An ode to the beloved Murray from Mad About You
For fans of 90s primetime TV, Mad About You has a special place in their hearts.
The show was based on the lives of a newlywed couple, Paul and Jamie and of course their beloved dog, Murray, an adorable collie mix. Paul Buchman was a documentary film maker and Jamie Stemple, an ambitious public relations executive.
The show was based on the genius comedy of Paul Reiser and created by himself and of course Danny Jacobson. It ran for 7 seasons and was revived in 2019—20 years after the initial run ended for an eighth season.
Mad About You was the winner of 4 Golden Globes and a whopping 12 primetime Emmy Awards, as per Wikipedia.
Get the popcorn and sit back; let’s look back on Mad About You and the show’s epic stars—which of course include “Murray the dog.”
In truth I could have enjoyed another 10 seasons back then and even now. It can be argued that this show was the precursor for a lot of shows that followed…the scope of the show being way different than a lot of shows airing at the time, and really this show and Seinfeld had a lot to do with that new direction for a sitcoms on TV.
A note on the acting and artistry of the main actors on the show is worth mentioning here. I mean Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt need no introduction to fans of cinema; both having extraordinary careers and accolades respectively.
Shows prior to this had a little bit of a different vision overall and while it was still a comedy, the show dealt with themes that had rarely been addressed on such a platform.
It can indeed be said that without Mad About You, there would have been no Friends, and where would the world be without Friends, I ask you? In fact Lisa Kudrow played Ursula (Phoebe’s twin sister) on Mad About You first!
The entire cast on Mad About You was extraordinary, and special care should be taken to say that I believe John Pankow, who played Paul’s cousin, Ira, is in my mind one of the greatest American actors in the business.
The conviction at which he delivered all his lines has always blown me away, and to watch he and Reiser play off each other is something I miss dearly and wish I could see more of. Pankow, to my estimation, is up there with the likes of Keitel and Christopher Walken.
But what of Murray the dog? He played such an integral role in this show and only added to that coziness factor we all looked for when settling down to watch our favorite sitcom…something that’s missing in a lot of TV these days, sadly.
The story goes, Paul found Murray when he was just a puppy, and he was Paul’s dog first. In fact Paul was walking Murray when he first bumped into Jamie. And I guess it was love at first sight for the three of them.
Scenes throughout the series with Murray are a joy to watch. Funny, well executed by everyone involved, and engaging. The addition of the dog walker, Nat (played by the genius—I sure am using that word a lot in this piece—Hank Azaria) was a perfect way to keep Murray involved in the central developing storyline of the show.
Key moments are of course when Murray gets a gig as an actor, the episode titled Murray’s Tale, in which Lisa, Jamie’s sister loses Murray and the cast sets out to find him…and who can forget the running bit…Murray’s quest for the mouse? Always good for a laugh that bit was.
The actor that played Murray was Maui, a trained animal actor who had a few other gigs in commercials and in the movie, Bingo, before this one came along.
Next. A look back at The Littlest Hobo. dark
In the end, dear readers…if you haven’t seen Mad About You, please move that rock you’ve been living under and find it, buy it, stream it and enjoy. You’re really missing out on something special. And for you dog lovers out there, Murray is an integral part of this beautiful story. You won’t regret it.