209/Surprise

Show Outline

It’s Jamie’s 30th birthday and Paul is trying to surprise, without surprising. Jamie said she didn’t want a surprise party, so Paul tries to improvise. He arranges tickets to the theater and a nice restaurant, but on the way to the show, Paul and Jamie get seperated. Thanks to a screwy phone answering machine (a birthday present from Paul’s mother), it takes longer than it should for them to meet up again. By then the show’s started (Tommy), and Jamie's no longer in the mood. But the evening’s not a total loss as Paul hires a group of singers to serenade them.

Commentary

Not one of my favorites, but that’s relative. There isn’t a bad Mad About You episode, but this one just doesn’t do much for me. It’s a combination of the unnecessary confusion and the bad manners of the theater ticket-booth guy. The highlights (though few) are Lisa’s appearance, and the singing by the group "Suave" in the subway.