Mothers And Daughters

[blondie44]

Mothers And Daughters

Starring Jean Smart as Marlene Griffen, a fiftysomething meddlesome divorced mother of two grown daughters living in Chicago. Marlene works as an advice columnist for the Chicago Times. Marlene's two daughters are Stephanie (Christina Applegate) and Samantha (Sara Rue). Stephanie is happily married to her lawyer husband, Mike (Paul Rudd), with her first child on the way. Steph works as an advertising executive who fears she will be replaced while she's gone on maternity leave. Samantha is unmarried and has troubles finding Mr. Right instead of Mr. Right Now. Sam works at a nursing home as a CNA (certified nursing assistant), who lives with her best friend and roommate, Lizzy (Kat Foster) who works as a photographer. Also, Steph's longtime best friend, Jane (Lindsay Price) is just recently hired as the new editor-in-chief for the Chicago Times, and turns out to be Marlene's new boss, which is awkward for Marlene and Jane--and even Steph who is uncomfortable about her mom and best friend working together, let alone being her mom's boss.


Cast Of Characters:
Jean Smart as Marlene Griffen
Christina Applegate as Stephanie Griffen-Burkhardt
Sara Rue as Samantha Griffen
Paul Rudd as Mike Burkhardt
Lindsay Price as Jane Rowlands
Kat Foster as Lizzy Carter
Penny Marshall as Paula Burkhardt

[blondie44]

Episodes

Ep1: Pilot Episode:
Mike asks Sam if she can fill in for him as he has to work and can't attend a doctor's appointment with Steph. Meanwhile, Marlene and Jane are faced with a dilemma when Jane is named editor-in-chief at the Chicago Times and turns out to be Marlene's new boss. Also, Lizzy scores a big business deal as she is to play photographer at the Governor's Ball in a few months, which thrills her and scares her to death at the same time.

Ep2: Mike's Day Off:
Mike scores a day off from work which excites him, until Steph prepares a "to-do" list before she heads off to work. Mike tries to hurry through the list, so he can enjoy at least a part of his day off. Sam tries her best to regain the confidence back into Lizzy, after she slips into a "denial" stage about the quality of her photography talents. Meanwhile, Marlene's secretary, Louisa announces she is retiring and everyone is happy for her--except Marlene who fears she will never find another secretary as good as Louisa (who's worked for Marlene for the past 20 years).

Ep3: Resisting Temptations:
Steph finds it hard to resist not being able to drink alcohol, as she is three months pregnant. Also, Marlene struggles to resist falling back into her old habit of smoking cigarettes, especially when a few of her co-workers begin to go out for a cigarette together (leaving Marlene feeling left out of the conversations). Elsewhere, Sam can't help herself as she begins to fall for an not-so-happily married man, Jake (John Stamos), whom she meets at a bar while barhopping with Lizzy.

Ep4: Queen in Milwaukee:
Steph, Mike, Sam, Lizzy, and Jane are heading up to Milwaukee for a Queen concert. At the concert, Lizzy, Jane, and Sam try to escape being "stalked" by some creepy hornball; and Mike becomes a bit overprotective of Steph and the unborn baby when the couple is surrounded by second-hand smoke and loud speakers-which embarrasses Steph when Mike makes a scene. While all alone in Chicago, Marlene digs out some old home videos and ends up remincising about the past (including flashback clips from "Marlene's 40th Birthday Party", "Stephanie's Wedding", "Samantha's Graduation", and other hilarious memories).

Ep5: Mothers, Mothers, and More Mothers:
Steph and Mike are surprised by an unannounced visit from Mike's feisty and opinionated mother, Paula (Penny Marshall). Paula steps in and tries to put a pregnant Steph at ease by helping around around the house, but ends up just getting on Steph's nerves more and more. Also, Lizzy's lush of a mother, Sandy (Wendie Malick) stops in and ends up adding to Lizzy's problems when Lizzy becomes late and almost misses out on a meeting with a client due to taking care of her drunken, pill-popping mom. Elsewhere, Jane becomes upset when her mom declines her invitation to come and visit her at her new job, which makes Jane feel her mom doesn't have any interest in her new job that she is so proud of. After seeing this, Marlene steps in and plays 'surrogate mom' to a saddened Jane by making her feel like one of her own daughters (since she's known Jane, since Jane and Steph became friends in the 2nd grade).

Ep6: He's Back In Town:
Marlene's ex-husband and father of the girls, Frank Griffen (Tom Selleck) drops by and gives both Steph and Sam invitations to his upcoming wedding to his third wife-to-be in a couple weeks. Frank has never been there for Steph or Sam until after he gotten divorced by his mistress (aka-his second wife, of whom he left Marlene for), but by this time, it was too late to start to form a bond. Sam and Steph reluctant accept his invite and attend his wedding (along with Mike). The three are unhappily surprised when they meet Frank's new bride, Melissa (Jessica Biel)-who is even younger than Samantha is. When asked to make a speech, Steph and Sam truly are at a lost of words--until Mike encourages them to speak their mind and tell everyone how they truly feel about Frank and Melissa's new marriage. Elsewhere, Lizzy and Jane decide to take Marlene out for drinks in attempt to take her mind of Frank remarrying as she stays single.

[blondie44]

Ep7: Visiting With News:
Mike and Steph get yet another visit from Mike's mom, Paula (Penny Marshall), who comes baring news. Paula informs that she has left Mike's lazy, longtime unemployed father (who hasn't worked in the past four years after being laid off from his former job of 32 years, and Paula has been supporting the both of them as he just remains not looking for employment). Mike and Steph understand Paula's reason for leaving his "deadbeat" dad, but are a little uncomfortable with Paula's intent on staying with them until she gets on her own. After a week of Paula living with them, Steph and Mike actively help Paula find another place to live, and oddly enough, find a place close to home--at Marlene's. Marlene welcomes the idea of taking in a housemate after living all alone in her house since Sam moved out six years ago. Elsewhere, Lizzy prepares for her photo shoot at the Governors Ball, but insists on having Sam accompany her next week to the photo shoot to be her support and pose as her "assistant".

[needles1987]

I like Christina Applegate and Paul Rudd.