after he had graduated from college, and probably after at least 1+ years at the Film school. That would imply that he was a freshman in 1975, i.e. 18 years old, which would make him a 1957 baby. - He knows a thing or two about the Vietnam War era (Le Duc Tho and Ho Chi Minh [2.23]), something Jamie doesn't readily. A bit of a stretch... :-) But, - Jamie says she was in Junior High when Paul was in High School [2.3]; however, the difference in their ages has to be more than 4 years. - Paul is a huge Beatles fan [1.17, 2.17], which makes a year of birth in the late(r) 50's an awkward fit. - Paul was born 9 months after his parents saw "Gigi" at Loew's and Burt's impression of Maurice Chevalier led to an interlude with Sylvia on the kitchen table [2.24]. "Gigi" was released in May, 1958 and a February 1959 (or later) birth compresses Paul's early life as established above. Jamie's birthday has been shown to be November 11, 1963. - The 30th birthday show [2.8] aired November 11, and it is possible that this influenced the date shown on the TRW report on the screen of her workstation [3.22]. It is worth noting that the date is not mentioned in ·_ the script of any episode. - There is a contradiction with [1.5] where Jamie claims to be 30 (when she would have been only 29). Fran's birthday is the only one known: October 28, 1960. - The day/month is explicitly stated in [2.9]. - The year can be worked out from [2.22], since she's 33. - Fran throws herself a Birthday party in [3.7]. - There is a contradiction with the Pilot [1.1], where Fran implies her birthday was 2 weeks prior (either in August or September), when in fact it is more than a month later. Mark is almost 40 years old [1.22], which points to 1954 as the probable year of his birth. Nothing is known about Ira's birthday, except that he is a few years older than Paul. He was married in 1973 [2.9], and one can speculate that he got married as a teenager out of high school; if so, he may have been born in 1955. 4.10 Are there crossovers to other shows? There have been a few cross-overs to "Seinfeld:" - Estelle Harris (Barry's mother in [1.2]) plays George Costanza's mother. - Lisa Edelstein (Lynne Stoddard in [1.4]) played George Costanza's girlfriend Karen: (E-64: "The Mango" and E-72: "The Masseuse") - Stephen Pearlman (Ethics prof. in [2.21]) played Jerry's girlfriend Rachel's father (E-81: "The Raincoats") - Michael Richards (Cosmo Kramer) has been subletting Paul's old apartment 5-B at 129 West 81st Street [1.8], not earlier than 1991 [2.16]. Precisely when he started subletting is subject to question, since the time-line of "Seinfeld" and Kramer's role in it pre-dates 1991. Also, at least in concept: - Paul's concern about his testicles [1.14] parallels George Costanza's pre-occupation with shrinkage (E-84, "The Hamptons"), - Kenny and Shana's ugly baby picture on the fridge [2.24] parallels E-84 as well. There are also cross-overs to "Friends: - Ursula has a twin sister named Phoebe, also played by Lisa Kudrow. - Both Jamie and Fran have stopped by at Central Perk, and mistaken Phoebe Buffay for Ursula. - The city-wide blackout precipitated by Jamie's shenigans in [3.6] carriedover to a Friends episode, and also to an episode of Madman of the People. There has been no crossover from any other show to MAY. As for the appearance of Alan Brady, that is a matter in another dimension altogether. 4.11 What sports figure in the story-line? Baseball, Football (Gridiron) and Basketball are featured: Baseball: - is Paul's passion. His documentary about Yankee Stadium's 70th anniversary is rejected by PBS in [1.6]. Jamie (at least absent-mindedly) has not heard of "The House that Ruth built," but later gives Paul a 1956 Yankees World Series program, autographed by Ethel Merman. In that series, on October 8th, Don Larsen of the NY Yankees pitched the only World Series Perfect Game ever, against the Brooklyn Dodgers. - Jamie talks of Paul's idea of setting up signs being misinterpreted as "stealing second" [1.13]. - Ira mentions Ron Swoboda and Ed Kranepool (of the New York Mets) when asked to name someone he once worshipped [1.20]. This may point to another bone of contention between the cousins when they were younger, since Paul is a Yankees fan. - There is a snippet of Radio commentary on [2.2]: "(Don) Mattingly takes a strike inside!" -- a reference to the current-day Yankee first-baseman, while Jamie and Paul were having some trouble... - The Escobar brothers [2.6] -- Matty, Felipe and Jesus -- are a reference to the Alou brothers. Felipe Alou is now the manager of the Montreal Expos, and all 3 brothers (they are not triplets) played the outfield for the San Francisco Giants. Matty Escobar almost killed Ira once for spilling milk all over him [3.19]. - Ira was watching (on TV) the Yankees pound the Boston Red Sox when Marianne walked in and started crying [2.9]. They separated that night. - Paul signs himself in at the CineGroup offices as Mr. Mantle (Mickey Mantle of the NY Yankees) [2.10]. - Paul and Burt Buchman went to the third game of the 1964 World Series at Yankee Stadium; the Yankees beat the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on October 10. The young (7-year old?) Paul almost caught a foul-ball off the bat of Sloopy Dunbar in the Yankees' fifth (Dunbar is a fictitious character) [3.5]. A much older Sloopy tosses Paul a baseball as he leaves the sale at Buchman Sporting Goods. Incidentally, the Cardinals won the 1964 Series 4-3. Football (Gridiron): - Paul agrees to take Jamie, and not his friend Selby, to a (New York) Jets game [1.2]. - Paul is watching a football game on television and blames Jamie for causing a fumble as she walks into the room [1.15]. - Jamie knows about the (Miami) Dolphins, and also won the office pool the previous year, but never collected on her $300 winnings [2.4]. - Debbie has to leave Jed at the Buchmans because her babysitter has tickets to the New York Giants game that day [2.6]. - Jamie knows how to bet against the point-spread in a football game [2.14]. - Paul talks of taking the ball to the 1-yard line, only to see Jamie score the touchdown [3.13], all because she seals the last envelope of invitations. Basketball: - Paul and Mark play basketball at the local gym [1.19]. Paul is probably an infrequent member of the Health and Racquet club/gym [3.7], but he is also a member at the local YMCA, and asks Jamie to renew his membership at the 'Y' before leaving for Chicago [2.13]. - Paul talks of being the one who has to be at the Free Throw line [2.2]. - Paul knows of Dave DeBusschere (#22, the Forward of the New York Knicks in the 1970's), but Jamie has never heard of him [2.8]. She mis-hears the reference as "Dave the Butcher," leading to an interesting exchange with a vegetarian at the Union Square subway station. - Paul tries to produce a movie about the end of an era at Boston Garden [3.19], and also gets into a scuffle with Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks. 4.12 Has anyone played multiple characters? Any number of actors and a dog have played multiple characters on this series: - Lisa Kudrow: Karen [1.11] and Ursula - Susan Bloommaert: Miss Grundy, the caterer [1.15] and Rita, the cabbie [2.17] - Jerry Adler: Sgt. Panino [2.1] and Mr. Wicker - Jim Piddock: Logic Professor [2.21] and Hal Conway [3.2] - George D. Petrie: The elevator operator [2.17] and Sid, the editor [3.9] - Bill Ingram: The vegetarian at Union Square [2.8] and The Meat-of-the-Month-Club delivery man [3.16]. (Now *that* is inspired casting!) - Maui: Simon [2.1] and Murray 4.13 Have multiple actors played the same character? Both Talia Balsam [2.6] and Robin Bartlett [2.24] have played Paul's sister Debbie. Debbie is believed to be Paul's younger sister; she is not mentioned by Sylvia when asked by Jamie how long Burt and Sylvia had been married when Paul was born: "Sharon was 2..." [2.24]. In the 2 episodes, Debbie is with a different son each time, first with the older son Jed [2.6] and then with Noah [2.24]. In [2.24] Debbie talks about her older child, but not by name. Jamie's parents have been played by different actors. Both Paul Dooley [1.5] and John Karlen [3.8] have played Gus Stemple, while Nancy Dussault [1.5] and Penny Fuller [3.8] have played Theresa Stemple. Both Paxton Whitehead [1.10] and Jim Piddock [3.2] have played Hal Conway, the Buchmans' English neighbour. Both Darrell Kunitomi [2.24] and Ping Wu [3.8] have played Kim, the neighborhood grocer. Both Wayne Tippitt [1.11] and Jack Shearer [3.9] have played Manny Gantz, Fran's boss at Farrer and Gantz. There is also the small matter of Murray, played by two dogs, Smiley in the Pilot [1.1] and Maui thereafter. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please send in corrections/comments to: [rama@cac.stratus.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part4 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions List (4/5) for "Mad About You" and the Usenet newsgroup alt.tv.mad-about-you ---------------------------------------------------------------- Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part4 ---------------------------------------------------------------- This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List for the TV Comedy show "Mad About you" is, as a collection of information, Copyright (c) 1994, 1995 by Ramaswamy [rama@cac.stratus.com]. All Rights Reserved. Distribution through any means other than normal Usenet channels must be by permission. No fee may be charged for distribution. This material is for non-commercial use only. The removal of this copyright notice is prohibited. ---------------------------------------------------------------- New Stuff: Split into five parts and updated for season #3. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Introduction 1.0 What is MAY? 2.0 Character information 2.1 Principal Characters 2.2 The Family Members 2.3 Other Supporting Characters 2.4 Cast Filmographies 3.0 Frequently Asked Questions (Paul and Jamie) 3.1 How and when did Paul and Jamie meet? 3.2 When did Jamie and Paul get married? 3.3 Are the Buchmans an inter-faith couple? 3.4 Where do Paul and Jamie live? 3.5 Why did Jamie quit her job? 3.6 What does Jamie do after she quits? 3.7 What college is Jamie attending? 3.8 Do Jamie and Paul lie often? 3.9 Do Jamie and Paul admit mistakes? 3.10 What was Jamie's big secret? 3.11 When did Mark hear about Paul? 3.12 Why were the Buchmans a day early to Yoko Ono's party? 3.13 What's with the Buchmans and the NY Subway system? 3.14 What were the Buchmans' winnings at Belmont? 3.15 What happened at the Buchman Wedding? 3.16 Will the Buchmans have kids? 4.0 Frequently Asked Questions (The Rest) 4.1 What is Murray's real name? 4.2 Who is Selby and where is he now? 4.3 Who is better - the new Ira or the old Ira? 4.4 Who is better - the new Fran or the old Fran? 4.5 Who is Lou? 4.6 Is Lisa's shrink a man or a woman? 4.7 Does everybody come to Riff's? 4.8 What is the time-line of the series? 4.9 What about Birthdays? 4.10 Are there crossovers to other shows? 4.11 What sports figure in the story-line? 4.12 Has anyone played multiple characters? 4.13 Have multiple actors played the same character? 5.0 Mostly MAY 5.1 MAYlanguage 5.2 The Theme Song 5.3 The Sisters' Duet 5.4 The Wedding Song 5.5 Susannah's Song 6.0 MAY Trivia Pursuit 6.1 TBS 7.0 Show Related Information 7.1 The Seasons 7.2 The Episode Titles 7.3 Production Facilities and Addresses 7.4 Tickets to Taping Sessions 7.5 Worldwide Telecasts 7.6 Syndication Information 7.7 Emmy Awards 7.8 Tapes of Early Episodes 7.9 Scripts of Episodes 7.10 Books by Cast Members 7.11 Souvenirs and Such 8.0 Group Related Information 8.1 The Newsgroup 8.2 Mail Server Site 8.3 Anonymous FTP Sites 8.4 World Wide Web Sites 8.5 The Episode Guides Acknowledgments ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5.0 Mostly MAY 5.1 MAYlanguage Certain expressions by the principal characters are being catalogued here, in no specific order of occurrence. In a few cases, the expression of one character has crossed-over to another, as would happen in any relationship: Paul Buchman - "a) .. and 2) .." Instead of saying a) and b), or 1) and 2), Paul has a tendency to mix-n-match. Examples can be found in [1.14, 2.19, 3.5]. In [2.19], he slips up and uses a) and b) as well. - "1) .. and b) .." The flip side, used in [2.7]. - "Hello?" Introduced in the Pilot [1.1] and heard many times since [1.2, 1.5, 2.1], it is a rejoinder usually directed at Jamie to question one of her assertions. - "Let it go!" Used by Paul to stifle a thread of conversation begun by Jamie [2.2]. A polite form of "Shut-up" (see below). Paul has also used some variations of this expression: "I'm begging you to stop!" [2.20], "Let's not go there!" [2.24] and "You want to go THERE?" [3.4]. This expression has crossed over to Jamie: "You have to let it go." [3.21]. Coincidentally, Sid Novak uses it on Aunt Lolly [3.20]. - "Oh, stop it!" Used by Paul to counter a knowing look or smile from Jamie [3.4, 3.5, 3.6]. - ".. not so much .." Usually used a lot to indicate his unwillingness, in the not-liking or not-wanting-to department [1.2, 1.6, 1.14, 1.20, 2.12, 3.4, 3.8, 3.10]. This expression has crossed over to Jamie [3.8], and even to Helen Hunt (on "The Late Show with David Letterman," November 23, 1994). - "This is what I'm thinking" Introduced in the Pilot [1.1], and continued in later episodes [1.8, 2.12]. - "This is what I'm saying" Introduced in [1.13], it appears to be a Buchmanism, since Paul's sister Sharon also uses it [2.3]. This expression also has crossed over to Jamie [1.22, 2.18] and to Ira [3.16]. - "Never going to happen, my friend!" Introduced in [2.7], when it irritates Jamie no end, it finds acceptance [2.12] and eventually crosses over to her [2.20], and Ira too [3.3]. - "Splanky!" Jamie Buchman - "Shut-up!" Used to cut off a thread of conversation, usually directed at Paul when he is getting persistent. First heard at Riff's Bar [1.4], it is featured in [1.5, 1.10, 1.18, 2.13]. Also directed at Lisa [1.10, 2.15]. - "Excuse me?" Used with a special tone to express extreme dismay [1.2, 2.13, 2.16]. - "Oh-my-God!" Used in bed, as attested to by Hal Conway [1.10], or in other mundane and not so mundane situations: [1.13, 1.17, 1.18, 1.21, 2.4, 2.16, 2.18]. - "Oooookay!" The last defense against Paul's ramblings, when a quick "Shut up" would not work [2.1, 2.3, 2.12]. - "Murray-get-the-mouse!" The definitive MAY expression [2.2]. Murray and his nemesis, an invisible mouse, are a recurring theme in Season #2. Used to get Murray off the couch [2.18], or simply to entice him into some activity [2.20], where its use leads to one of the choicest expressions of "Son of a Bitch" heard on TV. Lisa Stemple - "Duh!" An expression of self-assuredness [2.8], that has crossed-over to Jamie [2.17, 2.20]. Mark Devanow - "Al...though .." One of many sing-song expressions used by Mark [1.3], with an extended first syllable. Another example: "be...cause" [1.21]. - "They look fantastic!", "You look great/fantastic!" The effusive expression that leads Jamie to dub Mark "festive" [1.11], and the variation has been seen in odd contexts: with Fran [1.21], with Jamie [1.22], and Diane Caldwell ("Spy Girl") [1.20]. Ira Buchman - "Pez head!" Used only to describe Paul, to Paul [2.16]. 5.2 The Theme Song The theme song is "Final Frontier," NOT "Mad About You." Composed by Don Was and Paul Reiser, and sung by Andrew Gold (with piano accompaniment by Paul Reiser), it has been produced by Don Was. The original music is by David Kitay. It provides the voice over the opening credits of the show. It has been used in its entirety only in season #1. Most episodes in season #2 and season #3 use only the first and the last 4 lines, for reasons of time compression. There are two versions of the lyrics, and also a hybrid version (mostly version #1, with two lines from version #2) that has been used in seasons #2 and #3. In the first season, only [1.9] did not feature this song, but lately in season #3, time-constraints have squeezed it out more than once [3.5, 3.7, 3.16]. In each case the still pictures of Jamie and Paul were not used in the opening credits either. The following transcript is from the opening credits of episodes [1.3] and [1.21]: Tell me why, I love you like I do, Tell me who, Can stop my heart as much as you, Tell me all your secrets and I'll tell you most of mine, they say nobody's perfect but that's really true this time, I don't have the answers, I don't have a plan, Mad about you baby, so help me understand, What we do, You can whisper in my ear, Where we go, who knows what happens after here, Let's take each other's hands, As we jump into the final frontier, Mad about you baby, Yeh... I'm mad about you... The lyrics, with minor variations, are also sung by the Sauve singers in the Tag to episode [2.8]. The variations are noted with an asterisk (*) along the left-margin: Tell me why, I love you like I do, Tell me who, Can stop my heart as much as you, Tell me all your secrets and I'll tell you most of mine, *they say nobody's perfect but it is really true this time, I don't have the answers, *And I don't have a plan, *All I have is you, *So darling help me understand, What we do, You can whisper in my ear, Where we go, who knows what happens after here, Let's take each other's hands, As we jump into the final frontier, *I'm mad about you, *I'm mad about you, *so mad about you... In the lyrics of the hybrid version (used since season #2), the following two lines in the middle: Mad about you baby, so help me understand, have been replaced with: All I have is you, So darling help me understand, 5.3 The Sisters' Duet Performed by Lisa and Jamie for their parents (and Paul and Murray) in episode [1.5]: Sisters! Sisters! There were never such devoted sisters! Never had to have a chaperone, no Sir! I'm here to keep my eye on her, Caring! Sharing! Every little thing that we're wearing, When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome, She wore the dress, And I stayed home! Lord help the mister, Who comes between me and my sister, And Lord help the sister, Who comes between me and my man! The song is from the movie "White Christmas," where it is sung by Vera Ellen and Rosemary Clooney, and also by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (in drag). 5.4 The Wedding Song A reference in season #1 [1.7] indicated that the wedding song was "Color my World" (Chicago). However the song played in the wedding episode [3.13] is "What the World needs now is Love, Sweet Love" (sung by Dionne Warwick). "Color my World" is mentioned by Ira to Jamie as one of ·_ 3 possibilities (one of the others being Hokey Pokey) when they are setting the agenda during Ira's prison gig. It is possible that the producers were unable to secure permission for the song's inclusion, and had to substitute. 5.5 Susannah's Song Susannah Gould, accompanied by Ira as the substitute keyboard played (Derek could not find his pants), sings this song at Scamp's [3.22], whose title is assumed to be "Where've You Been": Until we kissed, I never knew the thrill that could be tasted, Until we kissed, I never knew the years that I had wasted, But now I know I was waiting, for you to come by, I was waiting, Won't you please tell me why, this took so long to begin, Darlin', where have you been all my life? Oh darlin', Where have you been, Where've you been? Where've you been when I was feeling blue? Where've you been, Where've you been, when I was needing you? Where have you been, Where've you been? Where've you been... (fades out) ---------------------------------------------------------------- 6.0 MAY Trivia Pursuit 6.1 This-space-left-non-blank (To be supplied) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please send in corrections/comments to: [rama@cac.stratus.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part5 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions List (5/5) for "Mad About You" and the Usenet newsgroup alt.tv.mad-about-you ---------------------------------------------------------------- Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part5 ---------------------------------------------------------------- This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List for the TV Comedy show "Mad About you" is, as a collection of information, Copyright (c) 1994, 1995 by Ramaswamy [rama@cac.stratus.com]. All Rights Reserved. Distribution through any means other than normal Usenet channels must be by permission. No fee may be charged for distribution. This material is for non-commercial use only. The removal of this copyright notice is prohibited. ---------------------------------------------------------------- New Stuff: Split into five parts and updated for season #3. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Introduction 1.0 What is MAY? 2.0 Character information 2.1 Principal Characters 2.2 The Family Members 2.3 Other Supporting Characters 2.4 Cast Filmographies 3.0 Frequently Asked Questions (Paul and Jamie) 3.1 How and when did Paul and Jamie meet? 3.2 When did Jamie and Paul get married? 3.3 Are the Buchmans an inter-faith couple? 3.4 Where do Paul and Jamie live? 3.5 Why did Jamie quit her job? 3.6 What does Jamie do after she quits? 3.7 What college is Jamie attending? 3.8 Do Jamie and Paul lie often? 3.9 Do Jamie and Paul admit mistakes? 3.10 What was Jamie's big secret? 3.11 When did Mark hear about Paul? 3.12 Why were the Buchmans a day early to Yoko Ono's party? 3.13 What's with the Buchmans and the NY Subway system? 3.14 What were the Buchmans' winnings at Belmont? 3.15 What happened at the Buchman Wedding? 3.16 Will the Buchmans have kids? 4.0 Frequently Asked Questions (The Rest) 4.1 What is Murray's real name? 4.2 Who is Selby and where is he now? 4.3 Who is better - the new Ira or the old Ira? 4.4 Who is better - the new Fran or the old Fran? 4.5 Who is Lou? 4.6 Is Lisa's shrink a man or a woman? 4.7 Does everybody come to Riff's? 4.8 What is the time-line of the series? 4.9 What about Birthdays? 4.10 Are there crossovers to other shows? 4.11 What sports figure in the story-line? 4.12 Has anyone played multiple characters? 4.13 Have multiple actors played the same character? 5.0 Mostly MAY 5.1 MAYlanguage 5.2 The Theme Song 5.3 The Sisters' Duet 5.4 The Wedding Song 5.5 Susannah's Song 6.0 MAY Trivia Pursuit 6.1 TBS 7.0 Show Related Information 7.1 The Seasons 7.2 The Episode Titles 7.3 Production Facilities and Addresses 7.4 Tickets to Taping Sessions 7.5 Worldwide Telecasts 7.6 Syndication Information 7.7 Emmy Awards 7.8 Tapes of Early Episodes 7.9 Scripts of MAY Episodes 7.10 Books by Cast Members 7.11 Souvenirs and Such 8.0 Group Related Information 8.1 The Newsgroup 8.2 Mail Server Site 8.3 Anonymous FTP Sites 8.4 World Wide Web Sites 8.5 The Episode Guides Acknowledgments ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7.0 Show Related Information 7.1 The MAY Seasons MAY has recently concluded its third season of production. The seasons, as telecast in North America, are: - 1. 1992-93 (22 episodes) - 2. 1993-94 (24 episodes, including 1-hour Finale) - 3. 1994-95 (22 episodes, including 1-hour Wedding, and 1-hour Finale) 7.2 The Episode Titles Following is a list of the episodes, along with the production numbers in parentheses and the first-telecast dates in the US. This list is provided primarily to help identify the episodes referred to in the rest of this FAQ, but the production numbers (in parentheses) may determine the order of telecast in certain countries: 1.1 (101) 92-09-23 Romantic Improvisations [Premiere] 1.2 (104) 92-09-30 Sofa's Choice 1.3 (103) 92-10-07 Sunday Times 1.4 (102) 92-10-14 Out of the Past 1.5 (106) 92-10-21 Paul in the Family 1.6 (105) 92-10-28 I'm Just So Happy For You 1.7 (107) 92-11-04 Token Friend 1.8 (109) 92-11-11 The Apartment 1.9 (111) 92-11-18 Riding Backwards 1.10 (110) 92-11-25 Neighbors from Hell 1.11 (113) 92-12-16 Met Someone 1.12 (108) 93-01-06 Maid About You 1.13 (112) 93-01-13 Togetherness 1.14 (116) 93-01-27 Weekend Getaway 1.15 (115) 93-02-06 The Wedding Affair 1.16 (114) 93-02-13 Love Among the Tiles 1.17 (118) 93-02-20 The Billionaire 1.18 (119) 93-02-27 The Man Who Said Hello 1.19 (117) 93-04-30 Swept Away 1.20 (120) 93-05-08 The Spy Who Loved Me 1.21 (122) 93-05-15 The Painter 1.22 (121) 93-05-22 Happy Anniversary [Season Finale] 2.1 (202) 93-09-16 Murray's Tale [Season Opener] 2.2 (201) 93-09-23 Bing Bang Boom 2.3 (203) 93-09-30 Bedfellows 2.4 (205) 93-10-07 Married to the Job 2.5 (204) 93-10-14 So I Married a Hair Murderer 2.6 (207) 93-10-28 The Unplanned Child 2.7 (206) 93-11-04 Natural History 2.8 (209) 93-11-11 Surprise 2.9 (210) 93-11-18 A Pair Of Hearts 2.10 (208) 93-12-02 It's a Wrap 2.11 (211) 93-12-09 Destructive Criticism 2.12 (212) 94-01-06 Paul is Dead 2.13 (213) 94-01-13 Same Time Next Week 2.14 (214) 94-01-27 The Late Show 2.15 (216) 94-02-03 Virtual Reality 2.16 (218) 94-02-10 Cold Feet 2.17 (215) 94-02-14 Instant Karma 2.18 (217) 94-02-24 The Tape 2.19 (219) 94-03-10 Love Letters 2.20 (220) 94-04-07 The Last Scampi 2.21 (222) 94-04-28 Disorientation 2.22 (221) 94-05-05 Storms We Cannot Weather 2.23 (225) 94-05-12 Up All Night 2.24 (223/4) 94-05-19 With This Ring [Season Finale] 3.1 (301) 94-09-22 Escape from New York [Season Opener] 3.2 (302) 94-09-29 Home 3.3 (303) 94-10-06 Till Death Do Us Part 3.4 (304) 94-10-13 When I'm Sixty-Four 3.5 (305) 94-10-20 Legacy 3.6 (306) 94-11-03 Pandora's Box 3.7 (307) 94-11-10 The Ride Home 3.8 (308) 94-11-17 Giblets For Murray 3.9 (309) 94-12-08 Once More With Feeling 3.10 (310) 94-12-15 The City 3.11 (311) 95-01-05 Our Fifteen Minutes 3.12 (313) 95-01-19 How To Fall In Love 3.13 (314/5) 95-02-02 Mad About You 3.14 (312) 95-02-09 Just My Dog 3.15 (316) 95-02-16 The Alan Brady Show 3.16 (317) 95-02-23 Mad Without You 3.17 (318) 95-03-09 Purseona 3.18 (319) 95-03-30 Two Tickets To Paradise 3.19 (323) 95-04-27 Money Changes Everything 3.20 (321) 95-05-04 Cake Fear 3.21 (320) 95-05-11 My Boyfriend's Back! 3.22 (322/4) 95-05-18 Up In Smoke [Season Finale] ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7.3 Production Facilities and Addresses Usually, the show is filmed (not taped) at the Culver City soundstage in Culver City, California, on Friday evenings. All interior scenes, like the Buchman apartment and Riff's Bar, are filmed in Culver City, while some exterior scenes, like the Rockefeller Plaza rink, New York subway, etc. are filmed on location. The closing credits on MAY indicate InFront Productions (Danny Jacobson's company) and also Nuance Productions (Paul Reiser's company), but the address for viewer comments about the show is: TriStar Productions 9336 W Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232. Tel: (310) 202-3337 FAX: (310) 202-3296 7.4 Tickets to Taping Sessions The episodes are usually filmed in front of a studio audience. Tickets for the sessions can be obtained in advance; please allow 2-4 weeks for processing requests. Send a stamped self-addressed envelope to: Audiences Unlimited 100 Universal City Plaza Building 153 Universal City, CA 91608. To hear a recorded announcement of the next 7 days' shooting schedule, for MAY and many other shows, call (818) 506-0067, but be prepared to listen to a looped message for upto 5 minutes. To get the schedule for the next month's shooting, send a stamped self-addressed envelope to the above address. Please note that even a previously scheduled shooting can be cancelled -- having a ticket for a particular day is no guarantee you'll see anything. It is always worth checking with the TriStar office or Audiences Unlimited before making the trip over to the studios. The studios accomodate 196 (seated) and about 15-20 more in a holding area. About half the seating is taken up by friends and families of the cast and crew. The SRO folks are directed to seats by pages as some of the seated folks leave, for whatever reason! Filming at the Culver City Studios begins at about 7PM and usually lasts till 11PM (but can go on as late as 3AM), with interruptions for costume changes, multiple takes, last-minute changes, etc. Try to arrive before 6PM, allowing extra time for Friday evening traffic as well. It can also get quite cold in the audience section, so be sure to bring a jacket. Security checks all bags at the door for weapons etc. No food or drink is allowed in the studios ;-) but they hand out candy between Act I and Act II. - According to the taped message, one has to be at least 21 years old to be admitted to a MAY taping session. But according to Audiences Unlimited literature, the age limit is 20. Try to look 21. "This is what I'm saying!" Residents of and visitors to the Los Angeles area can also try their luck for (even same day) tickets at FOX Television Center, 5746 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028. just off the 101 Freeway at the Sunset Boulevard exit. The ticket office is on Van Ness Street, a block west of the Freeway. The office hours are: Mon-Fri 8:30AM-6:00PM and Sat-Sun Noon-5:00PM Groups of 40 or more should call 818-753-3470 for more information on tickets. 7.5 Worldwide Telecasts The following information does not concern itself with the cable channel assignments in major cities around the world. Especially in Europe, cable systems have worked out deals to supply feeds from many nations. MAY is shown internationally on various broadcast networks: - Australia: Channel 10, Tuesdays, 8:00pm (20:00). Started with Season #1 episodes on August 30, 1994. Season #2 episodes began telecast on January 31, 1995. The telecasts are rated PG. - Austria: Not being shown. If and when shown, it is likely to be dubbed. - Belgium: Channel BRT-TV2, Wednesdays, 10:45pm (22:45). Started with Season #1 episodes on September 7, 1994. The telecasts have ceased for the summer, presumably after the 40th episode [2.18]. The title is unchanged and the telecasts are sub-titled. - Canada: NBC and Global TV. NBC telecasts are on Thursdays, 8:00pm. Global used to telecast it on Wednesdays, 9:00pm, then switched to Thursday telecasts in step with NBC. Viewers in Alberta are able to preview MAY episodes two days ahead of the rest of the world, Tuesdays at 8:30PM, courtesy of Westcom-Channel 8. They can also double-dip by watching the NBC/Global telecast; if either or both were commercial-free telecasts, we'd really be mad! :-) - Finland: Channel 1, Fridays, 8:05pm (20:05), repeating the following Mondays, 1:05pm (13:05). Running time of ~22 minutes, without commercials. Started with Season #1 episodes on September 23, 1994. The title is 'Hulluna sinuun' (a direct translation: hullu -> crazy/mad, sina -> you, sinuun -> about you), and the telecast is sub-titled. - France: Not being shown. See the Spanish telecast information. - Germany: Not being shown. If and when shown, it is likely to be dubbed. - Hong Kong: Not being shown at present. Season #2 episodes were telecast earlier in 1994 on TV-B Pearl, Wednesdays at 6:55pm (18:55). - Israel: Family Channel (3), Mondays, 10:05pm (22:05). Running time of ~22 minutes, without commercials. Started with Season #1 episodes earlier in 1994, and beginning in July 1995, Season #3 episodes are being shown (the day has changed from Fridays to Mondays). The title is 'Mishtagim me ahava' (the translation: mishtagim -> going crazy, me -> from, ahava -> Love), and the telecast is sub-titled. - Italy: (Information awaited). - Japan: Not being shown. - Netherlands: NED-3, Wednesdays, 8:00pm (20:00). Started with season #2 episodes on October 5, 1994. Telecasts are uninterrupted (~22 minutes) and sub-titled. Season #1 episodes were telecast in their entirety in 1993. - New Zealand: Channel 2, Wednesdays, 9:30pm (21:30). Episodes were being shown 5 times a week, from December 5, ·_ 1994, until the 40th episode was shown. Then the series resumed with weekly telecasts, now continuing with season #3. - Singapore: TCS Channel 5, Mondays, 11:30pm (23:30). Season #3 episodes are being telecast in summer, 1995. - South Africa: No information available. - South Korea: No information available. - Spain: CANAL 9 in Valencia, Saturdays, 8:00pm (20:00)? Dubbed in Spanish. No additional information available. TV3 in Barcelona, Weekdays, 8:30pm (20:30). Dubbed in Catalan. No additional information available. Season #1 and Season #2 episodes have been shown in the summer of 1994. Season #3 schedule is not available. This Catalonian feed may be available in southern France. - Sweden: KANAL 1, Thursdays, 11:30pm (23:30). Started with season #1 episodes on September 8, 1994. Telecasts are uninterrupted (~22 minutes) and sub-titled. - Switzerland: Not being shown. If and when shown, it is likely to be dubbed. - Taiwan: No information available. - UK: Not being shown. 7.6 Syndication Information MAY will not enter syndication in the North American market until 1996. Typically 100 episodes have to have been aired before a show is syndicated. 7.7 Emmy Awards The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the US hands out Emmy Awards annually in various categories to television programs shown in the US. An asterisk (*) marks Emmy awarded to MAY: For the 1992-93 season, MAY was nominated for one Emmy Award: - Best Comedy Actress (Helen Hunt) For the 1993-94 season, MAY was nominated for seven Emmy awards: - Best Comedy Series - Best Comedy Actor (Paul Reiser) - Best Comedy Actress (Helen Hunt) - Best Guest Actress in a Comedy (Cyndi Lauper: [2.9]) - Best Director of a Comedy (Lee Shallat: [2.12]) - Best Director of a Comedy (Tom Moore: [2.19]) - *Best Sound Mixing (Peter Damski: [2.8]) In 1994, Helen Hunt received the Golden Globe award and America's Comedy award as Best Actress in a Comedy series. In 1995, Helen Hunt again received the Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Comedy series, and "Mad About You" received the Best Comedy series award (tied with "Frasier"). 7.8 Tapes of Early Episodes Jamie: "Get this... the City of New York has hired my firm to do this I Love New York campaign." Paul: "Oh! I'hate to burst your bubble... you know that's already been done!" Jamie: "I know. This is going to be the I Still Love New York. They've put ME in-charge." Paul: "Hey! Good for you!" Jamie: "You haven't heard the best part... I get to hire any director I want. I want YOU!" Paul: "Oh, that's very sweet of you, for thinking of me. I don't do commercials, I do documentaries." Jamie: "Exactly! That's why we need you. They want the feel of a documentary. They don't want the Statue of Liberty or other cliches, they want the other New York, the real New York." Paul: "They are going to let you show the real New York, garbage and traffic..." Jamie: "No, not that real. Let the tourists be surprised!" In all fairness, the Big Apple has courteous cab-drivers (with an occasional craving for Sprite) and reasonably clean sidewalks [3.10]. But when the shopping is in the bag and Broadway is done, you may wish to relax with tapes of early MAY episodes at the Museum of Television and Radio (formerly the Museum of Broadcasting), located at 25 West 52nd Street (between Fifth and Sixth avenues). Please call (212) 621-6800 for daily information on scheduled activities and (212) 621-6600 for all other information. The Museum library may be crowded and full; therefore your choices may not be immediately available for viewing. Please DO call ahead to ask what times are best to visit. Opening hour on weekdays is usually the best time, but once there, you may well remember dropping a pocketbook or a bag years ago, or picking one up, depending on the gender. From Noon to closing time every day, the Museum presents a wide variety of programs in two screening rooms and two main theaters. Pick up a copy of the daily schedule at the front desk in the John E. Fetzer Lobby to see what's playing. Also available in the lobby are complete schedules for the next 6 months, showing what's up in coming months. Projection on a big screen is in the 90-seat, plush-chair Mark Goodson theater (please call ahead for information). Then again, you may opt to see YOUR episode on a smaller screen. The upstairs viewing library archives 12 episodes of MAY from seasons #1 and #2 and there may be more: 1.1 Romantic Improvisations 1.8 The Apartment 1.11 Met Someone 1.20 The Spy Who Loved Me 1.21 The Painter 1.22 Happy Anniversary 2.1 Murray's Tale 2.2 Bing Bang Boom 2.3 Bedfellows 2.7 Natural History 2.8 Surprise 2.12 Paul Is Dead To choose one of these (or any other offering) from the Museum's collection of over 60,000 radio and television programs, make a reservation to use the Library at the lobby front desk when you arrive. A Macintosh computer (one of 46 available) lets you search their catalogue (database) for the program of your choice (a Visitor Services staff will be glad to assist you at any time). After finding the program you want, reserve it and then proceed to a Console room, where you may watch and listen at a monitor with headphones, with full control over the playback functions. An added bonus: all programs are commercial-free, unless you have selected a Clio-winner. The Museum is open Tuesdays to Sundays from Noon to 6PM, with late hours till 8PM on Thursdays and 9PM on Fridays (theaters only). It is closed Mondays and New Year's Day, (US) Independence Day, (US) Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas. The suggested contribution at the door is $6 for adults, $4 for students and senior citizens, and $3 for kids under 13. The Museum has no cafeteria, and eating and drinking is not permitted on the premises. There is an Au Bon Pain across the street; it has inexpensive and good food, and the Museum staff will re-admit you on being shown the ticket stub of the same day. All public areas are accessible to wheelchairs. Recording and photography are not permitted in the Museum. 7.9 Scripts of MAY Episodes A store named Book City, staffed by very courteous folks, sells scripts to a few MAY episodes, as well as for many other shows. A very good selection of movie scripts can also be had. Book City, 6631 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90028. Tel: (213) 466-0120. The stock varies, and the store ships only via UPS. The cost is $7.50 per epsiode (presumably $15 for dual-episodes), and the shipping charges are $3.50 for the first 2 scripts ordered and $2.50 for each additional pair ordered. The cost of most movie scripts is $15. All prices and charges subject to change. 7.10 Books by Cast Members "Couplehood" by Paul Reiser Published by Bantam Books ISBN 0-553-09683-4 October, 1994. (but was available by August, 1994) 352 pages, give or take a few. US$19.95, Canadian $24.95, discounted as well. 7.11 Souvenirs and Such MAY T-shirts and nightshirts are available from: Entertainment Weekly Studio Store, Dept. EW-16, P. O. Box 60044, Tampa, FL 33660-0044. Tel: (800) 393-3559. The shirts in 100% pre-shrunk cotton, are in slate-blue, with the "Mad About You" logo in white lettering on a green background. T-shirts are available in L and XL sizes (ATT006) for $16.95, while the Nightshirt (one size fits all - ATN001) sells for $19.95. Made in the USA. All items are shipped via Federal Express. For orders upto $25.00: add $4.95, $25.01 - $50.00: add $5.95, $50.01 - $100.00: add $7.95. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 8.0 Group Related Information 8.1 The Newsgroup The alt.tv.mad-about-you group was created in February 1994. If you are sending a message to the group for the first time, we ask only that you send a message that is appropriate for the group and that it is not insulting or flaming. It also helps to read the group for a few weeks until you get the general feel of it. Please refrain from using this newsgroup for personal messages. Remember that a post without any explicit distribution usually defaults to "world" in most news software. This newsgroup is not to be used for commercial purposes. On posting binaries: Posting binaries to the group is not forbidden, but the posting of large binaries is often inconvenient. It is easier to post locations of FTP or WWW sites and let interested people retrieve the files, or to post them to one of the alt.binaries.pictures groups (following their guidelines for posting) and let this newsgroup know. Besides, some news sites' administrators are known to object to binary posts in non-binary newsgroups such as ours, and could decide to stop carrying alt.tv.mad-about-you at your site... and who'd want THAT to happen? On Spams: Spamming is the posting of the same article to multiple newsgroups (usually every possible newsgroup) regardless of the appropriateness of the topic. If anyone spams Usenet, including our group, please DO NOT followup to the article. When someone spams, chances are that peroson will NOT read *our* group, or any other group, to see your witty followup, which will therefore be directed ONLY at other readers who already know the irrelevance of the spam post. So if you see a spam show up in our group, just check out news.admin.misc to see what happens to the spammer. Rest assured that many FAQ authors, as well as many other Usenet readers, will be replying to the postmaster at the offending user's site. Also note that a followup post appearing in our newsgroup may have got there as a result of a cross-post from another group. Therefore the best course of action is to ignore spams. 8.2 Mail Server Site document via email, usually within a few hours. Send email To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with anything in or more lines of text in the body: *and/or* This access method will work for ANY document posted to or in the body of your mail, sit back and wait... 8.3 Anonymous FTP sites FTP sites include the FAQ and the Episode Guide. There is currently no FTP site that archives pictures of the cast, although arrangements are being made with a site in Finland (ftp.funet.fi). America Online's NBC ONLINE (keyword: NBC) also has a few pictures. Many FAQs, including this one, are available at FTP archive sites in both the US and the UK. Document naming convention (i.e. the filename) differs at the two sites, but the format of the address is similar: - the // element is the site name, - everything else that follows is the directory-name, - EXCEPT for the last element, which is the filename. Note that many of these FTP sites can also be accessed in this format through the World-Wide-Web (WWW). In the US, the archive site is rtfm.mit.edu: * An alternate site in the US is ftp.uu.net: * which stores the segments in compressed format (.Z). NOTE: The UK archive has not been updated for more than 6 months due to technical problems. In the UK, the archive site is src.doc.ic.ac.uk: ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/public/media/tv/collections/tardis/us/ comedy/MadAboutYou/MadAboutYou-FAQ where the document is stored in gzip compressed format (.gz). You can retrieve files using anonymous FTP, i.e. the login name will be "anonymous" and the password will be your complete email address. For example, to retrieve the FAQ from the MIT site: $ cd (the directory where you'll put the file) $ ftp rtfm.mit.edu Name: anonymous Password: (input won't echo) (if the ftp connection succeeds, a lot of "README" info will be displayed, and the 'ftp>' prompt will be used from here on) ftp> bin (change to binary transfer mode) ftp> get part1 (statistics about the transfer displayed as the transfer proceeds and completes) ftp> get part2 ftp> get part3 ftp> get part4 ftp> get part5 ftp> ls (if curious about what else is archived) ftp> quit At the UK site, the FAQ file is stored in compressed format, generated by using the Free Software Foundation's gzip utility, and is about a third the size of the uncompressed file. An easy way to uncompress the file is to allow the ftp server to do it on the fly as you retrieve the file, by typing: ftp> cd /public/media/tv/collections/tardis ftp> cd us/comedy/MadAboutYou ftp> get MadAboutYou-FAQ (WITHOUT specifying .gz suffix) Else, the compressed file may be retrieved in binary mode: ftp> cd /public/media/tv/collections/tardis ftp> cd us/comedy/MadAboutYou ftp> bin ftp> get MadAboutYou-FAQ.gz (SPECIFYING the .gz suffix) and then uncompressed locally with the command: $ gzip -d MadAboutYou-FAQ.gz CAUTION: Use binary (bin) mode to retrieve any .gz file, else it will be unuseable. 8.4 World Wide Web sites There are at least three World-Wide-Web sites with a MAY home page, whose URLs are: - http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~witelski/may.html Tom Witelski put together the first MAY home page. In addition to the FAQ and Episode Guides, this page archives a few .jpg and .gif images of Helen Hunt, Paul Reiser and Anne Ramsay, and has a guest-list where you can sign in and leave comments. - http://tam2000.tamu.edu/~n020ic/may.html The successor to Tom Witelski's page, maintained by Kurt Pifer, has become the sidekick, as it now appears both will continue. The MAY theme song is available here in .wav format. - http://nova.edmonds.wednet.edu/~mazzonim/MadAboutYou.html Maintained by Mario Mazzoni with a wide assortment of superb pictures of the cast and from episodes, including the opening credits, and odd bits. ·_ There is also a Helen Hunt home page, maintained by the redoubtable David DeAngelo (card-carrying member of ACLU), with a wide assortment of JPG/GIF images, mostly of the subject (object?) of his attention, and other information, including an old old opening quote: - http://www.pitt.edu/~dxdst6/helen.html Then there is Sony Entertainment (TriStar Pictures is owned by Sony) which maintains a MAY page at its shop: - http:////www.spe.sony.com/Pictures/tv/mad/mad.html There is a lot of biographical information about cast members, pictures and a few MPEG clips (1.4MB each) as well. There is also a write-up on the coming week's MAY episode. Having said all that, and for benefit of all that have read this far, here's the single bookmark you need to save to get to all these places: - http://www.tvnet.com/cgi-bin/utl?showcard+1028 A WWW client is needed for accessing these sites. The setup is non-trivial, so if you have WWW problems from your site, please contact your site SysAdmin for information and help. 8.5 The Episode Guides Companion documents to this FAQ are the Mad About You Episode Guides. You can access the season-by-season guides from the same FTP or WWW site as this FAQ: ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/public/media/tv/collections/tardis/us/ comedy/MadAboutYou/MadAboutYou-EG in response to an email request To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu that includes one or more of the following lines in its body: Note: The requests for the FAQ and Episode Guides, if combined, should be on separate lines of the email. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Acknowledgments Many thanks to the following people for helping edit this document, and for helping with contributions and ideas, knowingly or unknowingly: Brandon Acker, R. G. Arens, Charles Blair, Jonathan Bnayahu, Jackie Brady, Barry Burriesci, Dottie Bybee, Catherine Chan, Dave Chapman, Kim Clark, Sharon Crichton, David DeAngelo, Brian Dearie, Mike Dickison, Renee Drellishak, Catherine Felker, Kelly Flores, Blake Girardot, Byron C. Go, Shachar Golansky, Pam Greene, Dolf Grunbauer, Adam Hennings, Frank van der Heijde, Jeff Heilner, Ping Huang, Philip Johnson, William Kelley, Kimmo Ketolainen, John M. Klassa, Craig Knizek, Dave LeCompte, Felix Lee, Ali Lemer, Liron Lightwood, Lars Lindstrom, Jane Mellett, Alphonse Merino, Chris Mulvihill, Waltz Ng, Bob O'shaughnessy, Margie O'shaughnessy, George Pechtol, Brian Peterson, Michael W. Phelps, David Gregory Platt, Mark Warren Plumb, Gregg Primm, Mick Quinn, Jean Reese, Scott A. Richardson, Douglas B. Robertson, Warren Rudman, Sondra Rachel Solovay, Chris Sonnack, Lani Teshima-Miller, Tom Tullio, Jukka Vainio, Cindy Yan, Daryl Sng Tek Yean, Bryce Utting, Chaffee Vo-Vu, Andy Wild, Ann Winner, Tom Witelski, Ken Yi and Lisa Eyler Zorrilla. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please send in corrections/comments to: [rama@cac.stratus.com] ----------------------------------------------------------------