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Archive for December, 2000

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Tuesday, December 19th, 2000

SEASON 1

Adapted and developed by Robert Borden from the 2006 film of the same name, written by George Wing and John Jeffcoat

Theme music composed by Michael A. Levine

  • 001. Pilot – 9/23/2010
    • Call center manager Todd Dempsey (Ben Rappaport) reports to his office at Mid American Novelties in Kansas City only to find it abandoned by everyone but his boss Jerry Stern (Matt Walsh), who tells him that the center has been outsourced to Mombai, India and if he wants to keep his job, he needs to report there. With no other options, he heads to India and meets up with his assistant manager Rajiv Gidwani (Rizwan Manji), who is hoping to become the manager of the call center. Todd meets his call center associates including Manmeet (Sacha Dhawan), with whom Todd quickly becomes friends, the attractive Asha (Rebecca Hazlewood), the talkative and annoying Gupta (Parvesh Cheena), and the nearly silent Madhuri (Anisha Nagarajan). In the central lunchroom he also meets two other call center managers Charlie Davies (Diedrich Bader), who works for All American Hunter frequently gives Todd advice about living in India, and the attractive Australian Koala Airlines manager Tonya (Pippa Black), who immediately takes an interest in Todd. Todd quickly gets lessons in adapting to the food, the sacred cow, learns about the ‘A’ teams who know everything about America. He also tries to teach his team about hot to sell the various novelties without letting customers know they are talking to India. and also gets everyone to sell at least one add-on, culminating with Madhuri upselling some fake vomit. Thushari Jayasekera is Pinky and Guru Singh is Ajeet, other employees at Mid-American. Shawn Parikh is an ‘A’ Team Indian. Srinivasa Kapavarapu is CC worker #18, later known as Prakash. Christopher Riordan is a call center supervisor. Steve Seagren is a customer voiceover. 12/16/16

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Up All Night

Sunday, December 17th, 2000

SEASON 1 – NBC

Created by Emily Spivey

Theme music composed by Martyn LeNoble and Vince Jones.

  • 001. Pilot – 9/14/2011
    • Los Angeles couple Chris (Will Arnett) and Reagan Brinkley (Christina Applegate) have a baby after seven years of marriage. When Reagan returns to work as the producer of her best friend Ava Alexander’s (Maya Rudolph) talk show Ava, Chris decides to put his law firm work aside and be a stay-at-home father to their daughter Amy. Upon Reagan’s return to work, she is greeted with open arms and a kiss on the lips from Reagan’s assistant Missy (Jennifer Hall) because Ava has been a depressed slump while she was out, relegated to animal guests that are egged on by her co-host Calvin (Nick Cannon). Reagan suggests having everyone in the office go no a cleanse and then bringing in the nutritionist who created the drink. However, she soon finds out that the drink is causing renal failure and advises everyone to come off of it. Now without a guest, Reagan is forced to work on the night of her seven-year anniversary with Chris, who is struggling to get through the day-to-day activities like shopping and caring for Amy. He meets a surfer dude gamer friend who seems to be living a parallel life with Chris, so he spends his days talking to him frequently on his headset. After working, Reagan comes home in time for them to go out and celebrate their anniversary at bar with karaoke, flowing drinks, and the presence of Ava. The next morning they are nearly too hungover to take care of Amy, and it is made even worse when Ava stops by to ask Reagan to court a new guest that day. However this time Reagan tells her that she needs to spend the day with Chris and Amy, and although disappointed, Ava is understanding, leaving the family at home to work on their cussing around Amy. Matt Lauer appears as himself. Connie Sawyer appears as the shopper who Chris thinks is stalking him. 12/30/19

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Hearts Afire

Sunday, December 17th, 2000

SEASON 1 – CBS

Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

Theme music by Bruce Miller

  • 001 & 002. Bees Can Sting You, Watch Out – 9/14/1992
    • John Hartman (John Ritter) is a divorced father living in Washington D.C., raising his two young sons Ben (Justin Burnette) and Elliot (Clark Duke). He works as an aide to Southern Republican Senator Strobe Smithers (George Gaynes), while his best friend Billy Bob Davis (Billy Bob Thornton) also works in the same office, as does his wife and legislative aide Mavis (Wendie Jo Sperber). The senator is having an affair with his airheaded secretary Didi Star (later Dee Dee Starr) (Beth Broderick), and keeps promoting her up the ladder. Mavis is not happy with this and takes it out on Billy Bob by throwing him out of their house. Billy Bob comes to John’s house to carpool his daughter Carson Lee (Doren Fein) with Ben and Elliot, and not only asks John if he can stay with him, but informs him that John’s ex-wife Deandra is now in an affair with their former female marriage counselor Dr. Ruth. This becomes another pain point on top of being mugged and having his wallet stolen while on his last date, which mostly upset him because it had the first photo of him and Elliot. Meanwhile Ben is exploring how to make money by handing out towels in the bathroom, emulating what he saw in a restaurant. Elliot is working on a school report about an incoming bee migration. At the office, a chain-smoking liberal reporter named Georgie Anne Lahti (Markie Post) applies for the Senator’s Press Secretary job, and shows up with her black nanny Miss Lula (Beah Richards) in tow, who had raised her since childhood. Although she appears over-qualified, Georgie admits how down on her luck she is, having even lost all of her clothes when her cleaners burned down.  Senator Smithers asks John to host a birthday party for Didi and he reluctantly agrees. A homeless man named Curtis May (Brent Briscoe) finds John’s wallet but his beloved photo is missing. Georgie asks Curtis if she can write a story about him and he agrees. When Georgie’s credit cards get denied and she gets thrown out of her motel, John agrees to let her and Lula stay with him. On the day of the party, Elliot collects bees in jar, and Ben makes plans to man the bathroom. The party gets wild with the Senator getting drunk, and Didi stripping down to her bikini. She declines another promotion and says she must remain a receptionist because her bikini business is keeping her too busy. Georgie has Curtis and his pregnant wife Melissa (Bryn Erin) in the kitchen for the interview, but refuses to take part in the party. John lays into her for being so self-absorbed and not helping him with the party and refusing to associate with any of the conservative crowd. She offers to leave and he takes her up on it. All hell breaks loose when the bees get released, Elliot’s friend Al calls 911, and Melissa goes into labor and gives birth on John’s bed. John collapses into a bubble bath, and Georgie comes to visit him and gives him the photo that he lost, admitting that she went through the garbage where Curtis found the wallet. She climbs into the tub fully clothed… and they wind up kissing. NOTE: This episode is to be continued. NOTE: This is a one-hour episode that airs in two parts in syndication. Adam Carl is Adam Carlson. William Thomas Berger is Nobel Prize winner Dr. Papov. John Stark is Dr. Krupcheck. Kathryn Spitz is Alma. Bobbie Ferguson is the cranky lady in the office. 4/12/20 

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Frasier

Sunday, December 17th, 2000

SEASON 2 – NBC

Created by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee

This series is a spin-off of the sitcom “Cheers”

Theme music written by Bruce Miller and Darryl Phinesse, and performed by Kelsey Grammer.

  • 001. The Good Son – 9/16/1993
    • Boston psychiatrist Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammar) decides he needs a change in his life, so he divorces his wife Lilith, and leaves her and his son Frederick and his friends at the bar Cheers behind, and moves back to his hometown of Seattle to take a job as a talk radio advice show host at station KACL. His brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce), also a psychiatrist, and his father Martin (John Mahoney) live in the area, and he is assisted on his show by his producer Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin). When Martin, a former police officer who was shot in the leg, suffers a fall in his bathroom, Niles meets with Frasier to discuss their options. Since Martin and Niles’ wife Maris do not get along at all, he is unable to take Martin, so Frasier reluctantly agrees to do so, although he knows it will put a crimp in his newfound freedom as he settle in. Martin moves in and brings along his dog Eddie (Moose) and his worn-out recliner to mingle with Frasier’s fancy furniture. Frasier quickly feels over-burdened so Niles offers to help pay for a health care provider. Martin does not like anyone they interview, until a kooky young girl who claims to be a psychic from Manchester, England named Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves) comes for the interview. Martin takes an instant liking to her, and although Frasier had only planned to have her part time, Martin talks him into letting her be a live-in. Tensions quickly escalate between Frasier and Martin, when Frasier points out that his whole life has been upended and he hasn’t received any thanks from Martin. Frasier returns to work where Roz relates the tale of actress Lupe Velez who committed suicide and hoped to be found looking beautiful, but ended up dying with her head in the toilet – the point being that things seldom go as planned. Martin calls into Frasier’s show and relates his issue with his son, telling him thank you in a roundabout way. Guest callers to Frasier’s show are Linda Hamilton as Claire and Griffin Dunne as Russell. Cleto Augsuto is the delivery man. Gina Ravarra is the waitress. 12/29/19

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Curb Your Enthusiasm

Sunday, December 17th, 2000

SEASON 1 – HBO

Created by Larry David.

The series was developed from a one-hour HBO Special titled “Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm,” a fictional version of the life of Larry David, co-creator of the sitcom “Seinfeld”. 

Theme song by Luciano Michelini.

  • 000. Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm – 10/17/1999
    • Larry David and his manager Jeff Greene pitch an idea to HBO for a cable special that would include the events leading up to Larry returning to stand-up comedy with his own concert followed by the concert himself. As part of the documentary portion, former co-workers and friends Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Rick Newman (himself), Richard Lewis, Carol Leifer (herself), Glenn Padnick (himself), and Larry Charles (himself), are interviewed for stories about Larry’s career. Jeff and Larry pitch the idea to the HBO development team of Allan Wasserman (himself) and Judy Toll (herself). Among the conversations and situations captured in the documentary portion are various stand-up routines being rehearsed at small comedy clubs and his wife Cheryl’s critique of his first routine; Larry discussing that he always nods at black people, Larry running into former Seinfeld writing assistant Jeff Yerkes (Eric Scott Gould) and agreeing to put in a recommendation for him at Warner Bros., then having an unpleasant encounter with Warner executive Michael Wengred when he tells Larry that he never watched and is not a fan of Seinfeld, Larry’s foll0w-up letter to Wengred which is passive-aggressive, and Jeff failing to get the job because of it and winding up working as a receptionist for HBO; having lunch with fellow comedians Mike Reynolds (himself) and Suzy Soro (herself) and running into comedienne Caroline Rhea (herself) and Larry pronouncing her name wrong and leaving without saying goodbye, which gets back to Jeff and leads to a later confrontation; Larry explaining to his manager Jeff that he should give a ‘one second’ finger while on the phone and someone else is in the room, Larry opting out of attending the funeral of his friend Mark Beltzman‘s (himself) father and conspiring with his other friend writer Ed Crasnick (himself) to not attend other, and resulting confrontation between Larry and Mark when Ed does in fact attend;  Larry and Jeff running into comedian Allan Havey (himself) who is interested in buying Larry’s old house in the Valley until Jeff discourages living there; Larry reviewing the concert stage design for the 3000 seat Pasadena Civic Auditorium and not liking what the production decorator (Suzy Nakamura) presents, a revolving stage of Seinfeld’s apartment and an unflattering caricature of Larry; Larry meeting HBO publicist Patrick O’Hara (Michael Patrick King), who passes on a rumor about Molly Shannon that Larry finds inappropriate; Larry meeting Jeff’s mistress Becky (Becky Thyre) and then being forced to take a walk with her in Central Park, resulting in them running into Cheryl’s friend Cindy DeCoast (Cindy Caponera) and Larry struggling to explain who he is with, and then following up with Larry leaving a message for Cheryl trying to explain himself in case Cindy talked with her, complicated by the fact that Cheryl hates Jeff; and Larry getting caught at the hotel with a bill for his room porn, which Jeff tries to get Patrick to have HBO pay for; and Larry checking out the concert venue and seeing the caricature of himself that he didn’t want. Ultimately Larry visits Alan and Judy and informs them that he needs to cancel the concert because he needs to go to Florida and be with his mother after his stepfather got into a car accident and is in and out of a coma. NOTE: Although Larry mentions having children in this special, they are never mentioned in the series. The HBO production team includes Linda Bates, Julie Claire, Don Lake, Susan Marque, and Larry Thigpen. HBO receptionists include Stefanie Singer and Donna Cooper. Losmir Marin is the hotel clerk. 12/27/19

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