WEDNESDAY 9:30 (8:30 CENTRAL): THE ART OF GROVELING (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series about the backstabbing staff at the IBS television network, as seen through the eyes of its newest hire, straight-shooter David Weiss. In this episode, IBS woos John Ritter for a new television show. Red decides to enlist David with sealing the deal, telling him to do whatever it takes. First, David tries to make the most of a friend that he and John have in common. Next, he learns that John is into obscure vodkas so he pursues that angle. Meanwhile, Mike doesn't want David to get all the glory so he decides he will "reel in the Ritter fish." At the same time, Red forces Paul to tweak the schedule for the week. Later, Paul meets with television star Steve, a chimpanzee, who is demanding a new writing staff via his manager, Marty. David brings the vodka to John, who reveals he now rarely drinks and is perturbed that David would be "so desperate to please" instead of exhibiting some integrity. John turns the tables by making David take swigs from the vodka bottle, getting him buzzed. Meanwhile, Mike goes to a synagogue in order to cozy up with John's doctor, Larry Meyerwitz. Later, with John busy on a photo shoot, he enlists David to watch Sam, the "little brother" that he sponsors from a Big Brother program.
At the same time, Mike goes in to speak with Dr. Meyerwitz and instead learns he needs emergency heart surgery, relishing the opportunity to be operated on by John's physician. Meanwhile, when Steve accidentally messes with the programming tiles, he creates a schedule that Red loves. After a late night acting as a Big Brother to the bratty Sam, John calls David the next morning to see if he will fly to New York to see if an iron is still on in his apartment there. Of course, David refuses to let John down and is on the next flight. During surgery preparations, Mike tries to speak with Dr. Meyerwitz, but quickly succumbs to the anesthetic. Returning from the wild goose chase to New York, David goes to John's house, where the frantic actor says that he crashed his car into a man and killed him. John shows a body rolled up in his living room rug, asking David to cut up the remains and get rid of it. When David refuses, John reveals that it was just "a cruel, sadistic joke" used to test his character. Back at the station, Paul uses Steve to figure out a complete programming schedule, though the results no longer please Red. Finally, Mike recovers from surgery to find out that John signed with ABC instead of IBS, making John think he's in need of Dr. Mayerwitz's services once again. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: April 3, 2002 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:28:22
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:70477
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2002
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - All detergent
- TV - Commercials - Aquafresh toothpaste
- TV - Commercials - Burger King restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Ford automobiles
- TV - Commercials - JC Penney stores
- TV - Commercials - Kia automobiles
- TV - Commercials - McDonald's restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Riesen chocolate
- TV - Commercials - Sprint calling plans
- TV - Commercials - Stayfree maxipads
- TV - Commercials - Subway restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Tele-Zapper privacy technology
- TV - Promos - ""Bless Me Father, For I Have Sinned: The Catholic Church in Crisis"
- TV - Promos - "Alias"
- TV - Promos - "Primetime Thursday"
- TV - Promos - "The Bachelor"
- TV - Promos - "The Practice"
CREDITS
- Lauren Corrao … Executive Producer
- Peter Tolan … Executive Producer, Created by
- Daphne Pollon … Co-Executive Producer
- Leslie Tolan … Coordinating Producer
- Jenji Kohan … Supervising Producer
- Mike Martineau … Supervising Producer
- Shari Tavey … Producer
- Frank Sackett … Associate Producer
- Ted Wass … Director
- David Baldy … Writer
- Christopher Tyng … Music by, Theme Music by
- Ivan Sergei … Cast, David Weiss
- Ed Begley … Cast, Paul Weffler
- Melinda McGraw … Cast, Lindsay Urich
- James McCauley … Cast, Mike McClarren
- Sherri Shepherd … Cast, Joanne Walker
- John Cleese … Cast, Red Lansing
- David Starzyk … Cast, Marty
- Bonita Friedericy … Cast, Nurse
- John Ritter … Cast, Himself
- Max Peters … Cast, Sam
- James Baerg … Cast, Dr. Larry Meyerwitz
- Paul Tigue … Cast, Worshipper
- Darlene Kardon … Cast, Woman #1
- Jack Esformes … Cast, Man #1
- Reggie Jordan … Cast, Security Guard