EUROPE WAS SO MUCH MORE FUN

Production #177-951
Tape: August 20, 2004
Air: September 17, 2004
(3rd Season Premiere)

Starring
Amanda Bynes (Holly Tyler)
Jennie Garth (Valerie Tyler)
Wesley Jonathan (Gary Thorpe) 
Leslie Grossman (Lauren)
Michael McMillian (Henry)
Nick Zano (Vince)
Allison Munn (Tina)

Guest Starring
David de Lautour (Ben Sheffield)
Ed Kerr (Rick)

Written by
Caryn Lucas

Directed by
Shelley Jensen

EPISODE SYNOPSIS

     One of the reasons Holly Tyler so wanted to go to Paris this past Summer was to forget about the two guys who have been pulling at her heart for the last year, Vince and Henry.

     Obviously she's forgot about them.

     But Summer is now over, and it is time for Holly to return to New York from Paris. To paraphrase The Little Sparrow, Edith Piaf, "Holly ne regret rien" when she confronts both old beaux with her new boyfriend, Ben, a London-based rock musician. And it's also time for the third season of the WB sitcom hit "What I Like About You". How convenient!

     Other than a quick visit to TRL and an even quicker drop-in on Nick Zano at "Pepsi Smash" this summer, Amanda Bynes has been virtually invisible with new material from American TV screens. Last season Amanda rode some serious momentum into her season premiere, with lots of press from her Vanity Fair cover, appearances on the MTV Movie Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and Family TV Awards, and even a Nick reality show, "RU All That?". But with Amanda away at Puerto Plata in an attempt to make next summer sizzle, there was nothing for Amanda fans to immediately revel in this summer.

     Comes the fall, and Amanda Bynes is again part of our regular routine. Joined by most of the people who have made "What I Like About You" special, Amanda is poised to regain a lot of the ground she's lost in the teen popularity race to Lindsay Lohan. And she's gonna do it on her terms, with good, solid, lasting work and memorable moments which don't necessarily involve alcohol or a police report. It started tonight with "Europe Was So Much More Fun", which saw screenwriter and new showrunner Caryn Lucas set up the conflicts and the characters for the coming season.

     After a setup montage from the second season finale ("The Second Season Finale"), we open on Holly and Ben Sheffield (David de Lautour, from Noggin's "Being Eve"), a rock musician Holly met in London, flying in on their plane to New York -- and kissing. Yep, another new boyfriend for Holly. Holly then addresses the audience -- a first for the series -- and says "I know. I'm as surprised as you are!" At the airport, the whole gang (minus Gary) is awaiting Holly's return from Paris. Especially eager are Holly's old Season Two beaux, Vince and Henry (Michael McMillian, wrapping up his role as Henry). Each is convinced that he is the one for Holly to choose when she steps back on American soil. Holly, pert and pretty in a beret, rushes out to greet the gang. Trailing behind is Ben, guitar case in hand. Holly explains that on a side trip to London, Holly was in a club where she saw Ben's band play (a very nice and sweetly written flashback sequence). She wasn't specifically looking for love, but she found it. He actually left England and stayed with Holly in Paris for a month where they cultivated their new relationship. Now he's so smitten with her he's made the big leap, and is looking for a place in New York.

     The reactions from the stunned group range from jealousy (Vince is upset but resigned, this possibly being a backlash over the promise of commitment he made to her days before she left), concern (Val's mother hen radar is off the hizzy, yo), and anger (Henry waited for Holly, and he tells her "I never want to see you again."). Vince and Gary then discuss the new guy ("black haired skinny-ass") in Vince's now jointly-shared apartment. Holly pops in, and when Holly learns that Vince and Gary are living together, she asks Gary "Are you two dating? That would make my life so much easier." Then Vince emerges sans shirt to a bevy of Ric Flair whoops from the audience. After he puts his shirt back on, Holly and Vince talk things over. He did make it to Paris on that plane, and they did have a little something in there, but he's now decided to be polygamous -- as many women as possible. Then Holly drops the bomb on Vince about the new guy. 

     There's also an intriguing twist to the storyline concerning the recently re-hooked Val (Jennie Garth, beautiful as ever) and Rick (Ed Kerr). Val begins to be concerned about how deep her new relationship with Rick has...so concerned, she's bought a home pregnancy test since she's gone two weeks without her period. On a cab ride home, Val and Lauren try to decipher the results without Rick knowing (Val tells Rick "We thought we saw Jesus in the foam"), but Lauren spills the beans. Rick then impulsively asks for her hand, despite the pending results of the test. He fashions a ring out of a pop top and slips it on her finger. At the loft, Val finds she's not pregnant. And Val starts to have doubts even when Rick says he's marry her even if she wasn't pregnant. We don't get a yes, we don't get a no. But next week we do get a surprise.

     Henry then returns to say goodbye. Holly apologizes for hurting his feelings by springing Ben on him, and she tells Henry he gave her something no one else can or will: a first love. They hug, and exit Michael McMillian. Thanks, man...you were great. Credit Ms. Lucas for not making this scene overly treacly, and ending McMillian's run on an up note. Then Holly and Val have a disagreement over Holly's bringing home a new beau and crushing Henry and Vince, which questions Holly's maturity. Caryn Lucas now puts her  stamp on things. She gives us one of those now-revered sister spat scenes and includes a new element: a bowl of cake batter (effectively continuing Val's now-legendary cake fetish). This is one of those classic "tit for tat" scenes, starting with Val giving Holly a batter mustache, then Holly lofting a glob of batter on her sister's back, then the sisters smearing some on each other's chests, and finally Val and Holly wrestling on the floor. Ben walks in, and what else can he say? "God Bless America!". If you remember Caryn's work on "The Nanny" she and her team would often set up messy situations for Fran Fine (Drescher) to navigate around, most notably a full scale food fight. Here it's not as frenetic, but the timing of the ladies really evokes anything Laurel and Hardy could come up with in their classic shorts for Hal Roach. Caryn had promised us a "wild" Season Three, and it doesn't get much wilder than chocolate covered Bynes and Garth grappling around on the loft floor. Yummy!

     In TV Guide this week Caryn Lucas commented that she would like to make this series "a teen 'Friends' ", which means building upon the early vision of Wil Calhoun, who spent a couple of years there. We've intimated that this would be the direction for the past year and a half, and short of hiring the Kaufmans, emulating them is as good as Caryn can do. Everyone in the troupe will be in love in some fashion with the possible exception of Lauren. Tina will resume acquaintances with an old (and older) beau, and Gary will also get a new girlfriend. And wisely, Amanda Bynes, who not only can channel Laurel or Hardy but also does a damn good young Jennifer Aniston, is at the center of this mix, propelling everything along very nicely and again giving us plenty to dream about until the next week. Her delivery of lines played with de Lautour and McMillian is softer and flirtier, and her line about Henry being Holly's first love may have been the sweetest, purest thing ever to come out of her mouth. Shelley Jensen, the show's primary director since "The Teddy Bear", ratchets up the focus on Amanda by giving her tighter closeups, and a scoch more camera time. And the new, blonder Amanda, last seen on "TRL", "Good Day Live", and the Kids Choice Awards, gives Holly a new spirit and verve, and perhaps a bit of a foxier reading now that she's turned 18. The end result is that "What I Like About You" becomes more of a must-view for Amanda Bynes fans than ever.

SEASON THREE CHANGES

     Onscreen, fewer changes are in the offing than at this time last year. David De Lautour, playing the Brit rocker Ben, is only billed as a guest star. It will take some time so see if he'll become a permanent fixture on the series.

     Written out as of this week is Michael McMillian, after spending a full season with the WILAY troupe. Don't worry about him...based on the reception his indie film "Dorian Blues" is getting at predominately gay/lesbian film festivals, he might just do quite well for himself after WILAY.

     The housecleaning of the show's production staff starts this season at the origin and the top, with the exit of Wil Calhoun to NBC (and his new series "The Men's Room") and Dan Schneider. Schneider will be working this fall and winter on the tenth (!) season of "All That", the second season of the smash hit "Drake and Josh", and the new Nick series "Zoey 101" starring Jamie Lynn Spears.

     With Wil and Dan gone, Caryn Lucas takes up showrunner duties. She has upped Rosalind Moore ("The Loft", "Absence Makes...") to co-executive producer, the Engelberg sisters ("Regarding Henry", "The Not-So-Simple Life") to supervising producers, and Lesley Wake Webster (the only surviving writer from the original four of Season One) to co-producer. Four new writer-producers join the show: the team of David Windsor and Casey Johnson, Marco Pennette (who was the showrunner on last season's TRP show "I'm With Her"), and Peter Marc Jacobson (Caryn Lucas' old boss at "The Nanny"). Drew Brown continues as that "Produced By" guy. To make room, gone are producer Jeff Bushell and writers Steve Molaro and Kirker Butler.

     Season Two crediting is used, and a new or revised graphics package should debut with the next episode.

PLAYLIST

Gavin Degraw makes his second appearance providing music for "What I Like About You". His "Just Friends" is used in the episode. David De Lautour sings the tail end of the old Split Enz song, "I Got You".

ROLE CALL: The Other Faces

DAVID DE LAUTOUR
Ben Sheffield
Christchurch, New Zealand brings us the latest WILAY multiple-episode guest star. As a mere youth, David appeared in two episodes of "Xena: Warrior Princess". He parlayed that into a run on the popular teen series "Being Eve", which still runs from time to time on The N and some of the foreign Nickelodeons.

From "What I Like About You" Fan Site at ABNOW! (http://www.amandabynesnow.com/wb/)