alt.tv.mad-about-you FAQ, Part 3/9
Ramaswamy
Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part3
Posting-frequency: quarterly
Last-modified: 97-01-30
Version: 5.1
URL: http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~witelski/may-faq3.html
Copyright: (c) 1994-1997 by Ramaswamy [ra...@ultranet.com]
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Frequently Asked Questions list (3/9) for
"Mad About You" and the
Usenet newsgroup alt.tv.mad-about-you
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Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part3
Posting-frequency: quarterly
Last-modified: 97-01-30
Version: 5.1
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This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list for the TV Comedy show
"Mad About You" is, as a collection of information,
Copyright (c) 1994-1997 by Ramaswamy [ra...@ultranet.com].
All Rights Reserved.
This document may be freely distributed in electronic form for
personal use only, provided it is distributed in its entirety
and with all original author and copyright information intact.
Distribution by any other means must be by permission of the
copyright holder. This material is for non-commercial use only
and any sale for profit is expressly forbidden. It may not be
included in any commercial documents, archives or CD-ROMs, nor
uploaded to any BBS or online service without the permission
of the copyright holder. The removal of this copyright notice
is prohibited.
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Sections with updates will be flagged with asterisks (*) in the
Local Table Of Contents below. Almost all sections have
updates in this re-organized document, hence none is flagged.
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Please send in corrections/comments to: [ra...@ultranet.com]
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Main Table of Contents
Local Table of Contents
3.0 What do we not know about Paul and Jamie Buchman?
3.1 When and how did Paul and Jamie meet?
3.2 When and how did Paul and Jamie really meet?
3.3 When and where did Jamie and Paul get married?
3.4 Where did they go on their honeymoon?
3.5 Where do Paul and Jamie live now?
3.6 Where did Paul and Jamie live before they met?
3.7 Is Paul Jewish and are the Buchmans an inter-faith couple?
3.8 Why did Jamie quit her first job?
3.9 What does Jamie do after quitting her job?
3.10 What college is Jamie attending?
3.11 Do Jamie and Paul smoke?
3.12 Do Jamie and Paul lie often?
3.13 Do Jamie and Paul admit mistakes?
3.14 What was Jamie's big secret?
3.15 What happened at the Buchman Wedding?
3.16 What's with the Buchmans and the NYC Subway system?
3.17 What were the Buchmans' winnings at Belmont?
3.18 Why were the Buchmans a day early to Yoko Ono's party?
3.19 Did time really stop for Paul and Jamie at New Year's Eve?
3.20 What's with the fire-escape at the Buchmans' apartment?
3.21 Did Jamie really pull off the bra-trick?
3.22 What's with Jamie being called James and Paul Paulie?
3.23 How do you spell Jamie?
3.24 Are the Buchmans having kids?
3.25 Will their baby be a boy or a girl?
3.26 Is the depiction of Jamie's pregnancy realistic?
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3.0 What do we not know about Paul and Jamie Buchman?
The last question is yet to be asked.
3.1 When and how did Paul and Jamie meet?
They met at a news-stand on West 81st Street on a Sunday evening
before Christmas, and Jamie conned Paul out of the last copy of
the NY Sunday Times at the stand by telling him the paper carried
her parents' obituaries. While paying him, she unknowingly dropped
a drycleaning slip, which Paul used the next day to track her down
to her place of work (the Public Relations firm of Farrer, Gantz).
Paul asked her out, but Jamie was initially quite reluctant to date
him. But she invited him to the office Christmas party that afternoon,
and they went out for the first time that evening.
The [Met Someone] episode [1.11], set in December 1989, describes
the events of just 2 days. However there is a problem with the days
of the week involved in their first meeting, as set in 1989.
- The meeting at the news-stand was late Sunday evening, as Paul
picked up the last (ripped) NY Times. He had a 10-second date that
same evening, after failing to locate entries for the Stemples in
the obituaries (in Selby's copy of the NY Times).
- The next day Paul followed up with the drycleaning slip. Jamie
perhaps didn't miss it since it was the first weekday. Paul
explained in Fran's office "You dropped your slip last night as
you hijacked my newspaper." Both he and Jamie admitted to
thinking about each other "last night," so the day had to be
a Monday.
- Fran's talk of "2 more days to Christmas... I hope it snows!"
implies the date was December 23. She also had a 12:30 lunch
appointment the next day, which also had to be a working day.
- Thus Christmas Day had to be a Wednesday. In 1989, Christmas fell
on a Monday and the preceding Sundays were December 17 and 24.
- Christmas day in 1991 was a Wednesday. It is probable that late
in 1992, the writers were consulting a 1991 calendar (not 1989):
December 1989 December 1991
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S
1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
*17 18 19 20 21 22 23 *22 23 24 25 26 27 28
*24 25 26 27 28 29 30 29 30 31
31
Incidentally, Selby's references to "Driving Miss Daisy" and
Roseanne Barr in "She Devil" (with Meryl Streep) are right on
target, since both movies were released in November/December 1989.
It is interesting to note that in the flashback in [3.22], the
separation takes place on a Saturday (Ursula's board of specials,
Susannah's band's gig) and the reunion takes place the next day,
late in the evening, on a Sunday.
And then for a decidedly fictitious account of how they met, the tale
told by Simone to the unsuspecting Louise should not be missed [3.18].
Oh, ze Peace talks!
3.2 When and how did Paul and Jamie really meet?
A strong believer in fate, Jamie thinks she and Paul were meant to
get together, while Paul considers their meeting at the news-stand
just a big coincidence. This theme is played out in [2.7], when
memories of a childhood encounter surface under unusual circumstances.
An obscure reference to this early encounter is made in [3.13] when
Jamie talks of having known that Paul was the one for her even if she
were only 5 (years old).
Fate may have played a part in their reconciliation as well [4.22],
since both were living elsewhere in the 3 weeks after the breakup,
Paul with Ira and Jamie with Lisa. But after the talk in the park,
with Paul walking away, Jamie returns to the apartment and falls
asleep in her clothes in their bed. After a night spent walkabout,
Paul ventures back to the apartment to pick up some clothes, sees
Jamie asleep across the bed and breaks down apologizing. Things may
have worked out in any case, but the way it did, it had to be fate!
3.3 When and where did Jamie and Paul get married?
There is no specific mention of the date in any of the episodes
(as yet). Since they had been married 5 months in the premiere [1.1],
telecast in September 1992, they were probably married in April 1992.
This is confirmed in the Wedding episode [3.13]
- An interesting side-bar [contributed by Ann Winner]:
In [3.13], when Saul the dressmaker is quizzing Jamie and Fran
about the wedding date, both say "March!" rather abruptly.
It is apparently a well-known tip in the wedding-planning business
that one should lie to the dressmaker, since they tend to cut it
*very* close.
As for the date itself, the third anniversary (in 1995) is supposed
to fall on a Friday [3.22], which indicates April 7 or 14 as probable
dates. However, in 1992 these would be weekdays, and so somewhat
improbable as the wedding day.
April 1992 April 1995
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 1
5 6 7* 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7* 8
12 13 14*15 16 17 18 9 10 11 12 13 14*15
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
26 27 28 29 30 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
On Paul's birthday in 1992 (April 19), Jamie is shown calling from
work and the desk-plate shows her name as JAMIE BUCHMAN (not STEMPLE)
[3.20]. So if the props were accurate, unless Jamie jumped the gun
and ordered the new plate ahead of time, they were married before
Paul's birthday that year. Ergo, the wedding was in the first half
of April, 1992. But we are still left wondering!
As to where, the civil ceremony officiated by Lenny, the Con Ed
worker and Justice of the Peace, took place early in the morning
on 15th Street at Bagel Nosh [3.13], with two #6 washers for the
rings and two Con Ed workers as witnesses, and the bride and groom
in their best PJs (with overcoats). We don't know where the official
ceremony are conducted later that day nor where the reception was
held [3.13].
- Bagel Nosh is no longer in business, but would have been around
during Paul Reiser's childhood; thus it probably provides an
authentic, yet semi-fictitious landmark.
3.4 Where did they go on their honeymoon?
There is no indication yet of where they spent their honeymoon.
There is mention of their having gone to the Poconos "in the Spring
of 1992" [4.17], but with no explicit mention of the honeymoon, this
could have been just another holiday before the wedding. They
certainly did not honeymoon in Italy, since Lisa failed to return
their copy of "Roman Holiday" for 3 years [3.11].
Then there is the matter of time. If they were indeed in New York
City for Paul's birthday on April 19 that year [3.20], there would
have been scant time for a honeymoon after the early-April wedding.
3.5 Where do Paul and Jamie live now?
They are currently living about 2 blocks from Greenwich Village
[1.2], in apartment 11-D of a brickfaced 16-storey [1.7] building
at 51 Fifth Avenue [3.22], at the corner of 12th Street and Fifth
Avenue [1.5, 1.17, 3.7], that is at least 50 years old [2.19].
The nearest subway stations are W 4th St [1.7, 1.14. 3.17] and
14th St [2.8].
Most of the action in MAY takes place in this apartment. Slanty
floors in both the living room and the kitchen are Jamie's frequent
complaint [2.12, 2.16, 2.19]. Their bedroom has a piano [2.11] and
there are a few interesting (framed) photographs above the head-board
[1.15, 2.2, 4.1] that change from time to time. The tiled bathroom
is the scene of an entire episode [1.16].
Their neighbors on the 11th floor are the Conways in 11-C [1.10,
3.2], and the Hamiltons (apartment number unknown, possibly 11-A)
[2.23]. Another neighbor is the young Mrs. Annabelle Stern in 11-J,
near the elevator [3.4]. It is possible John Astin lives in the
penthouse [2.23], and a Brenda Vaccaro lives in the building as well
[2.24].
3.6 Where did Paul and Jamie live before they met?
When they met [1.11], Paul was living at 129 West 81st Street and
Jamie was living nearby at 142 West 81st, so it is understandable
that they met at a local news-stand. They moved in together on
Valentine's Day, 1991.
Before moving into his own apartment on West 81st, Paul stayed for
a while with his cousin Ira at 196 West 93rd Street [3.22], before
Ira booted him out [3.16].
3.7 Is Paul Jewish and are the Buchmans an inter-faith couple?
It is highly probable that they are, although the show has managed
to steer a secular course so far.
Paul Buchman appears to be a non-practicing Jew. He is concerned
about "shellfish within fowl," referring to oysters stuffing
at Thanksgiving, as well as the mince pie [1.9]. Paul also wonders
if Mona's special meatloaf for Murray is kugel [2.20]. On the other
hand, Sylvia Buchman lobbies for shrimp to be served at her son's
wedding [3.13] and gets to the last scampi when dining out with Paul
and Jamie and the Stemples [2.20], so it is likely that both
generations of Buchmans are non-practicing. (An upcoming MAY episode
will shed more light on this matter).
Jamie Stemple is a non-Catholic [1.9], possibly a Protestant. There
is a side reference to having family in Israel in the Tag to [2.22],
but that would appear to be a Helen Hunt reference, not necessarily
a Jamie Stemple reference.
Mark and Fran were a Jewish couple; they observed Seder [1.9] and
Fran made kugel for her sister-in-law.
The only holidays featured in MAY have been secular: Halloween [2.6],
Thanksgiving [1.9, 3.8, 5.7], New Year's Eve [4.8] and for obvious
reasons, Valentine's Day [1.16, 2.16]. An office Christmas party is
featured in [1.11]. Even the actual wedding ceremony was not shown,
leaving all the proceedings to the viewer's imagination; Paul and
Jamie exchanged their own vows in a civil ceremony presided over by
a key-board playing Justice of the Peace in the dead of night on
15th Street at Bagel Nosh [3.13].
3.8 Why did Jamie quit her first job?
Four words precipitated Jamie's departure from Farrer, Gantz:
"Latin men love blondes!" [2.4]
Jamie Stemple Buchman had been Regional VP at her firm for about
two and a half years when she quit. In that span, she had landed
some very important accounts, like Computron [1.6], the "I Still
Love NY" campaign [1.13], and the Central American Tourism
account [2.4].
With the last account, she had to overcome her boss's faux-pas in
suggesting an insulting line to the client: "Central America! Come
take your chances!" But Jack Farrer, her boss, refused to recognize
her contribution, took the credit himself and sent a box of cigars
to a male co-worker (Jack Erdman), whom he considered the point-man
in the presentation to the client. At Riff's that evening Jamie let
off steam, and Paul helped out by describing Mrs. Farrer in rather
disparaging terms ("built like Don Shula"). Too late did Paul and
Jamie realize they'd been overheard by the Farrers seated nearby.
The next day, Jack Farrer came over to Jamie's office with a bottle
of Kristall, as per his habit of rewarding his employees with little
gifts instead of giving credit where it's due. Surprised that she
was not being fired, Jamie tried to put things right between them.
But he offered an explanation of why they could not have landed
the Central American account without her, and it had nothing to do
with what actually happened. Jamie let him know her mind in no
uncertain terms and quit.
3.9 What does Jamie do after quitting her job?
Jamie has a hard time adjusting to not being "a suit" [2.10]
and indulges in a number of highly original pursuits like arranging
books by color [2.19], cleaning out closets [2.18] and worst of all,
saving on haircut expenses for Paul, Lisa and Ira using a Vacuu-Trim
II [2.5].
Seeing how Paul has something to call his own (his documentaries),
Jamie considers a number of choices and opts to go back to school
[2.10], with Paul's full support. In the days leading up to
registration [2.21], she tries her hand at writing [2.19]. While
still at school, she undertakes some PR work for her father-in-law
and decides to launch her own business [3.5]. And who is Jamie's
first client? It's just Ira [3.6]. Since then there have been many
more [3.11, 3.17, 3.21], as Fran joins forces with her and they
soon have a client in Lance Brockwell at City Hall [4.4].
When Brockwell decides to run for Mayor [4.8], he hires Jamie and
Fran to run his campaign [4.16] and Jamie plunges headlong into
City Hall politics, talking Paul into making a campaign spot against
his principles [4.16]. Although now pregnant, Jamie is still with
the Brockwell campaign [5.2].
3.10 What college is Jamie attending?
We don't know for sure, but exterior shots for the registration
episode [2.21] were filmed at Columbia University. The building
with the columns where registration takes place is Ferris Booth
Hall, while the student centre and the outside shot after that is
on one of the lower campus paths, looking south, with Ferris Booth
to the right, Butler Library to the left, and Carman Hall in the
background right, with Carman Gate in the background. The message
kiosk is in the foreground right.
Columbia University may be the medical school of Sylvia Buchman's
choice. Paul thinks his mother would consider him a medical student
if his donated organs were used for teaching at Columbia, rather
than for transplants [1.8].
- Dr. Joel Fleischman of "Northern Exposure" is a graduate
of the Columbia University School of Medicine, class of 1990,
54th out of a class of 140.
Paul himself went to NYU. The two Buchman daughters (Sharon and
Debbie) didn't attend Columbia either. Daredevils both, they went
to college "out of state" [1.11].
Jamie graduated from Yale [1.11]. It is likely that she is now
attending Continuing Education classes, not Graduate School, since
she started school in April 1994 and is registered for courses in
Ethics, French, Logic, and Psychology [2.21]. This selection is not
really indicative of graduate studies, even though Fran introduces
Nick to Mark as "[the guy] with Jamie in Graduate School" [2.22].
3.11 Do Jamie and Paul smoke?
Yes they do, Jamie a lot more than Paul.
Jamie talks of the taste of the first cigarette in the morning [1.3]
and the desire to light up a cigarette after sex [1.19]. And under
stress she sneaks a few puffs, sometimes even openly [2.4, 3.8,
3.11, 3.13], and Paul is well aware of the habit [3.12]. Now that
she is pregnant, presumably the habit is on hold.
Paul rarely smokes cigarettes, although he is shown enjoying a smoke
in the role of a Secret Service agent at the Caribbean resort [3.18].
He smokes cigars more readily, especially the Cuban ones proffered
by Kramer [1.8]. But while Mark and Ira are puffing away [4.22],
Paul is too busy rationalizing his actions to light his stogie; he
similarly chews on his cigar after getting a parking spot in a local
garage [4.2].
Ira has been seen with a cigarette once, at The Russian Tea Room
with Paul and Jamie and Diane "Spy Girl" Caldwell [1.20], though
he doesn't light up.
Burt Buchman has perhaps given up smoking, although in the 1960s
his choice was Chesterfields [5.5].
3.12 Do Jamie and Paul lie often?
Jamie is fluent in lying as the occasion demands. Paul is constantly
amazed at her imagination and effectiveness ("You are so good, it
scares me!") [1.10, 1.14, 2.24]. She lied her way into Paul's
heart with a earthquake-and-her-parents'-obituaries story when
they first met, all to wangle the last copy of Sunday Times from
him [1.11].
A more interesting lie concerns Jamie's middle name [3.11] --
just how she signed her marriage certificate is anyone's guess!
Paul, on the other hand, is extremely uncomfortable telling lies,
even when trying to retrieve his own tape from the premises of
CineGroup Films [2.10]. Significant exceptions are [2.14], where
everyone lies to everyone else with abandon, while at the Caribbean
resort [3.18], Paul doesn't quite match Jamie lie for lie, but
comes awfully close.
3.13 Do Jamie and Paul admit mistakes?
Yes and no. Jamie doesn't make too many mistakes, but when she
makes a whopper [1.13], she admits it:
Paul: "So, so, in other words..."
Jamie: "You were right!"
Paul: "But more importantly..."
Jamie: "I was wrong!"
Paul: "There you go!"
A similar exchange ensues after Jamie rigs up an extra cable outlet
with Fran's help, and is found out [3.6]. Likewise, in the matter
of the taupe shirt [2.17], Jamie admits that she was trying to prove
a point and stops at Macy's for a replacement blouse en route to
Yoko Ono's party. And she also admits her error to Sylvia in the
matter of the printer used for the wedding invitations [3.13].
Paul is quite willing to backtrack in his arguments (about the fired
urchin [1.13], the steamed fish [1.15], the first kiss [2.22] --
"When you're right, you're right!"), and apologizes for his sulking
in [1.6]. But Paul fails to admit a mistake when it matters most to
Jamie [2.15], who expends most of her 10 minutes of a virtual reality
experience to hear Paul endlessly repeat "I was wrong!"
As for the upheaval at the end of season #4 [4.21], Jamie apologizes
first, Paul takes a long time to come around [4.22]. There the matter
rests, sort of. They are seeing a therapist however [5.3, 5.11].
3.14 What was Jamie's big secret?
An entire episode has been devoted to this matter [1.15], where Paul
badgers Jamie into revealing the secret.
Two weeks before they moved in together (Valentine's Day, 1991) into
the apartment at 12th Street and Fifth Avenue, as she was packing up
her things (including her toaster), Jamie felt "a door closing on a
whole part of her life" and panicked at the thought of sharing her
life with someone else. She had an afternoon affair at work with
a co-worker (Stan Franklin) she used to have a crush on, and who was
about to relocate to London. Jamie quickly realized her mistake,
which made her appreciate Paul all the more, and she kept the affair
a secret from everyone, including Fran, until Paul forced her hand.
Jamie has also kept a few other little secrets, like her real middle
name [3.11] and that she had failed to pay back her student loans to
Yale [4.2]. Minor stuff by comparison.
3.15 What happened at the Buchman Wedding?
In seasons #1 and #2, certain events at Paul and Jamie's wedding were
mentioned, and Jamie's wedding dress and her bridesmaids' dresses were
shown, as well as Paul's tuxedo [1.22]:
- There were no pictures of the stuffing-cake-down-the-loved-one's-
throat ritual; the photographer quit because Paul kept interfering
with his work [1.22],
- Ira pinched Jamie's grandmother and got slapped for his troubles
[1.22],
- Lisa got drunk and had a fling with Ira [1.18, 2.1],
- Ira's band played [1.15], and
- the Wedding song was "Color My World" [1.7].
However when the wedding episode [3.13] was shown, a number of things
were right, and others were either missing or wrong:
Things the producers got right:
- The complete theme song was played with the opening credits for
the first time in many moons,
- The couch/love-seat was missing from the livingroom as expected,
- The Aemes (pronounced Eeems) chair was where it should have been,
- Jamie's hairstyle was in keeping with those early days,
- Paul's Aunt Selma and Ricky from Jamie's office called,
- Ira's band played,
- "Color my World" was mentioned as a song by Ira,
- The color of the bridesmaids' dresses was right,
- There were 3 bridesmaids, Lisa, Fran and Debbie, but Sharon was
mentioned as a possibility by Sylvia, and last but far from least,
- There is an inspired, impromptu wedding by the couple, for the
couple.
Things the producers omitted, or missed, or got wrong:
- The face-mask on the wall in the living-room was missing,
- The photographs in the hallway and above the head-board in the
bedroom were all different from season #1 episodes, although
they could have been changed after the wedding,
- Remy was shown at Jamie's bridal shower, whereas Paul's
assistant at that time should have been Stacey,
- The bridal shower was arranged by Fran at 11-D with plenty of
food, not by Lisa with only soda and gum [2.19],
- The bride's and the bridesmaids' dresses were off-the-shoulder
style, but the saved dresses shown at the first anniversary
were not, and had more lace [1.22],
- The groom's tuxedo and shirt were also different from [1.22],
- There was no Best man, definitely no Selby, who should have
been officiating with the official ring,
- Debbie was contemplating divorce on wedding eve, and if she
did go through with it, we may have a contradiction with a
phone conversation with her husband in [2.24],
- Ira and his keyboard player Lenny spent a lot of time on the
dance floor while the music was playing, something Ira did not
do while playing at their friends' wedding [1.15],
- Mark was shown with Fran at the rehearsal dinner, but not on
the dance floor with her,
- Jamie's grandma was missing, so Ira didn't get slapped, and
we had to make good with Aunt Lolly's advice to Jamie,
- Lisa did not get drunk or take advantage of Ira [2.1], or at
least not as far as we know, and
- Nobody gave Paul and Jamie a nut-pick or a pasta-maker [1.15],
only a truckload of gravy-boats, including one from Jamie's
parents [1.5].
3.16 What's with the Buchmans and the NYC Subway system?
Episode 2.8 [Surprise] dealt with the Buchmans getting separated
at the 14th St subway station on their way to see "Tommy" at
the St. James Theatre, although Jamie didn't know where they were
headed.
While getting separated in a crush of people boarding a subway
carriage is not improbable, even for experienced riders like Paul
and Jamie, there are a few problems with what followed.
The Buchmans live at 12th Street and Fifth Avenue. The nearest
subway stations would be W 4th St and 14th St. The latter, on the
Broadway Local and Lexington lines, is also the Union Square station.
The St. James Theatre is at 44th Street and 8th Avenue. The nearest
subway station is 42nd St on the 8th Avenue line, with the 42nd St
station on the Broadway Local or the Broadway-7th Avenue line a bit
further away.
For the Buchmans, the most direct way to St. James Theatre would
have been on the A,C line (8th Avenue) from the W 4th St station
(Washington Square). This is also the station most often mentioned
when they talk about their commutes to work (Jamie working at Farrer,
Gantz and Paul at his studios on 655 Avenue of the Americas, aka
Sixth Avenue, between 20th and 21st Streets), and the site of the
encounter with Paul's 'token' friend Howie Balinger [1.7].
However their odyssey begins at the 14th St station. In the confusion
following their separation, Jamie believes Paul asked her to go to
Union Square station, and she asks a fellow passenger at the platform:
"How do I get to Union Square?"
There are 2 problems with the question:
- Jamie should be sufficiently familiar with Lower Manhattan
stations to know where the Union Square station was and how
to get there.
- If they were taking the N line (Broadway Local), they were
already at the 14th St-Union Square station.
But Paul may have been taking a circuitous route to St. James
"to throw Jamie off the scent." If the 14th St station shown was
in fact on F line (Sixth Avenue Local), Union Square would indeed
have been a different station, reachable on the cross-town L line
(14th St-Canarsie, Manhattan to Brooklyn), not on an uptown line.
So while Paul rode a station up and back down to 14th St, Jamie had
to go cross-town to Union Square and back. This makes the scene back
at 14th St, with Paul getting on the train just as Jamie is getting
off via another door of the same carriage, each oblivious of the
other, quite improbable.
All in all, a conundrum.
In the other subway episode [1.7], set in W 4th St station, Jamie
intentionally mis-directs a woman asking for directions to Hunter's
Point (in Queens), sending her off instead to Hunt's Point.
- Paul: "Grace under pressure! You did good, sweetie!"
Jamie: "Actually I did great! I just sent her to the
South Bronx... she'll be dead in 2 hours!"
However, in her hurried reading of the map, she gets the directions
all mixed-up ("take #2 train uptown to Jackson Avenue and then
transfer to the 6th.") Since the W 4th St station is not on Line 2,
Jamie's directions wouldn't have been followed. The woman would have
been initially confused, but not for long.
3.17 What were the Buchmans' winnings at Belmont?
We can't be sure, but they were considerable.
Jamie bet on a longshot (About To Be Glue) at 50-1, which
won the race in Episode [3.3] by three lengths, after stumbling at
the gate.
The big uncertainty in determining the payoffs is due to lack of
information about the horse that came in second (placed), and at
what odds. Then the track percentage has to be accounted for,
while cancelled bets on #6 by its owner also affected the money
pool for the winner and exacta. We also don't know the number of
horses in the field, affecting the dollar amount of Jamie's bets.
The Field:
About To Be Glue was horse #6 in the race. Five horses
(with their ponies) are shown in the post parade leading to the
starting gate, possibly ten horses at the gate, eight in the race
to the first turn, eight again on the backstretch, six at the far
turn and then eight again on the final stretch and the finish.
A field of eight is assumed in the following calculations.
Types of bets:
- Win: the bettor has to pick the winner.
- Place: the bettor collects a payoff if the horse
finishes first or second.
- Show: the bettor collects a payoff if the horse
finishes first, second or third.
- Exacta: the bettor is required to pick the first
two finishers, in the exact order.
Also known as Perfecta.
- Quinella: the bettor is required to pick the first
two finishers, but the order doesn't matter,
so this is not as demanding as an Exacta.
(Maurice asks Paul if he was going for a
Quinella).
- Trifecta: the bettor is required to pick the first
three finishers, in the exact order.
- Wheeling: the bettor combines the horse with all
others in the field in an Exacta.
- Boxing: the bettor combines more than 2 horses
in all possible Exacta combinations.
Jamie's bets:
"Give me a $5 wheel on the sixth horse, front and back, and give
me a 6-3-1 box. Give me a $30 baseball 1-3-6, also on the sixth
(let me have) a $10 across the board, ... and $20 to win, $20 to
place and $20 to show."
1. $5 Wheel on #6, front and back, means
Exacta #6/All-others . . . . . . . . . . . $35
Exacta All-others/#6 . . . . . . . . . . . $35
2. 6-3-1 Box ($5 implied here), means 6 possible
Exacta combinations with #6, #3 and #1 . . $30
3. $30 Baseball 1-3-6 means (in New York)
a Box bet on the 3 horses, i.e. the
same bet as above (2), but heftier . . . . $180
4. $10 Across the Board means to bet the
horse (#6) to win, place or show . . . . . $30
5. $20 to win, place or show on #6 . . . . . . . . $60
----
Total $370
----
The potential payoff:
Apart from the longshot #6, Jamie bet on #3 and #1 horses, possibly
the favorite and runner-up horses in the field. Two other names
mentioned by the track announcer are Gentle and Kenny Lane, but the
identity (and odds) of the horse that placed is not known. Statistics
on post positions indicate that #3 and #1 horses have the best chance
of winning a race.
If we assume the favorite was #3 horse, bet to win the race at (say)
3-1, and actually placed, the odds can be calculated with a few more
guesses at the betting pool. The cancellation of the $500-to-win and
$500-to-place bets on #6 by Maurice would have affected the payoff,
but that effect is not being considered.
The probable tote board: (payoffs on a $2 ticket)
win place show
#6 at 50-1 102.00 ~31.00 ~8.00*
#3 at 3-1 ~3.40 ???
?? (we won't go there!) ???
Exacta ?? (say 234.00*)
(*) a rough estimate; place odds are a bit more realistic.
In the following calculations, the payoff of bet 1 is somewhat
certain, that for bets 2 and 3 depends on the assumption made
above, while the payoffs for bets 4 and 5 are more precise:
probable |
possible
payoff
1. $5 Exacta #6/All-others depended on the odds
of the place horse (#3 in our case) . . ~$585
Unlike bets 2 and 3, this bet definitely
paid out. $5 All-others/#6 bet paid nothing.
If the favorite horse did not place, the odds
may actually be longer for this Exacta.
2. $5 Exacta #6/#3 or #6/#1 is sole possibility
to collect, with #6 having won.
Let's assume an Exacta mutuel price . . ~$585
3. $30 Baseball with #6, #3 and #1 will collect
only on the #6/#3 or #6/#1 Exacta . . . ~$3510
4. $10 on #6 to win, place or show collected on
the win at 50-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . $510
the place at ~14-1 . . . . . . . . . . ~$155
the show at ~3-1 . . . . . . . . . . . ~$40
5. $20 on #6 to win, place or show collected on
the win at 50-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . $1020
the place at ~14-1 . . . . . . . . . . ~$310
the show at ~3-1 . . . . . . . . . . . ~$80
-------------
~$2700|~$4095
-------------
Most likely Paul and Jamie left the track with more than $2500
in winnings, and perhaps as much as $10,000. Not bad for a $370
investment.
3.18 Why were the Buchmans a day early to Yoko Ono's party?
The episode about Jamie's ill-gotten gains [2.17] had an interesting
twist at the end -- the Buchmans got to an important cocktail party
a day early.
The facts:
- Yoko Ono wrote to Paul, praising his work, which Paul repeatedly
read to all that would listen before they drove to NJ in Ira's car.
- When the Buchmans returned from NJ later that evening after
dining Chinese, they found Yoko Ono had called, but Lisa didn't
take a message or write down Y. Ono's telephone number.
- The next day, Jamie tossed the "blouse of death" out of the
window, in broad daylight, on a sunny day.
- Within seconds, Yoko called again, and invited them to a party
at her house "tomorrow night."
- The Buchmans arrived at Yoko's place the next night, only to be
informed by the maid that they were on the guest list for
"tomorrow night's party" and that her mistress would be
returning from London "in the morning."
A possible explanation:
- Unbeknownst to the Buchmans, Yoko Ono was calling them from
London, where the local time is 5 hours ahead of New York.
Therefore, assuming she called a bit after midnight local
time and she was aware of it, Yoko's "tomorrow" would
become the Buchmans' "day after tomorrow." And the
Buchmans would not have realized this.
There is a problem with the above explanation. Yoko Ono's call
came in during daylight hours, which in a New York winter (there
is snow on the sidewalk outside the Chinese restaurant) would
mean earlier than 5PM, possibly even 4PM. Therefore, it would
be improbable that Yoko Ono called after midnight in London.
However, a writing error that uses a time differential of 8 hours,
as is the case between California and London, can make the
post-midnight-call-from-London explanation work. Midnight in
London would be 4PM in California, with plenty of daylight
(and sun!) about.
There is precedence for such an error.
In an episode of "St. Elsewhere," (E-4.22 in season #4,
telecast in 1985-86), Nurse Rosenthal (Christina Pickles) is talking
about her daughter Marcy, who had moved to Switzerland. She mentions
that "local time in Switzerland is 9 hours ahead." "St. Elsewhere"
was set in Boston, but produced in Los Angeles. Switzerland would
only be 6 hours ahead of the local time in Boston, but 9 hours ahead
of Los Angeles.
Along similar lines:
- The time differential between Chicago and New York (1 hour) is
handled correctly in [Same Time Next Week], in the exchange
between Paul and Jamie when he is snowed-in in Chicago, and she
is in New York:
Paul: "... it is getting late anyway..."
Jamie: "It is late here, it's even later..."
3.19 Did time really stop for Paul and Jamie at New Year's Eve?
In the romantic storyline that was episode [4.8], time stopped for
more than 2 minutes on New Year's Eve 1995 as the lighted ball at
Times Square got stuck on its way down, and the delay allowed Paul
and Jamie to get together on that rooftop for the New Year kiss.
The problem was with the ropes used by two workmen (Bill and Ernest)
getting entangled as they tried to accomodate Paul's directions as
he started filming the sequence. Reality on the night of December 31,
1995 was less extreme but not that different. Time did stop for the
revellers in Times Square.
A new high-tech ball was introduced that day along with a computerized
mechanism controlling its descent, replacing the (six, not two) men
who had manned the ropes practically since time began. And as is wont
to happen with every new technology put to work when subject to
Murphy's Law, there was a glitch lasting a few seconds. Not 120
seconds, but just under 10 seconds. An additional delay for a
leap-second also had to be factored in.
Of course Dick Clark did *not* take the night off as he stated in the
MAY episode; he was at work putting Nat to sleep, quite unfazed by
the tardiness of the glistening ball. Mark need not have yelled at
Joachim to delay his arrival into this world, nor worried about when
the New Year began; Dick Clark's production company maintains its own
clock and rang in the New Year right on time.
3.20 What's with the fire-escape at the Buchmans' apartment?
There is talk of there being no fire-escape at their apartment [1.13],
and all exterior shots reflect this. However, there has to be one,
as Paul climbs out of the bathroom window onto one [2.13]. In the
third season, the fire-escape is featured often [3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.6,
3.11]. This amounts to wholescale contradiction, since the whole
premise of Paul and Jamie being locked up in their bathroom [1.16]
depends on there being no fire-escape.
- A reality check: Pre-war 16-storey buildings in the Lower
Manhattan and Greenwich Village area do not have fire-escapes;
they have interior stairwells. 14 floors of fire-escapes,
running bedroom to bedroom from 11-C to 11-D [3.2, 3.4],
makes for a rather heavy exterior metal structure, that
usually has short spans.
By contrast, both Ira's and Lisa's apartment buildings have
fire-escapes, the latter used as the locale of a particularly
memorable sisterly argument in [1.19]. The same is true of the
elder Buchmans' apartment [2.24].
3.21 Did Jamie really pull off the bra-trick?
Yes she did. As revealed by many members of the newsgroup, what she
accomplished in Lance Brockwell's office [4.4] is not that hard.
What Paul tried with a scarf in the Tag was quite tame [4.4].
A reverse trick was demonstrated by Rowan Atkinson (of "Mr. Bean"
and "Blackadder" fame) on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on
February 26, 1996. Whereas Jamie removed an undergarment (her bra)
from beneath an outergarment (her blouse), Atkinson demontrated
a method of removing an outergarment (his pants) from beneath a
pseudo-undergarment (his swimming trunks) that he had had to wear
over his pants. In less than 3 minutes he managed remove his pants
while keeping the trunks on, a stunt which has its origins on
English beaches with inadequate or unavailable changing rooms,
in an age when decorum had to be observed regardless.
The mechanics are hard to describe, and seeing would be believing in
any case.
3.22 What's with Jamie being called James and Paul Paulie?
Affectionate variations of names they are, nothing more.
Ira similarly calls Fran Frannie [1.22, 2.14], but Mark never does.
Lisa is often called Lise by Paul, and Debbie is called Debelah by
her father Burt [4.21]. This habit even extends to the couple Paul
and Jamie befriended and later found to be having an affair [4.7] --
Doug calls Didi "Deeds."
3.23 How do you spell Jamie?
Just as it is spelled above: J-a-m-i-e. Not J-a-m-e.
Confusion arose after seeing the scene in which a snowbound Jamie
calls Paul from her office [3.20]; the name-plate on her desk
reads JAMIE BUCHMAN in a narrow font that almost merged the 'M'
and the 'I' into one letter: 'M'
But the spelling for her name is indeed J-a-m-i-e. You can even hear
her spell it out to a registrar in [2.21] in one of the last scenes,
along with the spelling of the name Buchman.
3.24 Are the Buchmans having kids?
Yes they are, in season #5 after a whole season spent trying.
Jamie's early pregnancy test returned a positive result [4.22, 5.1]
and the pregnancy has been confirmed by her new gynecologist,
Dr. Joan Golfinos [5.1].
MAY opened with Jamie claiming to be pregnant [1.1], but only to coax
Paul into getting out of bed and making the coffee. Jamie was known
to be on the Pill [3.1], but somewhere along the line changed to the
use of a diaphragm [4.1]. After confessing the unilateral failure to
use contraception one night, Jamie talks Paul into trying for a baby
[4.1].
Fran, in one of her moods, once give explicit advice: "Never have
children" [3.14]. But Sylvia has tried her best to assist the
process by suggesting names [3.1]. Paul once suggested having three
kids, then wondered about the state of mind of the middle kid [4.1].
Over the years, Paul and Jamie have talked about having kids, in
particular when Paul's nephew Jed spent Halloween with them [2.6].
On their second anniversary, Jamie started wondering anew after
her encounter with the neighborhood grocer Kim's new-born daughter
Rose [2.24].
Only 2 babies have been born on-screen on MAY so far; Kim's daughter
Rose [2.24] and the possibly-so-named Joachim at Mark's clinic just
after midnight on January 1, 1996 [4.8].
3.25 Will their baby be a boy or a girl?
The answer is in the question; the baby will be a boy or a girl.
It most certainly won't be an owl.
Sylvia in her persistent way has already suggested a name for
either sex; "Barbara... if it is a girl." [3.1] and Leon [5.8].
3.26 Is the depiction of Jamie's pregnancy realistic?
According to reactions posted by members of the newsgroup in the know,
it is remarkably realistic, albeit with some run-of-the-mill TV fare.
While the determined avoidance of a sip of wine [5.1] and a little
caffeine [5.2] seems unnecessary and excessive, inserted into the
script for comedic value and nothing more, the state of complete
exhaustion resembling sleep-deprivation Jamie is shown in is right
on the mark, as when she failed to dress for work and collapsed on
the couch instead [5.2].
Even the act of falling asleep in mid-sentence as Paul is detailing
plans for his movie project in the last scene of [5.2] is accurate;
the snore from Jamie at the end of the episode is not a cheap laugh,
the reality of early pregnancy *can* force such a situation.
The same goes for having erotic dreams [5.8] and being nauseous at
the very sight of foods one has great liking for [5.6].
As season #5 has progressed, there have been some inconsistencies
in the way Jamie was "showing," but this had a lot to do with the
strange order in which produced episodes were being telecast by
NBC. In particular, the episode "The Gym" was produced in week #5,
but aired as the ninth episode, 2 weeks after the telecast of
"Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" which was produced in week #10.
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