Released
1998
Cast
Judd Nelson - Jack Richmond (owner of The Gate magazine)
Brooke Shields - Susan Keane (columnist with The Gate)
Barbara Barrie - Nana (Susan Keane's grandmother)
Kathy Griffin - Vicki Groener (reporter with The Gate)
Nestor Carbonell - Luis Rivera (photographer with The Gate)
David Strickland - Todd Stites (rock critic with The Gate)
Andréa Bendewald - Maddy Piper (with The Gate)
Recurring Characters
Anthony Starke - Kip (Jack's brother)
Lisa Howard - Margo (Jack's wife)
Paul Cassell - Flip (Margo's brother)
Swoosie Kurtz - Liz Keane (Susan's mother) played originally by Caroline McWilliams
Ray Baker - Bill Keane (Susan's father) played originally by Kurt Fuller
Andrea Bendewald - Maddy Piper (investigative reporter at The Gate)
Albie Selznick - Ben Rubenstein (Vicky's husband)
Bill Stevenson - Pete (The Gate's gay mailman)
Nicole Nagel - Kate (Jack's girlfriend)
Credits
Warner Bros TV
Created - Clyde Phillips
Developed - Steven Peterman and Gary Dontzig
Executive Producer - Steven Peterman and Gary Dontzig
Co Executive Producer - Dan O'Shannon
Co Producer - Perry Rogers
Consulting Producer - Mimi Friedman and Jennette Collins
Producer - Frank Pace
Creative Consultant - Clyde Phillips and Marc Flanagan
Executive Story Editors - Rick Singer and Andrew Green and Linda Mathious and Heather MacGilvray and Maryanne Melloan
Associate Producer - Jean Zuhorski
49. Birds Do It, Bees Do It, Even Some of These Do It
Following on from the second-season cliffhanger, Jack and Susan head from the wedding reception to Susan's place with love on their minds forgetting that Susan is letting Todd stay at her place while his parents are in town. Next day Jack sends Todd out of town on an assignment and takes Susan to dinner, but she reacts badly to his eagerness to finish the meal and walks out. Fortunately, wise Nana gives her a stern talking-to, which leads to a reconciliation. Meanwhile, newlyweds Vicki and Ben also have trouble consummating their honeymoon in Hawaii.
50. Feels Like the First Time
When Jack and Susan finally get the chance to consummate their new romance, it's not the earthshaking experience they were expecting. Finally they agree to relax their unrealistic expectations and immediately have great sex in Jack's office. Meanwhile, Luis accidentally thwarts Todd's attempts to fulfill his lifelong dream of catching a foul ball at a Major League game when Luis knocks the ball into the hands of an obnoxious 10-year-old. Vicki returns from her honeymoon furious that Maddy never gave her a wedding present.
51. Don't Tell
In a desperate attempt to keep her romance with Jack a secret from the office grapevine, Susan tells bloodhound Vicki that she's dating her dentist, Mort Gerken, only to have Vicki decide that Mort is cheating on Susan. Meanwhile, Todd challenges Maddy to an IQ test and Luis celebrates his fifth anniversary at the Gate.
52. Sleeping With the Enemy
Susan's relationship with the boss begins to take its toll on her friendships at work, and the tension boils over when the gang attends Career Day at Susan's old school and she is humiliated by her old teacher, Mr. Vance, who fills the others in on how Susan's figure used to be filled out. Meanwhile, after Todd tries in vain to coach Luis at darts for a bar competition and Vicki develops an odd romantic problem, she's become a "man magnet" since her marriage to Ben.
53. Halloween Episode
Jack misses Susan's Halloween party and then won't explain his whereabouts to protect Maddy, who called him from jail when she was arrested for drunk driving, leaving Susan furious until a reluctant Maddy confesses part of the truth.
54. War Games
Susan and Jack worry that they're incompatible when they, as a couple, fail miserably at games, and Susan finally throws out Vicki and Ben after a particularly humiliating fiasco at charades. When they decide to consult a therapist, he opines that they are again trying to measure their relationship against an impossible ideal, rather than having fun together in the moment. When they leave they discover the next patient is Todd, troubled by recurring erotic dreams about Jack which the doctor explains as projections of Todd's resentment at being "screwed over" by Jack's promises of a raise which never materializes.
55. Seems Like Old Times
After a tremor shakes things up at the Gate, the staff rescue from the stalled elevator a shaken Lily, a nonagenarian survivor of the 1906 earthquake who shares her off-the-wall story (told via flashbacks featuring the cast) about Lily's mother, an aspiring singer (Susan); a lovesick busboy (Jack), a fortuneteller (Nana), two cough-drop moguls (Todd and Luis), and Enrico Caruso.
56. Trash Test Dummies
When Jack and Susan head off on their first weekend together, they're sidetracked by a visit to Jack's lowlife cousin Wallace and bamboozled into baby-sitting his kids, who are a handful.
57. Thanksgiving Episode
When Grandmother Richmond invites Jack and Susan to her mansion for Thanksgiving, Jack initially refuses. He hasn't been friendly with his parents since he started dating Susan, whom they hate for abandoning her former fiancé, Jack's brother, on her wedding day. Jack and Susan agree to attend only after learning that the parents will not be there. However, Grandmother Richmond tricked Jack, his parents do come in order to force the family to reconcile. As Jack and his parents' bickering escalate, Susan tries vainly to make peace. Jack finally defiantly blurts out that he plans to move in with Susan. At first, Susan is angry with Jack for announcing something that they have hardly discussed. But later, she agrees that it's a good idea.
58. The Apartment Hunt
As Susan and Jack search for an apartment together, Susan wonders if Jack is really interested in living with her. His blood pressure rises whenever the subject is discussed, and he finds something to dislike in 22 consecutive places that Susan loves. Finally, when Susan makes an appointment with a handsome real-estate agent to look at the most fabulous apartment of all, Jack does not come at all. To her surprise and embarrassment, an upset Susan finds herself kissing the agent. Later, when Susan confronts Jack about his attitude and confesses what she did, Jack becomes furious.
59. Merry Ex-Mas
Susan is distraught because she kissed the realtor, and asks Luis to help her make things up with Jack. Jack spends the night with another woman, and when Luis arrives, agonizes whether to tell Susan: Luis advises against. Jack eventually decides he has to tell Susan, and she reluctantly decides they should end their relationship.
60. Wedding Bell Blues
After a brief vacation in Las Vegas, Nevada, Luis astounds everyone by announcing that he married a pretty Honduran woman, Rosie. Meanwhile, Susan is still recovering from recently ending her relationship with Jack. When Susan observes Rosie secretly meeting a man and tells Luis about it, he accuses Susan of being influenced by her own bad luck in love. But Rosie soon admits that the man is her boyfriend and that she only married Luis to gain U.S. citizenship. Susan commiserates with Luis. Also, Todd enrolls in a program to help fatherless youths. Unfortunately, his protégé is a childish 35-year-old man, Andy. Todd helps Andy mature by introducing him to a real youngster who needs guidance.
61. On a Clear Day You Can Hear Forever
When Nana almost has a car accident because she can't hear an ambulance's siren, Susan insists that Nana get a hearing aid. This makes Nana feel old, and she becomes lethargic and uninterested in anything. Meanwhile, free from his responsibility to Susan, Jack overcompensates by indulging in more and more dangerous sports. Susan reinvigorates Nana by convincing her to go skydiving with Jack and Jack forces Susan to jump from the airplane as well. Meanwhile, Luis and Vicki become jealous of Maddy's super efficient new personal assistant, so they hire one.
62. One Man's Intervention is Another Man's Tupperware Party
After Maddy is rejected by a television newsmagazine, Susan and the gang find her at a bar, extremely drunk. Since Maddy has been arrested for drunk driving before, Susan worries that Maddy is an alcoholic. She also finds vodka bottles in Maddy's office. Susan rallies her workmates, and they confront Maddy to say that they're concerned about her alcohol drinking.
63. Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut
Jack, Susan, Maddy and Luis attend a journalism conference. Suspicious that Jack wants to renew his romance with her which she doesn't want. Susan is surprised when he reunites with a sexy former girlfriend, Meegan Garrity. Susan tries to make Jack jealous by flirting with a bitter, unresponsive columnist but later learns that Jack was only trying to make her jealous. Maddy releases her tension in the only vice available to her, wild sex with Luis. With Jack gone, Todd plans to use the office for a 1960s-themed party. Unfortunately, Vicki arranges for Ben to host a senior citizens' bingo game in the office for the same night.
63. Ben Rubenstein, Meet Joe Black
Luis and Maddy continue their lustful affair at every opportunity. After Todd witnesses the couple having sex in the supply closet, Luis wonders if he is sacrificing his personal life for a meaningless relationship. Maddy doesn't pretend that Luis is anything but a replacement for her alcohol addiction, but Luis cannot refuse the great sex either. Meanwhile, Vicki's meddlesome mother Edie and long-suffering father Leon visit. Edie constantly complains about not being a grandmother yet. When Ben returns from a trip, Vicki makes passionate love to him--and he dies of a heart attack. Distraught with guilt that she killed her husband, Vicki moves in with her parents to a trashy trailer in Arizona. She seems doomed for a life of bitterness and failure until Susan finds out that Ben had a serious heart condition that he kept secret; he was due to die anyway. After Susan informs Vicki, they return to San Francisco. Ed McMahon guest stars as himself in search of a multi-millionaire sweepstakes winner whom he just can't seem to find.
64. The Song Remains Insane
A confused Jack misinterprets an overheard conversation and believes that Luis is dating Vicki. After climbing down the apartment fire escape and witnessing Luis having sex with Maddy, Vicki gleefully tells everyone at work. While defending herself, Maddy inadvertently admits that she truly likes Luis, to his pleasure. Meanwhile, upon learning that Susan is dating a record producer, Zach Hayword, Todd forces her to play Zach a recording of Todd's singing.
65. Revenge of the Gophers
Susan doesn't recognize her former classmate, Cindy, who renews her friendship with Susan. Cindy recounts how Maddy terrorized both Susan and her in school. She confesses that she was depressed and went to a therapist for years due to one particularly traumatic prank, which she assumes Maddy instigated. To her horror, Susan remembers that she played the prank on Cindy accidentally, intending it for Maddy. Meanwhile, when Vicki blithely gives away her deceased husband's clothes and possessions, Luis worries that she is suppressing her sadness. Also, it particularly upsets Jack that Ben was younger than Jack when he died. Jack creates more stress in his life by trying to prove how youthful he is.
66. In This Corner ... Susan Keane! (1)
As Susan prepares to interview an office seeker for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the candidate dies. Nana begs Susan to take his place and campaign against the people's favorite, professional wrestler Hollywood Hogan. Susan resists until Hogan barges into The Gate's offices and threatens Susan after she writes an article criticizing him. Luis and Maddy sadly end their relationship.
67. In the Corner ... Susan Keane! (2)
After her disastrous debate against outrageous Hollywood Hogan, Susan loses even more support in the Board of Supervisors election, according to polls. After Hogan attacks Susan in unfair television advertisements, Susan remains determined to win somehow. She obtains a huge donation and produces a sleazy commercial to counter Hogan's, but she later decides to pursue a more respectable advertising campaign instead. Later, she visits supervisor-elect Hogan and is amazed by his quiet, tasteful home. Hogan greets her in a business suit and reveals that he only put on the scandalous act to win the election so he can make a difference. To Susan's relief, he is actually an intelligent and compassionate man. Vicki is glad the election is over so she can date Hogan without betraying Susan. Meanwhile, Luis and Maddy awkwardly attempt to reconcile, but neither is willing to accept blame. They finally compromise and reunite.
68. The First Picture Show
Luis has his first photography exhibition at an art gallery managed by Susan's friend. At the opening party, Susan notices that the buyers are intimidated, so she purchases one of Luis' paintings to spur business--not realizing that the artwork is much too expensive. Fortunately, a collector later offers her almost twice as much money for the photograph. Meanwhile, Todd is perturbed when Jack dates Todd's sexy visiting sister Oxnard. Behaving like an overprotective father, Todd tells Jack not to have sex with Oxnard. However, Todd needn't worry--Jack is strangely reminded of Todd when trying to kiss Oxnard and is no longer able to consider sex with her anyway.
69. Bowled Over
Susan finally gets her new boyfriend, Zack, to commit some of his busy schedule to her. Feeling sorry for lonely Vicki, Susan invites her to join Zack and her at a club appearance by Zack's friend, rock star Warren Zevon. However, Zack obviously has much more in common with Vicki that with Susan, frustrating her. Jack makes an ill-advised bet with rival newspaper editor Sam: the loser in a bowling match between Jack's employees and Sam's must get a Mohawk haircut. To challenge Sam's expert players, Jack recruits Maddy, an excellent bowler, along with mediocre Todd and awful Luis, who can't even keep the ball in his own lane. However, Maddy distracts Sam's guys with sexy poses, and she uses a strange but effective method to coach Luis into making a crucial spare to win the game for Jack's team.
70. A Day in the Life
The season finale is a memorial to former series star David Strickland, who committed suicide in mid-season. After buying a used cellular telephone, Vicki becomes exasperated from receiving frequent calls to its previous owner, a psychic named Charlene--until, by pretending to be Charlene, Vicki manipulates a date with wealthy, lovelorn Eric. Eric unfortunately discovers the ruse when he calls Charlene and hears Vicki's telephone ringing. Meanwhile, Luis cannot figure out why Maddy is so irritated at having to take care of him while he suffers from a head cold. Maddy finally admits that she has bad memories of caring for her alcoholic mother. Since Jack gave Todd the day off from work, no one thinks much about Todd until Susan notices that he left her the wrong tickets to a concert that night. Unable to contact Todd at home, Susan goes on a quest to find him and learns details about his personality that she never appreciated before: an elderly woman recounts how Todd buys her health drinks and listens to her; some kids tell Susan that Todd pays for their games at a video arcade; and a barber informs Susan that Todd visits every week to teach him guitar. When Todd fails to arrive at the much-anticipated concert, Susan worries that something is wrong. She gathers the concerned Nana, Jack, Luis, Maddy and Vicki. They learn that, because of an accident, they will never see their friend again. Clips of Todd from the series' entire run follow.
