Mad About You
Guardianhood
TV Flash files “Guardianhood” as hour 116 of 176 in the TV Flash guide — Mad About You (1992–1999) on NBC, season 5, episode 21, aired 1997-05-06, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E21: listed hour 116 of 176 in the Mad About You guide, hour 21 of 24 in season 5. It aired 1997-05-06 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Dry Run” (S05E20). Next is “The Feud” (S05E22).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The Buchmans are having trouble trying to figure out who they should ask to be the guardian for their baby and are forced to listen to the problems of ditsy waitress Ursula.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Guardianhood sit in the Mad About You guide?
S05E21 is listed hour 116 of 176 — hour 21 of 24 in season 5, season 5 episode 21.
When did Mad About You S05E21 air?
Guardianhood aired 1997-05-06 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Was there a revival?
Yes — a limited revival reunited Reiser and Hunt years after the 1992–1999 original run. The 1990s seasons are the Must-See text.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Paul and Jamie Buchman negotiate New York marriage at human scale — careers, in-laws, a dog, no high-concept gymnastics. Reiser and Hunt make ordinary evenings feel like high-stakes talks because they are. Must-See adjacent couple comedy, Helen Hunt's Emmy run attached, the softer married counterpoint to single-city farce on the same night.
Flash: September 23, 1992, NBC, a New York marriage at human scale. Paul and Jamie Buchman negotiate careers, in-laws, and a dog with observational micro-drama rather than high-concept gymnastics. Paul Reiser and Danny Jacobson built a Must-See two-hander that felt intimate even inside multi-cam architecture. Helen Hunt's Jamie became an Emmy machine. Guest stars and baby arcs expanded the frame without losing the couple's gravitational pull. Seven original seasons through 1999, plus a later limited revival.…
Filed against
- Paul Reiser as Paul Buchman
Paul Reiser played Paul Buchman on Mad About You, 1990s New York marriage at human scale — careers, in-laws, a dog, no high-concept gymnastics. Reiser and Helen Hunt make ordinary evenings feel like high-stakes talks because they are.…
- Helen Hunt as Jamie Buchman
Helen Hunt's Jamie Buchman negotiated New York marriage at human scale on Mad About You — careers, in-laws, a dog, no high-concept gymnastics. Reiser and Hunt made ordinary evenings feel like high-stakes talks because they were. Must-See…
- Anne Ramsay as Lisa Stemple
Anne Ramsay’s Lisa Stemple crashed Mad About You as in-law weather — Paul and Jamie Buchman negotiating New York marriage at human scale, careers, a dog, no high-concept gymnastics. Must-See adjacent couple comedy, Helen Hunt’s run…
- Leila Kenzle as Fran Devanow
Leila Kenzle's Fran Devanow kept Mad About You looking like a New York marriage with friends — Paul and Jamie at human scale, careers, in-laws, a dog, no high-concept gymnastics. Must-See adjacent couple comedy. TV Flash files her as…
- John Pankow as Ira Buchman
John Pankow’s Ira Buchman crashed Mad About You as the cousin who would not leave the marriage — Paul and Jamie negotiating New York at human scale, careers, in-laws, a dog, no high-concept gymnastics. Reiser and Hunt, Must-See adjacent…