Frequently Asked Questions list (9/9) for "Mad About You" and the Usenet newsgroup alt.tv.mad-about-you

Archive-name: tv/mad-about-you/faq/part9
Posting-frequency: quarterly
Last-modified: 97-01-30
Version: 5.1

This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list for the TV Comedy show "Mad About You" is, as a collection of information,
Copyright (c) 1994-1997 by Ramaswamy [ramax@ultranet.com].
All Rights Reserved.

This document may be freely distributed in electronic form for personal use only, provided it is distributed in its entirety and with all original author and copyright information intact. Distribution by any other means must be by permission of the copyright holder. This material is for non-commercial use only and any sale for profit is expressly forbidden. It may not be included in any commercial documents, archives or CD-ROMs, nor uploaded to any BBS or online service without the permission of the copyright holder. The removal of this copyright notice is prohibited.

Sections with updates will be flagged with asterisks (*) in the Local Table Of Contents below. Almost all sections have updates in this re-organized document, hence none is flagged.

Please send in corrections/comments to: [ramax@ultranet.com]


Main Table of Contents

Local Table of Contents

9.0 Where can I find some Newsgroup related information?

9.0 Where can I find some Newsgroup related information?

This is where any new member of the alt.tv.mad-about-you newsgroup is expected to start, but sometimes there is no logic to the organization of a document! But since you have found this section, please read on...

9.1 What is this Newsgroup all about?

The alt.tv.mad-about-you group was created in February 1994.

If you are sending a message to the group for the first time, we ask only that you send a message that is appropriate for the group and that it is not insulting. It also helps to read the group for a few weeks until you get a general feel of it.

Please refrain from using this newsgroup for personal messages.

This newsgroup is not to be used for commercial purposes.

  • On posting "Spoilers":

    MAY is not a mystery series, but some members do not care to have advance word on story and plot lines, so if your post includes such details well in advance, please include the phrase "spoiler" in the subject header and toss in about 25 blank lines (spoiler space) at the beginning. Please do not include any spoiler information in the header itself, and remember the East Coast vs West Coast time differential in North America if you are posting comments on a new episode immediately after it has aired on the East Coast!

    Typically this rule applies only to North American telecasts, international viewing being a few weeks to a few months or even a few years behind, but you may extend consideration beyond the shores as well. However this FAQ does not attempt any such thing in these sections, beyond a statement in the Introduction section.

  • On posting Binaries:

    Posting binaries to the group is not forbidden, but is strongly discouraged. It is easier to post locations of FTP or WWW sites and let interested people retrieve the files, or to post them to one of the alt.binaries.* groups (following their guidelines for posting) and let this newsgroup know. Typically, images should be posted to alt.binaries.pictures.celebrities, sound-clips to alt.binaries.sounds.tv and MPEG clips to alt.binaries.multimedia etc.

    Besides, some site administrators are known to object to binary posts in non-binary newsgroups such as ours, and could decide to stop carrying alt.tv.mad-about-you at your site... and who'd want THAT to happen?

  • On responding to Spams:

    Spamming is the posting of the same article to multiple newsgroups (usually every possible newsgroup) regardless of the appropriateness of the topic. If anyone spams Usenet, including our group, please DO NOT followup to the article.

    When someone spams, chances are that person will NOT read our group, or any other group, to see your witty followup, which will therefore be directed only at other readers who ALREADY know the irrelevance of the original spam post. If you see a spam show up in our group, DO NOT followup. With your followup you will be perpetuating the spam. Even if the original article is cancelled by a newsadmin, chances are none of the complaining followups will be.

    Please note that trimming the string alt.tv.mad-about-you from the newsgroups: header and reposting a spam article does absolutely no good; it merely starts a new thread with which you'll have spammed every OTHER group still left on the header.

    If you feel compelled to respond, send email to the poster (chances are the address will be bogus), CC:ing the postmaster at that site. Rest assured that many FAQ authors will be replying to the postmaster at the offending poster's site.

    Also note that a followup to the original spam post appearing in our newsgroup may have got there as a result of a cross-post from another group. Simply treat it as another spam, which it is.

    If your newsreader has the option, by all means set kill filters to avoid other folks's followups.

    9.2 Does the cast and/or crew of MAY read this newsgroup?

    As far as can be determined, no writer or cast member of MAY even lurks at this newsgroup.

    It is likely that one infrequent, essentially anonymous poster (who shared some inside knowledge from the Set) lurks here. Towards the end of season #4 another anonymous poster kept exhorting the membership to "have faith in the writers" but said little else, and disappeared after the season finale. It is possible he/she was not a member of the production crew, but affiliated with NBC or Sony/Tristar.

    Folks from NBC (and possibly also Tristar and Sony) are known to lurk in here, primarily to monitor audience reaction.

    But if a MAY writer/cast-member were to join us:

    Some of the free-wheeling discussion style of the newsgroup will have to be curbed. Discussion of past and present events on MAY will continue to be fair game (including any spoiler posts about episodes already filmed), however ideas about new plot-lines etc. must be avoided. This is not a matter of violating anyone's freedom of speech and such -- it is a matter of legalities. If a new idea is raised in this forum that a MAY writer and fellow-newgroup-member happened to be (coincidentally) working on at the same time, the writer is obliged to scrap the idea and start all over again. They don't like that, and will naturally opt out of the newsgroup.

    In other words, if this newsgroup were to have MAY writer or cast participation, any new idea raised in this forum is by definition destined for the waste-basket/dust-bin.

    9.3 Is there a mailing list for MAY?

    No, there isn't. At least none that is widely known.

    Unlike newsgroups like alt.tv.friends which began as a mailing list, members of this newsgroup lived for the most part at rec.arts.tv (and alt.tv.seinfeld) before alt.tv.mad-about-you was created.

    However there is nothing to stop you from creating a mailing list for MAY. All you need is a mail server host, some disk quota and knowledge of listserv, and once set up, you could let other people know.

    9.4 Where can I find the episode guides for MAY?

    If you are reading this section at a WWW site, chances are the season-by-season episode guides are right here. Otherwise, you can usually find the latest copies at the news.answers Mail Server site and the following Web sites:

    There is also a compact all-seasons guide available for the first 4 seasons (in text format) from Donna R. Lemaster at:

    Carl Sobeski had also maintained a guide through the first 2 seasons at the Tardis archive, now gone dormant.

    9.5 Is there a Mail Server Site?

    The news.answers archive at rtfm.mit.edu can provide a document via email, usually within a few hours.

    Depending on whether you wish to retrieve a single season's guide or all the guides, send email
    To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with anything you like in the
    Subject: line (it will be ignored) and one request per line of text in the body of the e-mail:

    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/season1
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/season2
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/season3
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/season4
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/season5

    or

    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/season*

    Similarly for the multi-part FAQ (of which this is part9), whose updated sections are flagged in the Main Table Of Contents in part1, specify any or all of the following requests:

    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part1
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part2
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part3
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part4
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part5
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part6
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part7
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part8
    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part9

    or

    send pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you/faq/part*

    This access method will work for ANY document posted to or cross-posted to the news.answers group. Use the published Archive-name: with a prefix of "send pub/usenet/news.answers/" (without the quotes) in the body of your mail, and wait...

    9.6 Are there any Anonymous FTP Sites?

    Most news.answers anonymous FTP sites archive this FAQ and the MAY episode guides. Many FAQs, including this one, are available at these sites in the US and abroad. The guides are archived in the MAY directory itself, while the parts to this FAQ are to be found in a 'faq' sub-directory. The Universal Record Locator (URL) format of the address is:
    For example:
    Most of these FTP sites can also be accessed in this format using a World-Wide-Web (WWW) browser to effect the transfer. Just try the following for size:

    The flagship news.answers archive site is rtfm.mit.edu and the following mirror sites around the globe (along with their mad-about-you main archive directories) are known to archive MAY files:

      USA:    rtfm.mit.edu          /pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you
          ftp.uu.net            /usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you
          ftp.seas.gwu.edu      /pub/rtfm/alt/tv/mad-about-you
  Europe: ftp.Germany.EU.net    /pub/newsarchive/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you
          ftp.sunet.se          /pub/usenet/tv/mad-about-you
  Asia:   hwarang.postech.ac.kr /pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/mad-about-you
          ftp.hk.super.net      /mirror/faqs/tv/mad-about-you
          nctuccca.edu.tw       /USENET/FAQ/alt/tv/mad-about-you
    Unfortunately not all news.answers mirror sites archive MAY files.

    9.7 Are there any World Wide Web (WWW) Sites for MAY?

    There are many World Wide Web sites devoted to MAY, and new ones are coming online all the time. There are sites devoted to MAY, to Helen Hunt, or to both, and then there are those "official" sites maintained by Sony and NBC.

    The following WWW sites are maintained on a non-profit basis by fans of the show; some archive the latest versions of the MAY episode guides and FAQ, and most also have links to many other MAY sites:

    Tom Witelski put together the first known MAY page on the Web. It archives the FAQ and Episode Guides, as well as Mark Plumb's Quotes library. Along with cast biographies and filmographies, there are also links to other MAY pages.

    Mikhail Choo and David Kenwright (who originally created the first Down Under MAY page) now maintain the above page in Singapore, with the sounds of MAY and other goodies, like a newsletter called "The Buchman Broadcast" being edited by Claire and Udi.

    Udi Goldstein maintains this page in the US from Israel.

    A recently relocated site, maintained by Jeremy Johnston, offers the sights and sounds of MAY, as well as transcripts of interviews with Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt and the weekly Neilson ratings for the MAY time-slot:

    Then there is a site devoted entirely to the sounds of MAY, maintained by Vik Anand. If you have a sudden craving for "Clamenza!" feel free to drop in at:

    Another site with extensive sound-clips is the MAY page maintained by Andrew 'Cracker' Horne, with graphics by David Kenwright:

    The following sites, originally maintained by Kurt Pifer and Dave Chapman respectively, have gone dormant:

    There is still some hope for a new Captain Kurt site, while Mario Mazzoni's site, still linked to from many other places, has simply disappeared:

    The first known Helen Hunt page on the Web is maintained by David DeAngelo, with a wide assortment of JPG/GIF images and some other interesting information, including an old old opening quote:

    Another Helen Hunt home page is maintained by Matt Harrah, with an exotic assortment of images, and a FAQ all its own:

    Tony Delia's page is also extensive and well visited:

    Finally there is a significant new arrival on the scene, maintained by Jessica Rothschild:

    Last, but far from least, there are the two official sites:

    Maintained by Sony Pictures Entertainment (TriStar is owned by Sony), this site has extensive biographical information about cast members, pictures and sometimes a few MPEG clips (1.4MB each) as well. There is usually a write-up on upcoming MAY episodes (under Show Topics). Of late, the site also carries US syndication telecast schedules, but the updates have been known to be unreliable and only reflect part of the schedule in most markets in the US.

    Maintained by NBC, this page has cast biographies, schedule and synopsis of the upcoming episode, trivia challenges and often a sneak preview of things to come.

    Having said all that, and for benefit of all that have read this far, here are two bookmarks you may save to get to all these places:

    A WWW browser is needed for accessing these sites. The setup is non-trivial, so if you have WWW problems from your site, please contact your site SysAdmin for information and help.

    9.8 Are there any non-English WWW sites for MAY?

    A few new fans of the show have put up bi-lingual MAY pages on the Web. A MAY page for Spanish speaking fans is maintained by Tomas Neira Ojeda from Santiago, Chile:

    For the German speaking audiences, there are three known sites. So if you wish to look up the titles in German of MAY episodes (no, they are not literal translations, and yes, they are quite inventive) and sample sound-clips of Paul and Jamie's exchanges in dubbed German, follow the yellow brick links below:

    Maintained by Alexander Poropatich and Michael Straszniczky in Austria, with miniature flags to indicate the German vs English preferences, devoted both to "Verrückt Nach Dir" und Helen Hunt, or if you prefer, "Mad About You" and Helen Hunt.

    Maintained by Stephan Lerchegger in Austria as part of a much larger domain of Episode lists and guides; there is even a FAQ for the site: http://www.sbox.tu-graz.ac.at/home/ls/meta/faq.html.

    Maintained by Torsten Kracke in Germany, in spite of the fact that MAY has not yet started its run on German TV.

    A sample conversation, transcribed by Alexander Poropatich and Michael Straszniczky, should be easy enough to place:

    If you have a Web browser, the unzip utility, a sound-card and speakers on your system, download the following exchange in German:

    9.9 Is there an Inter-Relay Chat (IRC) channel for MAY?

    The first publicized attempt at an IRC channel for MAY was moderated by Mikhail Choo from Singapore on Undernet in August 1996. The inaugural session on September 14 had 47 participants online for a session lasting about 4 and a half hours. The forum is still an experimental venture:

    Another channel in the offing is on DALNet, and the time and day of convening appears to be flexible, but usually 11PM Down Under time, which is early morning US East coast time (and even earlier for the US West coast). The moderator is an Aussie who goes by the nick of "muldoon" and the channel is not very busy at the moment as the Australian MAY telecasts are dormant, awaiting the start of season #5:

    9.10 Are there any other chat-rooms for MAY?

    Subscribers to America Online in the US have access to a "Mad About You" chat room (keyword: MAY) on Tuesdays. Addition information is usually also available at the NBC booth (keyword: NBC).

    An effort is underway to get a free chat room set up under the auspices of Ultimate TV. If you are interested, please request its creation when you register at:

    and if enough folks (30? 35?) register themselves and also request it at the time of registration, a "Mad About You" chat room could be online soon.

    Please send in corrections/comments to: [ramax@ultranet.com]