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ADVANCE EPISODE SYNOPSIS
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    Once again our fabulous man in Burbank has put his foot in the door over at the Warner Studios in Burbank and given us the first of what we hope will be many sneak peeks at tapings of "What I Like About You" this season. We being this week with "I Love You...Soon", a look at how any relationship is not immune to the fear of croaking out those three little words -- and meaning it. Holly's afraid to say it because she doesn't know if she really means it yet. The episode is written by Caryn Lucas and Wil Calhoun, and it looks to be a tone-setter for the type of comedic conflict we can expect this season. The show will really start to feel like a more polished, more adult entertainment this season.
     We begin the episode with the women of Harper and Diggs (where it seems a lot of the season's action will take place), Holly, Val and Lauren, meeting Val's new boss Peter (Stephen Dunham, of "DAG") and new hire Vince (Nick Zano from MTV's "Movie House"). Everyone seems to flip for the new guys, especially Holly for Vince and Val for Peter (the other girls think it might be another "case of the Vic"). Holly strikes up a bold, almost flirty friendship with Vince, and they're interrupted by Henry and Gary, who are to accompany Holly on a group outing. Holly asks Vince to join them, which rubs Henry the wrong way since he really didn't want a mob date. The foursome eat at -- not B-91, but a new place called Liberty which will serve as their eating haunt this season. Henry doesn't seem to like the way Holly and Vince are getting along, and Henry does the opposite of what he feels -- praising Vince to the heavens. Later, Gary confronts Henry about his dinner behavior, and urges him to not hide his feelings from Holly. Henry feels he needs to mask his jealousy and his insecurity somehow. Before Henry can do this, Holly asks Gary if he has any clue about Henry's behavior, and he explains it. Holly then tells Henry about his hidden jealousy and insecurity. When she tries to boost his confidence, she lets slip the words "I love you". Henry brightens up, and remarks he's wanted to say it for a long time -- and does so seven more times! Even after he's walked her back home, he calls her up to keep saying "I love you" to Holly. But Holly confesses that for all the "I love you"s he can muster, she can't return them because she can't really honestly say she loves him. All she can tell her is that she loves him "soon".
     The understory concerns the other potential new couple, Val and Peter. As they're setting his new office, they're getting to know each other better, and offers to take her to dinner. Val decides to sleep on it, with her no-dates protocol from "Loose Lips" firmly intact. But Peter says it's not a date unless they kiss. Holly finally convinces Val to take the plunge and at least let Peter take her to dinner. And while there, who shows up but a married woman he had a fling with! No more dates with Peter!
     Once again the theme is the sisters helping out each other -- one knowingly, the other not. Holly's advice to Val didn't save her from dating a boor, but it did help bolster her confidence. And the Holly-Henry relationship, seemingly doomed by those three little words, may have been salvaged by Holly's decision to let Henry know how she feels about saying "I love you". But behind Holly's actions was Val's influence, as Holly wondered how Val would handle the situation if it happened to her.
     It might get a trice confusing for some viewers with so many new faces in and the old face of Simon Rex out, but the series is doing well to introduce new blood in the personages of Vince and Peter. And the series is continuing dealing a winning hand by continuing to chronicle the relationship between Holly and Henry, and the sisters themselves. If the series continues to concentrate on these main themes with a minimum of side trips to weirdsville, we could be looking at a much improved product -- and maybe a few more good critical notices when the series resumes airing new episodes. "I Love You...Soon" will air in the US on Thursday, September 11, at 9PM Eastern, 9PM Central, on the WB. Look for more on the episode after it airs in the September 11 Weekly Column.