Date of airing: November 20, 1999 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 8.83 million viewers, 5.8/10 in Households, 2.8/8 with Adults 18-49
written by: Alex Taub
directed by: Mel Damski
Well, this was a soft episode. I guess after letting Gary get arrested for murder and almost send him to prison if it was not for the help of the paper, and let him become a fugitive on the run from two police detectives he kind of knows very well, all the writers needed was a little bit of happiness and freedom, and maybe a slight romantic storyline. The only problem was that the paper did not give Gary a weather report and therefore did not give him the opportunity to find out if there could have been something more between him and Rebecca. It shows what kind of stories EARLY EDITION wanted to deal with on a regular basis, as it delivered another very much G-rated episode for the entire family to enjoy. Nothing dramatic or chaotic or too thrilling and violent, just a story about a weather girl becoming dissatisfied with her job and not recognizing that early enough. An episode in which the weather is the biggest issue for the characters... That has to sound boring to absolutely everyone.
But then there was guest star Maria Pitillo, who maybe should or should not have had a Hollywood career in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I can remember, when GODZILLA aired on the German television network ProSieben for the first time (in March 2002, after an originally planned, and already promoted, airing in October 2001 was pre-empted because of 9/11), it was promoted with her name on the screen, together with Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno's name, and German television did not just do that for all the actors while promoting the airing of upcoming movies. Usually, that honor only belonged to the superstar A-listers, making me think that Pitillo was "groomed" to become the next Hollywood superstar in the late 1990s. Networks wanted to give her a lead in a sitcom, and they gave her the female lead role in a Godzilla movie, and both career paths did not work out for her at all. GODZILLA was trashed by film critics and she was "awarded" a Golden Razzie, her NBC sitcom HOUSE HOLES only survived for seven episodes in 1998, and additional attempts at getting a lead on a TV show did not come to fruition, as all of those pilots were not ordered to series. That is how Pitillo's career stalled and she essentially quit the business after getting married in 2002. In a way, Maria Pitillo was the Sam Worthington of the late 1990s, and Jai Courtney was the Sam Worthington of the mid-2010s. The only difference being that Worthington still has a career, thanks to the madness that is James Cameron.
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| Uncle Phil has returned, and he is his old and annoying self. |
The episode was okay, even if it was soft. Rebecca was a cute character whom I would have liked to hang out with myself, but she was not a unique character, as someone with her looks and behavior would invade the White House less than a year later on NBC: Yes, Rebecca, and probably Pitillo's performance in general, was very much reminiscent of Emily Procter's performance of Ainsley Hayes in THE WEST WING, which she originated in the Fall of 2000 for that show's second season. It had me wondering if Pitillo may have been in the running for that role, considering the fact that NBC tried so hard to give her a sitcom starring role, and after they failed, tried to set her up on one of the network's hottest TV dramas back in the day. Granted, if that had been the case, Pitillo would have officially been typecast, but it is not like there is no need for cute and "tipsy" women characters who might be a bit too weird, but can otherwise dish it out as well as they can get it.
Rebecca may have been a cute character, but she was also a severely underdeveloped character, who could have gone through a little more than just the realization that she was not made for the weather forecast. Maybe the writers could have given her some character depth and let her be more than Gary's weird and crazy love interest of the episode, but then again, they probably would have done that if she was developed to become a recurring character with the potential to not just be Gary's love interest, but also a character in her own right – basically the exact opposite of what Erica was in the third season. There was some fun and comedy in Rebecca's behavior that fits the tone of the series (especially when she grabbed Gary by the bathrobe to force him to give her the weather report or else, he will not get a kiss from her), and could have been carried over to the following episodes, but I assume that was not destined to be. After many failed attempts at giving Pitillo a starring role on a TV series, a suitable character for her is only a one-and-done.
At least the writers had fun with Gary breaking his unwritten rules for once (using the paper for selfish purposes), even though I have no idea where that came from and why Gary was doing it in the first place – although the answer could be simple: Maybe he just had a crush and wanted to help her out. Yes, Gary took the paper and used it for personal gains, but one might wonder if Gary was punished for that by the paper, which is why the weather report decided to not be included in the next edition of the paper (side note: Why would the paper print yesterday's weather report in the first place?). One guy in New York makes money off of the paper and lives a rich life because of it, and Gary gets punished for finally using the paper for his own gain after getting it for more than three years, and the "Powers That Be" decided to stab him in the back. If I had been Gary, I would have been pissed. Or who knows, maybe that was the paper's way of protecting Gary from Rebecca, as she was not a normal woman. She was a bit cracked in the head, judging by her aggressive stance in Gary's apartment.
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| The weather girl just wants the damn weather report! |
There was also Uncle Phil, as portrayed by Fyvush Finkel, who, for some reason, returned to the show after three years. I have no idea why the writers unretired that character, and why he was Gary’s problem for the day. I have no idea why he decided to take a nap in a coffin and how someone could suffocate in it (are coffins built that sturdy?). I have no idea why a fast food restaurant would hire an old man like him, let alone let him roam around like he owns the town and therefore force Gary to race through town again to stop explosions and deaths from happening thanks to Phil's actions. Phil was not a likable character when he started putting on show tunes for his fast food restaurant colleagues, even if that was something of a funny premise that is suitable for a sketch show. Phil was generally not a likable character here, but then again, he was the same way back when in "Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog," so it was not much of a surprise that I could not do anything with his character in this episode. Begging the question of why the producers decided to bring Finkel back for another episode. This is one of the most random TV appearances for me.
