The "Final Frontier" may not have been that final after all. The 90's sitcom Mad About You just took a giant step towards joining the many series that have gotten the revival treatment. You cannot have a proper revival without the core cast members, and original series stars Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser have just signed on to reprise their roles as married couple Jamie and Paul Buchman.
Yes, Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser have signed on the bottom line, according to EW. As if that wasn't great enough news, the original series co-creator Danny Jacobson has also agreed to return for the revival. This news means that the creative synergy between the original series and the revival should remain intact. A question now is where the revival will hit the airwaves. Although the original series aired on NBC, there's no guarantee that the revival won't go to another outlet.
As hard as it is to believe, Mad About You has been off the air for almost 20 years. The series premiered in 1992 and ran for seven seasons until it concluded in 1999. During the run of the show, Paul and Jamie's feisty relationship endured many highs and lows. The characters' many hilarious antics helped the series draw a vast following. The show has run in syndication for years, adding even more followers that may have missed it when it originally aired. The deals with Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser come after months of negotiations to bring them back for a revival.
Mad About You fans will have to wait and see how the show will deal with the finality of the series finale. The show concluded on a note that entailed a lot of closure for its characters, but that does not mean it cannot be altered. In the original Mad About You finale, viewers got to see Paul and Jamie's grown-up daughter Mabel (played by Janeane Garofalo). If and when Mabel is cast, fans will get a clearer picture of the revival to come.
In the almost two decades since Mad About You ended, Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser have remained busy. Hunt, who won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1997 for her performance in As Good As It Gets, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her turn in the 2012 film The Sessions. She has a starring role in the recently-released sports drama The Miracle Season.
Helen Hunt's Mad About You co-star Paul Reiser has also been busy. Among the many projects he has starred in since the sitcom ended is the Oscar-nominated 2014 film Whiplash, in which he played the father of Miles Teller's character. Reiser also starred in the second season of Netflix's Stranger Things.
There is no word on when the Mad About You revival could air. It has cleared its greatest hurdle, so it could be a smooth ride from here. To find out what else TV has in store, check out our guide to midseason and summer premieres.
