"What About Joan" Episodes
First Season
1. Pilot
Debut: Two-time
Oscar nominee Joan Cusack ("Working Girl,"
"In & Out") stars as manic Chicago high-school
teacher Joan Gallagher, who's in an odd sitcom situation:
her banker boyfriend, Jake (Kyle Chandler), is more
committed to their relationship than she is.
He's so committed,
in fact, that, in the opener, he proposes to her in a
restaurant. That freaks Joan out, and mystifies her as
well. "I'm not the girl who sweeps guys off their
feet," she wails to her friends Betsy (Jessica Hecht),
a fellow teacher, and Ruby (Donna Murphy), a psychiatrist.
"I'm the low-maintenance, dependable one guys call
when they've been dumped by the girl who swept them off
their feet."
Cast: Joan Cusack,
Donna Murphy, Jessica Hecht, Wallace Langham, Kellie
Williams, Kyle Chandler, Greta Honold, Mitchell Fain,
Mala Madison, Bruce Jarchow
2. Sex Talk
Joan (Joan Cusack)
gets down to the nitty-gritty with Jake (Kyle Chandler)
in the second episode of the midseason sitcom.
She wants them to
discuss "everything" to clear the air for their
"perfect relationship." The first topic,
religion, is a breeze. Then comes sex, which is not a
breeze---especially after Jake foolishly tells Joan that she's not the best sex partner he's
ever had. Meanwhile, Joan's psychiatrist friend, Ruby (Donna
Murphy), decides to do a favor for their mutual friend
Betsy (Jessica Hecht). She'll engage Betsy's noncommittal
boyfriend, Mark (Wallace Langham), in some furtive
therapy in hopes of getting him to commit. Commit he
does, but not in the way Ruby intended.
Cast: Joan Cusack,
Donna Murphy, Jessica Hecht, Wallace Langham, Kellie
Williams, Kyle Chandler
3. The Proposal
It appears that Betsy is getting very antsy to have Mark
propose, which he is a long way from doing. So she takes
some of Jake's advice: act like you don't care and watch
him come crawling. Betsy follows through and gets the
reaction she was hoping for! Ruby gets a book deal to
spread her wisdom, and a pesky publicist along the way.
4. Joan Meets the
Parents
Jake's reluctant to introduce his
parents (Ron Dean, Stefanie Powers) to Joan. "They're
the most judgmental people alive," he tells her
after they do meet (and hit it off badly). So she invites
them to dinner in a frenzied effort to make a good second
impression. But it's Alice (Kellie Williams) who makes
the good impression. Jake: Kyle Chandler. Betsy: Jessica
Hecht. Ruby: Donna Murphy. Mark: Wallace Langham. Sergei:
Misha Kuznetsov.
Cast: Joan Cusack,
Donna Murphy, Jessica Hecht, Wallace Langham, Kellie
Williams, Stefanie Powers, Ron Dean, Misha Kuznetsov
5. Free Speech
Just as Joan's high school Speech Team wins the Illinois
Speech championship and gets ready to head to San
Francisco for Nationals, word comes down that the school
board is cutting funds for all of their teams and clubs.
A competition among club sponsors, including Joan, Mark,
Betsy and Alice, ignites with everyone trying to pitch to
the board why their club should not suffer the loss. When
the dramatic and charismatic basketball coach has his
turn at the podium, it's obvious by his "presentation"
that the rest of them don't stand a chance - until he
realizes others are just as deserving of the money and he
instead gives it to Joan.
6. Joan's Sister
Visits
Joan's nerves are going at full-speed with the thought of
Jake meeting her sister Ann who is due to come into town
for a visit. The pair meet and hit it off, but all good
moods come to a crashing stop when Joan realizes Ann is
having problems at home. Ruby gets pleasantly distracted
by a "silent cowboy type" and Betsy can't stand
to be away from Mark any longer and works for a reunion
between the two. NOTE: Ann Cusack is Joan's real-life
sister.
7. Maeve
Joan and Jake's relationship is tested when a sultry
seminar leader comes onto Jake while on a business
retreat. When Joan finds out that Jake may face
temptation, she falls apart at the thought of his
infidelity. Ruby, Betsy and Alice come together to get
her through her "breakdown" until Joan realizes
there is nothing to worry about. She's got a good thing
8. Ruby Doobie Doo
Sensing that Jake is in a "funk," Joan
encourages him to get some professional counseling, a la
Dr. Ruby Stern. Against his better judgment, he agrees to
go and talk to Ruby, although it feels strange to divulge
his most intimate thoughts to Joan's best friend. During
their session, it's Ruby who has a breakthrough,
realizing that somehow along the way, she never pursued
her first love of singing, for fear that she would fail.
Concerned that she would never be the best, she never
tried. In an effort to push Ruby past the point of fear,
Joan sets up an opportunity for her to perform at an open
mic club.
From this episode:
"Hit Me With A Hot Note" performed by Donna
Murphy (Ruby) hitmewithahotnote.mp3 (1,81 MB) and "Up, Up And Away"
performed by Joan Cusack (Joan) and Kellie Williams (Alice)
upandaway.mp3 (939 KB)
9. Betsy's Wedding
The big day arrives for Mark and Betsy, who have planned
to finally walk
down the aisle. However, a massive snowfall in Chicago
sets out to destroy their dream day, until Joan
intervenes to make it all work out, as usual. With Mark
stuck at the church with Jake, Alice, Mark's half-brother
Herman and the minister, and with Betsy stuck at Joan's
with Joan and Ruby, they incorporate new methods to make
their union happen at all costs: THE PHONE. It's not the
most romantic way, but it gets the job done!
unaired episodes
of the first season:
Quid Pro Quo
Joan and Mark find themselves in trouble with the police.
Due to Joan's pushing, Mark drives faster in order to get
to Joan's niece's recital on time and ends up getting
pulled over. Thinking he's doing the smart thing, Mark
slips a twenty in with his license and registration and
is promptly arrested for attempting to bribe a police
officer. After spending a rough night in the slammer,
Joan's guilt at pushing him to drive fast gets the better
of her and it's now her goal to find Mark good
representation to get him off the hook. She then realizes
that not only is Jake a smart investment banker, but he
also passed the Bar and can practice law!
Mr. Roboto
Having felt that she lost Mark to Ruby, Betsy goes into a
depression that the girls work to get her out of. Ruby
decides to throw Betsy a party that is filled with
fabulous, eligible men that can swoon over her and remind
her of what a catch she is to SOMEONE out there. The
party works. Joan unintentionally offends Jake with the
comment that he's "dry and stuffy" and that his
job probably is what makes him that way. That comment
irks Jake and they go several days without talking. It
doesn't take long for Joan to realize that Jake really
isn't stuffy and in fact, he's perfect for her!
Joan Sets Up Alice
Jake introduces Joan to his friend, Ben, who happens to
be a chef looking to open his own restaurant. Realizing
what a great adventure this could be, Jake and Joan
decide to invest in Ben's dream and start the ball
rolling on making his dream come true. Meeting Ben also
sparks an idea in Joan...to set him up with Alice who
hasn't had the best of luck with men lately. Ben and
Alice meet, only to find they have a lot in common, and
set off on a whirlwind courtship that suddenly comes to a
halt when Ben realizes he has too much to battle right
now as it is without having to worry about a new
relationship. The news devastates Alice, until Mark, in
all of his wackiness, intervenes and turns things around!
The Curse of the
Sweater
After going through old photo albums, Jake learns that
Joan used to make hand-knitted sweaters for all of her
past boyfriends. He pushes her to make one for him but
she adamantly refuses. After much pushing, Jake finds out
the real reason she won't make him one is because when
she did in the past, she'd end up having a huge fight
with the boyfriend, which resulted in their breakup. Not
wanting to repeat history, she thinks it's better to
avoid altogether. In typical Joan style, we learn that it
wasn't the sweater that broke up those relationships, but
Joan's insecurities.
Second
Season
My Dinner with
Jake
Joan is surprised when Jake stops by her classroom to
drop off some papers that were left in his car. Joans
students see this near perfect man and find
it hard to believe that Jake is Joans boyfriend. In
an attempt to convince them, she recounts the details of
their first meeting. It seems that Joan and Jake were
seated near each other having drinks at the same
restaurant when Penelope, Jakes then-girlfriend,
arrived. Joan witnessed their breakup after a heated
discussion and decided to take advantage of the
opportunity. Joan and Jake hit it off and end going back
to his place for coffee and more. Just as Joan finishes
recounting the night, class ends and the students leave.
Jake returns to get papers that he left in Joans
folder which leads the next group of students to once
again question his identity.
Quiet Time
Joan is feeling a little insecure when Jake decides to re-sign
his lease for another two years, wondering why he wants
to re-sign since he basically lives at her place anyway.
Is he going to leave her? Joan thinks the only thing to
do is to move in with Jake. Steinie convinces Jake that
he should take advantage of the attention and special
treatment Joan is giving him. After talking it over, Joan
and Jake decide that they like things the way they are
going
slow and steady. Elsewhere, Mark asks Joan if
he knows what he is doing to bother Betsy, and Joan jumps
at the opportunity to answer. Its Marks tone,
which sounds sarcastic even when he is sincere, that
seems to be causing the problems. The next day Mark shows
up with a Dear John note from Betsy. While Joan and Alice
are trying to comfort Mark, Ruby busts in and announces
that Betsy has left Mark to go to Australia with a guy
that she met while on her honeymoon with Mark. Mark is
devastated, but Alice is excited, because she thinks she
will be able to take over Betsys position as a
fulltime teacher. After cleaning out Betsys things
from Marks apartment, Joan arrives at The Black
Sock with an expensive glass tankard that was Marks
birthday present from Betsy that she was storing. After
Mark gets the tankard, he fills it with beer and lets it
slide off the counter where it breaks. The group finds
out that had it not been broken, it would have been worth
$25,000.
No Bar is an
Island
Joan has planned a post-marathon party for Jake at a
local café. While waiting for Jake to finish his
marathon, Joan strikes up conversation with their
waitress, Jennifer. Jennifer tells Joan about the bad
luck she has been having just as her boss walks up and
fires her! Joan makes it her mission to find a job for
Jennifer and suggests that Steinie hire Jennifer to work
in The Black Sock. Steinie agrees to hire her if Joan can
arrange a real date with Alice or Ruby - knowing this
will never happen. Just as Steinie thought, Joan was
unable to talk her friends into going on a date with him.
Instead she brings Jennifer to the bar and Joan suggests
that Steinie hire Jennifer if she can fill the bar with
patrons. Jennifer and Steinie reluctantly agree. After
realizing that Jennifer doesnt know anyone that can
fill the bar, Joan calls all of her service professional
friends to fill the place. In the end, Jake
and Steinie realize that they had been Joaned
because all of the bar patrons are ringers, but Jennifer
still ends up getting the job. Jake confesses that he was
upset at the thought of Jennifer working at The Black
Sock because it is the only place he can be himself. He
tells her that everytime he is around Joan, he feels like
he is on a date and has to be on his best behavior. But
in the end, they agree that he doesnt always have
to be on his best behavior and can just be himself.
|