GOD HELP THE MISTER

Production #177-954
Tape: September 17, 2004
Air: October 8, 2004

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

Guest Starring
David de Lautour (Ben Sheffield)
Tamyra Gray (Danielle)
Sparkle (Gil)
Jordan Anita Mosley-Stephens
(Little Girl)
and Ed Kerr (Rick)

Written by 
Lesley Wake Webster

Directed by
Brian K. Roberts

EPISODE SYNOPSIS/REVIEW

     When sisters have schedules and commitments, can they make time for each other and the men in their lives without stepping on each others' toes? It's put to the test in tonight's new "What I Like About You" episode, "God Help the Mister", which sees Holly fiddling with the arrangements for Val's wedding.

     We first come upon Holly playing with seating arrangements for the wedding, transplanting her and Ben to a different table not populated by as many lesbians. Val tells her that she doesn't have a right to alter the charts, and that any further infractions would preclude her from being Maid of Honor at the wedding. Lauren's ears perk up at this, and she wants so bad to be up from bridesmaid. In telling Ben about Val's sternhanded tone with her, Holly learns that Ben has picked up an incredible opportunity to replace a member of a band who is opening for Coldplay. The concert happens to fall on the same day as Val's bachelorette party, November 17. So what does Holly do? Calls the hall where the party is being held and moves the bachelorette bash for the next day! Val then sets up to fire Holly, but Holly would rather quit than be fired. The friction between the sisters concerns both Rick and Ben, who try to mediate between them in a diner peace session. Through their boyfriends, each girl makes an opening statement. Then the girls realize they don't have enough time together apart from their boyfriends. They pact to spend a night together with dinner and a movie on Tuesday at 7:30. (Lauren loses her cushy MOH gig! Oh too bad.)

     Comes Tuesday, and Val's dinner plans are interrupted by Rick, who is brandishing a ticket to Radio City Music Hall, for that evening's Prince concert. Val tells Rick she'll push the dinner with Holly up to 5 and then go leave to see Prince with Rick at 6:30. Holly would be none the wiser, but she receives the other ticket from Vince just outside the entrance to 3-D -- and at almost 6PM, it's getting awfully late. So Holly saunters into the loft for dinner, taking everything slowly and deliberately, threatening to take a nice long bubble bath before dinner, while Val sees that 6:30PM looming and her mutual date with both Rick and Prince Rogers Nelson. Holly finally lets Val know the game is up, and shows her the Prince ticket. Val then confesses for treating Holly the same way Holly treated her. Then Holly surprises Val by letting her go see Prince. Holly says they'll always be there for each other no matter if Prince should be in town, "and we don't need to make an appointment to prove it."     

     The subplot serves only to introduce Tamyra Gray as a new guest artist, as she plays Danielle, a gorgeous dance teacher taking classes at NYU. Through Tina, she meets Gary, who seems to have reverted to his past pure swagger mode as he feigns interest in dance to get to know Danielle better. In fact, he tries to pass himself off as a student in one of her classes. Too bad she teaches kids. The segments with Tamyra end with Wesley Jonathan given the opportunity to do something he hasn't had opportunity to do on the series too much: bust out some real wack dance moves.

     The most interesting byplay in the episode has to be between Gil (the return of the beloved Sparkle to the Amandaverse after her smash role in "Big Fat Liar"), a miniscule Russian tailor working on Lauren's bridesmaid dress. At one point Lauren takes advantage of the immigrant (who does not speak English) by hitting on her (him?) and confessing that she almost ran a man over with her car once. And hey -- let's get some excuses together to have Leslie wear gowns more often on the show. The most sparkling of scenes in the episode belongs to Jennie Garth and Amanda Bynes, with the show's final moments written by Lesley Wake Webster in the spirit and style of the revelatory scene from last season's "Rollin' In It". Each girl has a part to play and plays it well: Jennie as Val trying to keep the knowledge that she had to break her "date" with Holly by attempting to speed things up at the dinner table, and Amanda as Holly knowing about Val's change in plans and deliciously trying to prolong the evening by going off to take a shower or say a lengthy Grace at the table. 

ROLE CALL: The Other Faces

TAMYRA GRAY (Danielle)
Tamyra Gray is the second alumna of "American Idol" to appear on "What I Like About You" (the first being Ryan Starr in "The Talk").

SPARKLE (Gill)
The miniscule Sparkle has appeared in a variety of movies, TV shows, and music videos. Amanda Bynes fans remember her fondly from her turn as Kaylee's Grandma Pearl in "Big Fat Liar".

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