The idea of this limited series was simple...each episode was built around an everyday stressful situation (meeting your current lover's ex, getting a job, visiting your lover's parents, taking your driver's test, moving house) and build an absurd story around them. Have them written by smart writers (including veteran TV comedy writers and a number of top playwrights like Wendy Wasserstein, Terence McNally, and Christopher Durang) and acted by some big names in show biz, like Spalding Gray, Stephen Wright, Teri Garr, Swoosie Kurtz, Rosanna Arquette, Stockard Channing, Carrie Fisher, and Candice Bergen in her pre-Murphy Brown days, proving she really could do comedy. (And how did they afford all these folks anyway?). And you have gold.
This show was a rarity; I was lucky to come across it late at night on my local PBS station, but I was roaring with laughter. I know I missed some episodes, but the ones I saw are cherished memories after all these years.
It was almost therapeutic; at the time I was coping with my own trying times and being able to laugh at the situations here made it easy for me to cope. I wish it would be released on DVD, or rerun; smart, well-acted comedy like this would be a breath of fresh air today. Or at least resurrect the concept with some edgy new writers and directors.
