Stark Raving Mad (TV series)

Stark Raving Mad
250px
Created by	Steven Levitan
Starring	Tony Shalhoub Neil Patrick Harris Eddie McClintock Heather Paige Kent Dorie Barton
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producer(s)	Steven Levitan
Camera setup	Multicamera
Running time	23 min.
Production company(s)	Steven Levitan Productions 20th Century Fox Television
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 23, 1999 (1999-09-23) – July 13, 2000 (2000-07-13)

Stark Raving Mad is an American sitcom that aired from on NBC from 1999 to 2000. The series stars Tony Shalhoub and Neil Patrick Harris.

Synopsis

Shalhoub stars as odd horror novelist Ian Stark, who is obsessed with practical jokes, and whose first book Below Ground was a best seller. Neil Patrick Harris is Stark's reluctant editor Henry McNeeley, who has a variety of phobias and possibly obsessive-compulsive disorder. On January 10, 2000 the sitcom won a People's Choice Award for Favorite New Television Comedy Series. The sitcom premiered on September 23, 1999 and was officially cancelled by NBC on April 15, 2000 despite having a 10.7 average household share and being ranked 15th among all programs.

Margaret 'Maddie' Keller was to be played by Jessica Cauffiel as she appears in several early cast photos.

Cast

Main cast

• Tony Shalhoub as Ian Stark
• Neil Patrick Harris as Henry McNeeley
• Eddie McClintock as Jake Donovan
• Dorie Barton as Tess Farraday
• Heather Paige Kent as Margaret 'Maddie' Keller

Recurring cast

• Harriet Sansom Harris as Audrey
• Chris Sarandon as Cesar
• Dina Waters as Katherine 'Kit' Yates

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
1	"Pilot"	James Burrows	Steven Levitan	September 23, 2000	1ADM79
Henry McNeely gets a promotion he doesn't want. He's now the editor for the eccentric horror novelist Ian Stark. Ian's practical jokes are done at the expense of Henry.
2	"The Man Who Knew Too Much"	Ted Wass	Alan Kirschenbaum	September 30, 2000	1ADM01
Trying to pull another joke on Henry Ian mistakes in recommending some other woman's wishes as those of Henry's girlfriend to Henry. Ian even takes Henry to a sex shop for kinky presents to "her girlfriend".
3	"Sometimes a Fritter Is Just a Fritter"	Ted Wass	David A. Goodman	October 7, 1999	1ADM03
Henry's misunderstanding of a change of a name of a character in Ian's manuscript ruins Ian's morning routine of fritters and long walks.
4	"Four Colds and a Funeral"	Gail Mancuso	Eric Zicklin	October 14, 2000	1ADM05
Henry accidentally kills a man named Professor Huggles (a character obviously inspired by Dr. Seuss)
5	"The Lyin' King"	Gail Mancuso	Brian Buckner, Sebastian Jones	October 21, 2000	1ADM06
During Halloween, Ian helps Henry to pay back his cousin Lori for an old prank she pulled on him, while Maddie's date may or may not be a humpback for real.
6	"Fish out of Water"	Ted Wass	Jeffrey Richman	November 4, 2000	1ADM04
Everyone is at Audrey's dinner party where a fish needs to be put back into the tank.
7	"Engaged to Be Engaged"	Gayle Abrams	TBA	November 11, 1999	1ADM07
Henry tries to make a commitment to Tess.
8	"The Stalker"	Ken Levine	Steven Levitan	November 18, 1999	1ADM09
Ian's obsessed fan wants to take Henry's place.
9	"The Dance"	Gail Mancuso	Steven Levitan	December 2, 2000	1ADM08
Tess attempts to fix up Ian and Maddie.
10	"Coffin to Go"	Ted Wass	Lynnie Greene, Richard Levine	December 9, 1999	1ADM02
Ian discovers that the funeral place accidentally sold him a coffin with a corpse in it.
11	"Christmas Cheerleader"	Michael Lembeck	David A. Goodman	December 16, 1999	1ADM10
Tess tries to cheer up Christmas for a bunch of social outcasts.
12	"The Crush"	Michael Lembeck	Eric Zicklin	January 6, 2000	1ADM11
Ian has a crush on a woman, but Jake cannot be trusted with letters.
13	"My Bodyguard (a.k.a. Guarding Tess)"	Gayle Adams	Steven Levitan	January 13, 2000	1ADM12
Henry, Ian and Tess get mugged. Ian head-butts the mugger and saves the day. Henry soon feels sexually inadequate when he learns that Ian's heroics caused Tess to have an erotic dream about Ian. Ian sets up a similar incident, designed to make Henry look like a hero in Tess' eyes.
14	"The Hypnotist"	Michael Lembeck	Alan Kirschenbaum	February 3, 1999	1ADM15
Ian professes to be a hypnotic expert and the situation gets out of hand. Note: Ian claims to have once suffered from OCD, but cured it with hypnosis. Tony Shalhoub would later find success in Monk, playing a detective with OCD.
15	"Therapy"	Sheldon Epps	Eric Zicklin	March 2, 2000	1ADM16
Ian and Henry go to a therapist. After the session Henry wants to know what the therapist told about him. Ian lies that she thinks Henry is paranoid.
16	"Secrets and Lies"	David Lee	Jeffrey Richman	March 9, 2000	1ADM18
A Yale student turns up some shocking secrets about where Ian was nearly twenty years ago.
17	"The Grade"	Steven Levitan	Brian Buckner, Sebastian Jones	March 16, 2000	1ADM21
Ian helps Maddie by writing a book report for her, but then is furious when her professor only gives her a "B".
18	"The Pigeon"	Sheldon Epps	Joe Piscatella, Craig A. Williams	July 13, 2000	1ADM17
Ian accidentally knocks a pigeon's nest filled with eggs off his balcony's ledge. Later he becomes paranoid, thinking the mother pigeon is back with vengeance.
19	"He's Gotta Have It"	Joyce Gittlin	Lynnie Greene, Richard Levine	July 20, 2000	1ADM13
Tess' sister visits and Ian becomes uncontrollably attracted to her.
20	"Dog Gone"	Gail Mancuso	Brian Buckner, Sebastian Jones	July 27, 2000	1ADM14
Henry loses Edgar, and when he finds him, new problems arise.
21	"The Psychic"	Jeff Melman	Dana Gould	August 3, 2000	1ADM19
22	"The Big Finish"	Robert Egan	Richard Levine, Lynnie Greene	August 10, 2000	1ADM20

International airings

In some countries the series was renamed: Loco enloquecido (Latin American), Stark, loco de atar (Spain), Splitter Pine Gal (Norway), Kreisi kynäniekka (Finland) and "En förläggares mardröm" (Sweden).

References

• TV.com episode guide
• Epguides guide

External links

• TKtv info
• Stark Raving Mad at IMDb
• Stark Raving Mad at TV.com