This is the only episode of this series that I could tolerate watching over again, particularly because of the guest starring of Elaine Stritch as Cathy Moriarty's mother. Talk about perfect casting. This show didn't even last a full half-season, and it's obvious that viewers were not interested in a modern Honeymooners with Andrew Dice Clay and Cathy Moriarty, a talented character actress who could be very funny in the right part especially with good writing. She has very good chemistry with Stritch who shows up for the holidays and immediately stirs things up with her hated son-in-law.
It's the old Monster-in-Law plot line, and the great Elaine deserves better than a stereotypical roll like this. But she does get good lines, and let's face it. Stritch could make mincemeat even out of the worst of lines, and there's the obligatory peacemaking at the end that you know won't last. Had the show had a different leading man, it might have run a little longer, and Stritch would have had a good recurring role to return to. She'd find better luck years later as Alec Baldwin's prickly mother, going to 30 Rock having already been on the 3rd Rock From the Sun as Jane Curtin's mother.
It's the old Monster-in-Law plot line, and the great Elaine deserves better than a stereotypical roll like this. But she does get good lines, and let's face it. Stritch could make mincemeat even out of the worst of lines, and there's the obligatory peacemaking at the end that you know won't last. Had the show had a different leading man, it might have run a little longer, and Stritch would have had a good recurring role to return to. She'd find better luck years later as Alec Baldwin's prickly mother, going to 30 Rock having already been on the 3rd Rock From the Sun as Jane Curtin's mother.
