"Feeble" is the keyword here. Norm fires his secretary, who promptly falls in love with him. Cynthia Stevenson reprises her role as Doris from "The Two Faces Of Norm," although I have no idea why. Was Doris The Dim-Witted Secretary so funny that they had to bring her back? Was Stevenson signed to an NBC development deal? Probably. She also guest-starred on "Empty Nest" and five years later she got her own NBC sitcom called "Hope & Gloria" which wasn't very good.
Neither is this episode. It feels claustrophobic and diseased. Even the two B-stories were taken out of the scrap pages of the dullest writer's notebook: Woody wins a radio contest and Rebecca gets a new desk. Where exactly does this episode fail? Let's take a closer look.
At this point in the series' run, the writers were feeling pretty much invincible. They had survived the departure of Diane and helped the show find a second life and new style. They had developed characters and taken two new cast members- Woody Harrelson & Kelsey Grammar- from unknowns to A-List comedy stars. They had gotten so confident that they figured they could take any plot and turn out a good episode by dressing it up with enough jokes. But the premise here is faulty: Doris is a timid and sickly character until she develops her crush on Norm... then she's a hard-driving, uncompromising, single-minded lunatic. Yeah, right. And the entire obsessive relationship takes place within the confines of the bar. In a single day's time. It's as unlikely as it is difficult to watch.
I guess the biggest disappointment here is George Wendt, who gets his own episode and a script that any comedic actor would kill for. It's unfortunately about this point in the show's run that George seemed tired and unhappy about being the episode lead- he would rush through his lines with no grace, no comic exploration or timing, and very little commitment. This would climax with the disastrous "The King Of Beers" from Season Eleven. He seems cranky and bothered instead of honored and elevated: the man was clearly getting spoiled by sitting on a stool and drinking beer full-time. Kirstie is porked up in this episode, and the only outfit they could use to disguise her rapidly-expanding assbeef looks like it belongs in a window fixture from a 1970's era basement rec room.
The episode is not terrible, but it's rusty and cumbersome and showing its seams.
GRADE: C-
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