When I was growing up, I watched many sitcoms. Mad About You was always one of my favorites. When I heard that Spectrum was doing a reboot, I was both excited and worried about disappointment. There was much hubbub about shows like Will & Grace and Roseanne returning to television, and if you ask me, these shows were a terrible flop. I loved the Mad About You reboot, and I watched the entire thing. As of January 2020, there are only 13 episodes of the series, but they are pure gold. One thing that sets Mad About You apart from the other shows that have tried to make a comeback: the story makes sense. The Conners and Will & Grace both pick up with characters having dreams that explain the fact that the series picked up at a random later point in time.

Dream sequences began with Mary Tyler Moore many years ago. This idea might have been comical and innovative at the time, but like many other things in popular entertainment, the concept has been done to death.

Assuming that the show has remained in canon, the show picks up in the present day, after their baby, Mabel, grows up and goes off to college.

Paul and Jamie are still the extremely adorable couple they always have been, fighting through trials of marriage and having a teenage daughter, and then doing what they need to do to put the pieces back together.

The couple still goes through real-life struggles. Jamie struggles with empty nest syndrome. Paul tries to comfort her by adopting a dog for her. To my delight, the dog does not look anything like “Murry.” Jamie also deals with the struggles of getting older.

While the real-life atmosphere is what draws me into the show, the Bachmans and their friends still get themselves into very unusual situations.

One of my favorite episodes is when shenanigans ensue after Jamie goes to her gynecologist friend, Mark, in an attempt to get some relief for menopause symptoms. Mark gives her some cream that’s only available in Canada and has bizarre side effects, in addition to curing things like night sweats and loss of libido. It also makes her incredibly hungry, and, of course, it wouldn’t be a Canadian joke unless they made the lotion smell like pancakes. This episode had me rolling on the floor laughing.

Many of the old characters have returned. Ira has a new wife, an obloquy Italian woman named Lucia. The pair own a restaurant together. Jamie turns to Mark’s new wife for help in getting a job at a counseling office. The job throws me off as I always thought Jamie was in advertising. The story goes on to say that when Jamie had Mabel, she was unable to finish MSW. That is the only thing that seems out of canon to me.

Lisa is still a pain in the ass, but now she’s a pain in the ass who has a cool job. As we know, the story takes place in New York City, and Lisa subsequently is able to find work as a house sitter for celebrities. Paul accidentally kills all of Anderson Cooper’s fish when he is a stand-in for Lisa on one of the house-sitting gigs.

Mabel has grown into a fine young woman who cares about social justice and is also incredibly driven, just like her mom. I don’t want to give away spoilers because it will kill the end of the first season for anybody, but she does something very noble in an attempt to save wildlife.

Please give the show watch. You do not need to be someone who enjoyed the show beforehand to appreciate its genius.