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The episodes are, of course, very enjoyable (along with a young Helen Hunt with hair that's actualy attractive, as compared to the pin-stright, flat, lifeless hair she sported, after Mabel came along, that made her look plain & older than she was). I liked this series mainly through to the season 4 finale, when Jamie discovers she's pregnant, after their marriage nearly ends. After that, seasons 5 through 7 are all about the pregnancy, birth, and "poop-stories" of Mabel (acronym or not, what a disappointing choice of a name. I'll take "S.O.N.Y.A." any day! LOL). The positives are the amazing parade of stars Paul Reiser & company got to sign on for appearances throughout the entire series, including the wonderful introduction, and repeated appearances, of ad-lib magician Mel Brooks as the irrepressable Uncle Phil, and the re-casting of Jamie's parents with the incomparable Carol Burnett and Carroll O'Connor (who we don't see enough of). Carol Burnett is hysterical as always, and easily outshines what's-her-name, cast from the beginning as Paul's annoying, childish, self-centered, manipulative mother. Fortunately, the character of Burt Buchmann is so lovable that he's always a delight to watch, and so it's especially heart-breaking & poignant that the series finale includes his death and funeral. As for season 1 specifically, all 22 episodes are worthwhile, and a great start of a comic story of a neurotic, newly-married couple. The problems I have with this 2-DVD set is in the manufacturing of the disks themselves. The episodes were compressed to fit 11 on each double-layer DVD disk, so the video playback is somewhat grainy. Second, the last 2 episodes (21 & 22) on disk 2 are reversed, so unless the viewer knows this, the finale of season 1 will not make sense. Lastly, for both seasons 1 & 2, Sony Pictures didn't manufacture the DVD's with a "Play All" button in the main menu. So, the viewer has to navigate to each, successive episode and start them individually, rather than being able to play the disk through automatically, and stop playback wherever they want, if they want. Sony didn't get around to correcting this issue until it released season 3. Oddly, although seasons 2 & 3 are recorded on 3 DVDs, so there are only 8 or 9 episodes per double-layer disk, the graininess is still there in the video playback (maybe not quite as bad as season 1). Nevertheless, these early seasons have major "gem" episodes, especially season 3. So, enjoy all of it - "Mad About You" is a great sitcom.Read full review
90 of 98 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Absurdly bad episode reordering mars excellent show, February 11, 2003 By Wendy M. Grossman (London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) Like a lot of people, I loved the first few years of Mad About You, when it was really well-written romantic comedy about a newlywed couple negotiating the difficulties of settling into a marriage. The video quality on these discs isn't perfect, but it's certainly good enough to enjoy these episodes all over again. HOWEVER, some insane person made the decision to run the episodes on the discs in *production* order instead of *air-date* order, and the consequence is that parts of the series make no sense whatsoever -- for example, the discs swap episodes 2 and 4, so that the couple have in episodes 2 and 3 the couch they buy in ep 4 (originally episode 2). Something even worse is done with the last two episodes of the season, swapping them and thereby ruining both the story arc and the symmetry intended for the season finale. I think we should all write angry letters to the studio protesting this idiotic decision and demanding better treatment for future releases. And, when available, a free replacement with the episodes in the right order. In the meantime, if you loved Mad About You, you'll probably have to buy the set and reorder the episodes manually.Read full review
Mad About You may have been under the shadow of Seinfeld during its run on NBC, but it was funny, witty, and often romantic, with characters that created their own havoc within Jamie and Paul's neurotic world. Even if you didn't grow up in New York, it's easy to identify with these characters and their idiosyncracies as they struggle to be happy (or at least, content) in their lives during the '90s. And if you are from New York, you probably know a dozen people like these. The writing is excellent, with story lines that parallel through each episode, interconnecting characters so that at the end, problems and people come together to give them some resolution. The actors' sense of comedic timing is well played and directed, and even Murray (the Buchman's lovable dog) is well trained to interact and make us laugh. There are cameos made by great guests, like Jerry Lewis, Regis and Joy Philbin, Estelle Harris (who played George Costanza's mother on Seinfeld), Steve Buscemi, Get Smart's Barbara Feldon, Michael Richards (playing his Kramer character from Seinfeld), Lisa Kudrow, Patrick Warburton, and comedian Steven Wright, playing recurring character Warren Mermelman, Paul's cameraman. That's just season one! This was a funny romantic-comedy series, with a great cast playing such neurotic characters. I loved this series, and re-watching season one reminded me why I loved it so much. I think you will, too.Read full review
Very funny show. One of the best of the 1990s. MAD ABOUT YOU has a smart touch without being smart-aleck. It also has some absolutely perfect scripts that are comedy classics -- as well as some amazing performances by comic greats like Sid Ceasar. The show never loses respect for the people who inhabit it. Quirky characters? Vain? Silly? Absurd? Yes to all that. But the characters also have an intelligence and a moral center that I find missing in Seinfeld. Actually, I think Seinfeld (both the man and his show) has helped to increase the rudeness index in our culture by quite a bit. Under Seinfeld's spell many now find it perfectly acceptable to diminish others with smugness and lofty superiority. Contempt for others is NOT funny. In MAD ABOUT YOU one finds no artificial niceness, no vapid sentimentality, but the real warmth of real people who, in spite of their conflicts, love and respect each other.Read full review
The only thing I dislike about the series is that they don't film it anymore. At first, I didn't give Paul Risner enough credit because he was standing next to Helen Hunt who is the most beautiful and talented actress born to this generation. So, instead of paying attention to his genius talent of writing, directing and acting which is super human to do all three, I was just waiting for Helen to reappear on the screen. Buying this first series completed my purchase of all the seasons and I am in the process of watching them all the way through front to back. In doing so, I have been fully exposed to all of the actors and have grow to love all of the characters portrayed. I can see many of the issues brought up in everyday life between loved ones and shown the humorous side of them. Also, I see the fragility of relationships along with the deepness of love that warms ones heart. This series will be watched for decades to come.Read full review
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