Paul Reiser has made no secret of his unhappiness with NBC programmers in recent months.
NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield announced in May that Reiser's "Mad About You" - a huge hit on Thursdays - was moving to Sundays (7 p.m., Ch. 5). And Reiser's reaction was not exactly positive.As a matter of fact, he was backstage at NBC's annual advertiser presentation when Littlefield informed him of the change. Reiser stormed out of the building.
"Just in all good conscience, I couldn't see myself going out there and being the company man and singing the songs of the new changes that I didn't agree with at the time," Reiser said in a phone interview earlier this week.
Since then, Reiser has spoofed his unhappiness in advertisements and at the Emmys. But, still, he says he was "genuinely upset" about the move.
"It was nothing that any of us wanted. It's a bit of a burden and also a challenge to be singled out to spearhead a new night," he said. "Part of me goes, `Wow. Thanks for the honor.' On the other hand, you know what? Give somebody else the honor."
Reiser said he's confident that his show will do well on Sundays, but that that's beside the point.
"I said, `I don't even care. . . . I don't doubt that it's going to be a terrific hit. I just don't feel like moving,' " he said. "I didn't want to do that to our audience. Part of our appeal, and what people were hugely comfortable with, was that evening."
But, move or not, the "Mad About You" team hasn't changed their thinking about the show itself.
"Our job is to go and make the best show we can. If they said, `We're going to put you on Saturdays 2 in the afternoon and we're only showing you in three markets,' you would be upset - but you wouldn't say, `OK, now we don't have to work as hard, " Reiser said.
The one change you will see this season is that Paul will get a job working at a Discovery Channel-like cable network. And, while current NBC advertising may make it look like Paul and Jamie are going to become parents, that's far from certain.
"We had dealt with it fleetingly with an issue. . . . If this show is to be about a real couple with real issues, then you can't avoid it," Reiser said. "It doesn't mean you're going to see a kid tomorrow or at all, but the issue starts looming very large."
Reiser said how the issue will be resolved has not been decided.
"Just like life, there are a lot of surprises along the way," Reiser said. "They might try to have a kid and not succeed. A kid may suddenly come way before they expected. Any number of things could happen."
The one thing that is certain is that the baby issue will make the Buckmans' marriage a bit less smooth.
"I would like to see a little more of the bumpier, edgier stuff," Reiser said.