The latest classic sitcom to get a revival is none other than Mad About You, although this revival isn't heading to the platform that many probably expected. The important thing is that both original stars, Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser, are on board to reprise their roles as Jamie and Paul Buchman. Their daughter Mabel will be around as well, but she'll be a lot older than the version of the character who appeared in non-flash-forwards/time jumps in the original series. Abby Quinn will tackle the role of Mabel.
Abby Quinn is likely best-known for her roles in the 2017 film Landline and 2019's After the Wedding, and she landed a role in the upcoming star-studded Little Women adaptation from Greta Gerwig. She has landed some previous TV roles, though, with an early credit for an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims unit as well as episodes of Black Mirror and Better Call Saul, in 2017 and 2018 respectively. So, what is Quinn up to for Mad About You?
In the revival, Mabel is being dropped off at college, and Deadline describes the grown-up Buchman daughter as "unpredictable" and "hard-to-control." The premise of the revival is that Jamie and Paul are empty-nesters once Mabel is at college, and they'll have to figure out their lives and their marriage under their new status quo.
If Mad About You wasn't a sitcom, I'd be a little concerned that marital troubles might arise from the new status quo, but I'm guessing becoming empty-nesters will be a source primarily of comedy rather than drama. There are no details about how much of Abby Quinn we should expect in the Mad About You. Given that the whole premise is about Jamie and Paul living with their daughter out of the house, I'm guessing she won't be around on a regular basis.
I would definitely expect Abby Quinn as Mabel in the premiere, and likely the finale as well. Will there be reason for her to pop up in between? If Mad About You is going hard on the empty-nester angle, it would make sense that they don't see or perhaps even hear from their daughter too often. Maybe Quinn could show up for phone calls?
However Mad About You handles Mabel in the revival, we shouldn't count on seeing a lot of Abby Quinn in the role in the long run. The revival will be a limited series airing on Spectrum Originals. The new season will presumably be the only season of the revival.
Then again, Will & Grace's revival lasted longer than anticipated, and it too had to retcon events from an original series finale flash-forward to pick up again. Mad About You won't require as much changing of history after the teen Mabel briefly appeared a couple of times, but at the very least, Mabel is going to look different than the flash-forwards in the late 1990s.
The revival of Mad About You was previously slated to premiere at some point in 2019, but no premiere date has been announced just yet, and we're running out of 2019. Fall TV season is nearly here! Judging by the official Mad About You page on the Spectrum Originals website, however, the revival will make its way in under the deadline with a "holidays 2019" release. For a while, it seemed like the revival wouldn't happen at all, so fans have a lot to be optimistic about.
So, it may not be coming as part of the fall TV season, but it will be here this year unless something significantly changes! If you want to relive (or live) the early days of Mad About You, you can find the full series streaming exclusively on Spectrum Originals.
