For many fans, older network sitcoms ironically make up the bulk of their streaming diet. It makes sense as the shows are fun to binge-watch and rewatch, but they’re not always reliable to track down. Fortunately, one of the best sitcoms of the 1990s arrived on Hulu on Thursday, and to Hulu its 2019 revival series is coming next week on July 31st.
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The show in question is Mad About You, a sitcom starring Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser as the young married Jamie and Paul Buchman. The two live together in New York City, starting from their time as newlyweds and continuing through their careers, friendships, and the development of their family. Paul is a documentary filmmaker in the series, while Jamie is works in public relations. The live in Greenwich Village with two dogs, and eventually, a baby daughter.
The series aired on NBC alongside other shows that were also huge hits at the time, and continue to draw crowds in the streaming era, such as Friends and Seinfeld. In fact, there were several crossovers between these shows at the time. The biggest was the inclusion of Phoebe’s (Lisa Kudrow) twin sister Ursula, who was a recurring character in both shows. She worked as a waitress at Paul and Jamie’s favorite bar, providing them with sub-par service for laughs. Hunt even made a cameo as Jamie in Friends Season 1, Episode 16, mistaking Phoebe for Ursula.
Mad About You ran for seven seasons from 1992 to 1999, and it returned for a 12-episode revival in 2019. At the time, the revival was tricky to catch, as it aired as a “Spectrum Original” in the U.S. Those with a different cable or internet provider couldn’t access the show, but Hulu is about to change that at last. The original seven seasons are streaming there now, while next week the 12-episode revival will be added to the mix.
Like other sitcoms that are popular to binge, streamers have competed for the rights to host Mad About You. Theoretically, the show would be most at home on Peacock, which is owned by the parent company its original network, NBC. The fact that it’s landing now on Hulu speaks to its value as a licensed property in the evolving “streaming wars.” There’s no telling how long it will stay in one place this time, but thankfully it’s available on DVD for the die-hard fans.
Mad About You was a favorite of both critics and fans in its time, and in the years since it has remained a beloved staple for sitcom fans. Many have found that it slots easily into a “comfort-watch” of a familiar show like Friends, while providing more intimate stories that are confined to a smaller cast. The revival got mixed reviews overall, but many felt it was a worth successor, even if it couldn’t capture the same magic as the original.
Mad About You is streaming now on Hulu. The 2019 revival series will be added to the streamer on Thursday, July 31st.
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