Give Me a Ring Sometime

This first episode is a slow start for the series. It has to be as it introduces the main characters- Ted Danson's Mayday Malone, Norm, Cliff, Coach, and Diane. Shelly Long's Diane starts this series the way she ends it, as the ditsy empty headed blonde who thinks she knows everything including what she wants, but is totally clueless how to get it.

Diane comes into Malone's bar to wait for her married boyfriend who is supposed to be leaving his wife and running away with her to live happily ever after. Of course the air headed blonde not only loses him to his present wife, but then out of desperation gets a job as a bar wench at the bar by the time the show is over.

The priceless part of this show is that while it is slow, it hooks the viewer to come back for more. This really was ensemble comedy as most of the players in it with the exception of Danson never really went on to do anything much better even though most of them tried. Since this is before Woody, it really applies.

Rhea Perlman gets an excellent start in this opener. While it is nowhere near the best episode of the show, it does set the tone for most of Diane (Shelly Long's) stay on the series.