"Mad About You" Revival Starring Paul Reiser & Helen Hunt Picked Up by Spectrum Originals
by Nellie Andreeva
March 6, 2019


The long-in-the-works "Mad About You" revival with original stars Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt has found a home. Charter Communications’ premium content platform, Spectrum Originals, has picked up the new "Mad About You" to air as a limited series.

The half-hour comedy, from showrunner Peter Tolan and Sony Pictures Television, is slated for a late 2019 launch. Hunt will direct the first episode of the revival, with Danny Jacobson, who co-created the original series with Reiser, serving as an executive consultant.





The new installment is expected to be set twenty years after the original series’ seven-season run ended on NBC in 1999. It will center on Paul (Reiser) and Jamie (Hunt) Buchman — now new empty-nesters — as they navigate their marriage, the trials of middle age, and their unpredictable, hard-to-control daughter Mabel.

“We are so excited to finally be doing this and thrilled to have Peter Tolan as our fearless captain,” Reiser and Hunt said in a joint statement today. “We promise you the same funny and heartwarming show – as soon as we can remember what’s funny about being older. It’s going to be great!”




“We are beyond thrilled to team up with Sony Pictures Television to give ‘Mad About You’ an exclusive home at Spectrum Originals,” said Katherine Pope, Head of Original Content.

“Two decades ago, fans fell in love with this show, and this time will be no different as Paul, Helen and Peter explore modern marriage through the eyes of two people who have just become empty-nesters. We can’t wait for everyone to fall in love with the Buchmans all over again.​”​




“We couldn’t be more excited to work with Helen and Paul and to partner with Spectrum Originals and Katherine, to bring this acclaimed comedy back to life,” said Jeff Frost, President of SPT, Chris Parnell and Jason Clodfelter, Co-Presidents of SPT.

“It has been a labor of love for all involved and we think audiences will relish the next chapter in these wonderful characters’ lives.”

https://deadline.com/2019/03/mad-about-you-revival-starring-paul-reiser-helen-hunt-picked-up-spectrum-originals-1202570610/

I had no idea Spectrum has their own network for shows. I'm mildly interested in seeing this since I watched the show during the 90's...but it must not have left a big impression on me because my memories of it are vague compared to other 90's shows.

I guess i'll wait for the dvd release or view clips of it when it's up on You Tube. This is one reboot that seems to make sense over others because it would be interesting to revisit these characters after they finish raising their child and are back to being alone again and now middle aged. I think there's lots of stories there to show how their relationship has changed and evolved.

Paul Riser is to comedy acting, what Bill Cosby is to the #metoo movement.

I am so excited about this! It will be great to see new episodes of my favorite show starring my favorite actress!

A limited revival on a channel only a small part of the country can get!

Couldn't Sony just foot the bill and have produced this for CRACKLE, their free ad-supported streaming service. (Which is where ONE DAY AT A TIME '17 should move if Netflix cancels it!)

Paul Riser is to comedy acting, what Bill Cosby is to the #metoo movement.

Uh what...?

Uh what...?

In other words, Paul Reiser is a terrible comedy actor. Which I tend to agree with.

In other words, Paul Reiser is a terrible comedy actor. Which I tend to agree with.

What do you think of Helen Hunt? I think she is wonderful!

What do you think of Helen Hunt? I think she is wonderful!

I do like her. Back in the 90's when i'd watch Mad About You, it was mainly because of Helen Hunt. I agree she is great.

What do you think of Helen Hunt? I think she is wonderful!

I like Helen Hunt, and I liked Mad About You. Paul Riser not so much. He's just simply not funny or entertaining imho.

It seems as if some very interesting conversation is being stimulated here. This is one thing that I am very happy to see!

Unfortunately I won't see the revival since I don't get Spectrum Originals (way too many streaming competitors now). I totally disagree about Paul Reiser being a bad actor. He was great in Mad About You, and I started watching My Two Dads because of him.

Unfortunately I won't see the revival since I don't get Spectrum Originals (way too many streaming competitors now). I totally disagree about Paul Reiser being a bad actor. He was great in Mad About You, and I started watching My Two Dads because of him.

I respect your opinion, but I'd rather accidentally walk in on my Grandparents having sex than having to watch Paul Reiser attempt to be funny and/or entertaining. The Paul Reiser Show on NBC had a huge promotional push and hoopla. I think it lasted 3 episodes before it was pulled. Reiser is garbage.

I respect your opinion, but I'd rather accidentally walk in on my Grandparents having sex than having to watch Paul Reiser attempt to be funny and/or entertaining. The Paul Reiser Show on NBC had a huge promotional push and hoopla. I think it lasted 3 episodes before it was pulled. Reiser is garbage.

Yikes! I don't think i'd go as far as that to avoid watching Reiser! :barf:

But the way he tried too hard to be funny always fell flat with me. Helen Hunt on the other hand always came off much more natural at it in comparison. And I liked Hunt from way back as a kid when I first saw her in that short lived Patty Duke sitcom "It Takes Two" in the early 80's.

Come to think of it, I don't think i've seen her in anything since "Pay it Forward" almost 20 years ago. Did she retire or something? I'm off to Google what happened to her now.

EDIT: Went to Hunt's Wikipedia page and when I saw this, I was a bit disappointed in her.

"Hunt was one of the demonstrators at the 2017 Women's March held on January 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C."

So she's one of the pink hat wearers. Ugh.

Paul Reiser is such a worthless cheesy actor, he even makes Ben Stiller look good by comparison. Both guys only got their jobs in Hollywood based on who they...

Paul Reiser is such a worthless cheesy actor, he even makes Ben Stiller look good by comparison. Both guys only got their jobs in Hollywood based on who they...

Oh geez, if I had to choose between Paul Reiser and Ben Stiller, I think i'd just never watch anything again. It's hard to pick which one of them sucks more.

Paul Reiser even makes Ben Stiller look good by comparison. Both guys only got their jobs in Hollywood based on who they...I know Ben Stiller is Jerry's son, but who is Paul Reiser related to? He is far from a worthless actor though, his chemistry with Helen Hunt was what made Mad About You so good. Anyone else in the Paul Buchman role and it wouldn't have been nearly as long running.

Helen Hunt shows proof the Mad About You reboot is really happening (https://twitter.com/HelenHunt/status/1136423212747636736)

"Here we are. The #MadAboutYou 2.0 writers room. We’re gonna have so much fun!!!" Hunt tweeted, accompanied by Paul Reiser, showrunner Peter Tolan and his writers on the Spectrum Originals revival series.

This has disaster written all over it. Possibly Murphy Brown level of bad.

Mad About You revival feels like a relic of a more innocent, easily amused time (https://time.com/5732856/mad-about-you-2019-review/)

The 1992-1999 NBC comedy starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt became a hit in an era of limited TV options. But with its limited Spectrum Originals revival in 2019, Mad About You (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3700-mad-about-you/page/2/#comments) isn't anything special, says Judy Berman. "Seinfeld was famously envisioned as a show about nothing (a conceit that falls away the moment you recall the memorable storyline that revolved around Jerry and George creating a show about nothing)," says Berman. "Friends—which made early adulthood in New York look tranquil, easy and cheap—was so low-key that in its second life as the holy grail of licensed content, it essentially functions as an audiovisual benzodiazepine for teens and 20-somethings. But it was Mad About You, another one of NBC’s many ultra-popular ’90s series set in a whitewashed, upper-middle-class Manhattan, that really delivered on the promise of mundanity. What was the pitch for this smash hit that eventually earned its stars $1 million per episode: 'Man and woman are married'? More to the point, in an era when many would dismiss the original show as a soporific chronicle of 'rich people problems,' do we really need to check in on the uneventful lives of the Buchmans?" Berman adds: "The bigger issue is that Mad About You has stayed the same amid a television landscape that keeps changing. Without the goofy roommate capers of Friends, the inventiveness of Seinfeld or even the timeless pseudo-intellectualism of Frasier’s Crane brothers, Mad About You doesn’t feel distinctive enough to become a streaming phenomenon. It worked in the ’90s because it was often the most inviting option on offer—something gentle and inoffensive for when there was nothing else to watch. Now that practically everything is available on TV, all the time, the Buchmans might be too polite to make themselves heard over so much noise."

ALSO:

Mad About You finds some success by avoiding politics and being easygoing (https://variety.com/2019/tv/reviews/mad-about-you-reboot-review-helen-hunt-paul-reiser-1203397777/): "It’s not much, but it’s more than can be said for reboots of Will & Grace, Roseanne, and Murphy Brown, all of which felt strained and pinched by their need to comment on the political moment, sacrificing characters and tone in the process," says Daniel D'Addario. “Mad About You was never that show — it’s a pleasantly solipsistic piece of work about two wealthy and blissfully unaffected New Yorkers. Viewed a certain way, this show about people with no real problems but the ones they create for themselves is Seinfeld without the misanthropy."
The revival appears to be recycling plot points from the original series (https://www.tvguide.com/news/mad-about-you-revival-reboot-review-spectrum/): "The pilot featured a storyline about how Paul and Jamie weren't having sex five months after their marriage because they were too busy, and the third episode of the revival reveals they're not having sex because Jamie is going through menopause and lacks a sexual appetite," says Kaitlin Thomas. "Like so much else about the show, the episode goes for the lowest and most obvious jokes without elevating them or providing any insightful commentary."
The most interesting thing about the Mad About You revival is Paul and Jamie being allowed to say "sh*t" uncensored (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/mad-you-review-1255824)
Mad About You was always a C-plus TV show, so the revival is pretty much more of the same -- for better or worse (https://tvline.com/2019/11/13/mad-about-you-review-revival-spectrum-helen-hunt-paul-reiser/)
This Mad About You seems to be grappling for plot points -- and who knows what, in fact, will stick (https://tv.avclub.com/there-s-not-much-to-be-mad-about-in-mad-about-you-s-tep-1839811965)
Mad About You is too content to check all of the revival boxes: "Much of the original show and its revival rely on safe, observational humor" (https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/mad-about-you-2019-review-spectrum-revival-paul-reiser-helen-hunt-1202191176/)
The new Mad About You is pretty much the same as the old Mad About You: "It’s agreeable, familiar, a little meh" (https://ew.com/tv-reviews/2019/11/13/mad-about-you-revival-spectrum-review/)
Until recently, Mad About You revival showrunner Peter Tolan was against the TV revival trend (https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/mad-about-you-revival-helen-hunt-paul-reiser-murray-interview-1203321486/): “I had just spent the last year or so railing against all these reboots and the paucity of creative thought,” says Tolan, who co-created Rescue Me and The Job with Denis Leary. “Shouting about how this is what’s wrong with television today. And then of course I did one, too. So a little embarrassing…”
Why Mad About You is pretending the 1999 time-jump series finale didn't happen (https://www.thedailybeast.com/helen-hunt-and-paul-never-wanted-a-mad-about-you-revival-why-they-made-one-anyway)
Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser had vowed never to do a revival -- until they saw all the other revivals (https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2019-11-19/mad-about-you-helen-hunt-twister-oscar): "The inconceivable became conceivable,” says Hunt. “All of a sudden, the thing we said we would never do became the thing we were dying to do.”
Paul Reiser says returning to Mad About You was easy (https://people.com/tv/helen-hunt-paul-reiser-open-up-reuniting-mad-about-you-reboot/): "It really took no transition at all,” he says. “We were all so fond of each other and we spent seven years together. The minute we walked into the space, it was so familiar. It actually felt weird that it didn’t feel weird.”

The Three Best Episodes of the MAD ABOUT YOU Revival (https://jacksonupperco.com/2022/06/07/the-three-best-episodes-of-the-mad-about-you-revival/)

And, to that point, the best thing that can be said about this new Mad About You is that it recognizes the original series’ strengths and leans into them. Oh, yes, it’s probably a little jokier — asking, specifically, Helen Hunt to be a little broader than she was back in the ’90s, but that seems to be a trend in these late ’10s reboots, as the multi-camera format has become faster, consuming more yuks. Otherwise, everything that was good about the first series is still intact — from its quintessentially New York vibe (with references to notable New Yorkers, like Anderson Cooper, and cameos from famous people, like Jason Alexander, whose appearance really captures the spirit of the original’s gimmickry), to the trivial nature of the storytelling (as the characters find themselves in conflict over things like toothpicks and gym nudity), to, first and foremost, the excellent chemistry between the two stars, whose believable relationship, supported by the actors’ naturalistic, palpable humanity, remains Mad About You‘s main attraction. Of course, with Reiser and Hunt more creatively involved than ever before, this shouldn’t be a surprise, as they know their own show (and each other) better than anyone. But none of the original scribes carryover. In fact, the new showrunner is Peter Tolan, best known for years spent on the first Murphy Brown, The Larry Sanders Show, and Rescue Me. So, it’s to their credit that the tone is replicated so well — in spirit, this feels a lot like the ’90s classic.