Production #175-608  "Tankini" Taped: October 25, 2002  Original Air: November 8, 2002

   

WHO'S WHO
Starring
Amanda Bynes (Holly Tyler)
Jennie Garth (Valerie Tyler)
Simon Rex (Jeff)
Wesley Jonathan (Gary)
 
Guest Starring
Chelsea Brummet (Samantha)

Co-Starring
Ian Meltzer (Kid)
Dylan Fergus (Band Guy #1)
Ryan Raftery (Band Guy #2) 

Written by
Rich Kaplan

Directed by
Gary Halvorson

SYNOPSIS
One of Holly's childhood friends, Samantha Gray, has moved to New York City, and she will be dropping by the apartment to visit her best friend Holly. At first Gary seems left out when Holly and Samantha reconnect, and the being left out turns to antagonism after they find no common ground at a Knicks game they all attend. Despite the friction, Holly sets up a movie date the next day for the three of them. Holly gets a jolt when she discovers Gary and Samantha making out all of a sudden in the elevator. At the movies, Holly becomes the third wheel as Gary and Sam become all too lovey-dovey. Holly won't warm to them as a couple as Gary did to her and Sam, which upsets Gary. But when Samantha decides to ditch Gary to hook up with two cute guys in a band, Holly rethinks who her best friends are, and votes Samantha out of the clique unanimously, keeping her truer bluer friend Gary.
      Jeff and Val are doing laundry when Jeff sees an old Harvard football sweatshirt. Val comments that it belonged to an old boyfriend, so Jeff buys her new sleepwear from mild to wild, and even donates an old Mr. T sweatshirt. Val doesn't comprehend how jealous Jeff is until he pulls an old girlfriend's pink tankini (hence the title) emblazoned with the legend "FOXY" out of his closet and wears that (but we only see it from the waist up). Val realizes that Jeff's unpredictability is part of his charm, and the two patch it up. 

SHOW NOTES
The previous episode aired featured Stacy Galina, a drop-dead gorgeous co-star for the adults. This week, it's the kids' turn. And the producers of "What I Like About You" didn't have to look far to find her, either. Chelsea Brummet has been working with Dan Schneider on the Nickelodeon series "All That" for the past year and a half, and in that time she's been one of the brightest comedic lights on the series. Possessing a level of pulchritude nearly equivalent to series star Amanda Bynes, Brummet was really a no-brainer to play Stephanie, and it's understandable how she could turn Gary's head the way she did..

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
There were no stunts or physical bits in this episode.

HIDING BOB
Val stands in front of a large laundry basket sorting laundry, and holds a garbage bag in front of her during the climactic kissing scene in the elevator. In the restaurant scenes she is either seated or behind the counter, and at home she works on her laptop computer at the table. Her conversational scene with Holly is shot from the waist up.

GARY'S QUICKIE LIST OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES
1. Believes the moon landing in 1969 was staged by Hollywood actors.
2. The pyramids are spaceships.
3. "Stonehenge? One rock, lots of mirrors!"

NEXT LINE, PLEASE
HOLLY:  In junior high Sam and I used to do everything together. We were inseparable. We called ourselves "The Three Musketeers"!
GARY: Who was the third?
HOLLY: Oh, Angela Simpson. But she left us for another clique. 
GARY: Which one, "The Fab Four" or "The Magnificent Seven"?
HOLLY: No, "The Hare Krishnas"!

HOLLY: I was afraid this was gonna happen...you don't like hanging out with us because you feel like the third wheel.
GARY: I don't feel like the third wheel...I just think the second wheel sucks!
HOLLY: Look, just give her a chance. Once you get to know her, you will love her!
GARY: That's what my Dad said when he brought home "New Mommy"!

HOLLY: What happened?
GARY: Well, right after I left, I ran into Sam on the subway, and the car was really crowded. And all of a sudden, it kinda jerked and we fell down, and I was like, "Get offa me!"
SAMANTHA: And I was like, "You get offa me!"
GARY: And we both kinda looked at each other...
SAMANTHA: You know that thing where you're on a subway arguing with this guy and then the next minute you're on the floor making out with him!
HOLLY: Sure, that's why I don't take cabs!

OUR REVIEW
The title alone was a real eyebrow raiser. We put it out there as a teaser on the Blog two or three weeks ago, with no explanation, and got all manner of interesting replies. Last week when we learned that Chelsea Brummet was going to play the female guest role of Samantha, we couldn't contain our enthusiasm for this episode. Now it's in the books, "Tankini" has been aired, and...this is what we get to explain away the title of the episode. Let's just run it down, and you'll see why that's the lead image.
     Samantha, Holly's old best friend from childhood, has moved to New York, and she breezes into the apartment to check up on Holly. Holly wants Gary to meet her because she thinks they're going to get along famously. But Holly and Sam's catching up on old times and parties they went to back in the day leaves Gary out in the cold at first. In fact, there's downright antagonism between the two on the end of their first outing, as all three attend a Knicks game, as Gary had to give up his bobble-head doll to Sam for her brother. Holly's a bit upset that Gary feels threatened by Samantha's presence, and there's palpable tension between the two. But Holly happens to see the pair kissing in the elevator. Seems when they took a tumble in the subway, something sparked -- and now Gary and Sam are hot and heavy. A movie date for three winds up leaving Holly as the third wheel, but when Sam has the nerve to ditch Gary for two "band guys", Holly must assess her relationship with Samantha. After Gary learns that Samantha threw him over, Holly apologizes for forcing her on him, and the two reaffirm their friendship -- still friendship, not romance for now. 
     Now the subplot. While doing laundry, Jeff spies a sweatshirt marked "HARVARD FOOTBALL", and Val comments it's from an old boyfriend. Jeff seems jealous of the shirt, causing him to buy all manner of sleepwear for Val, from mild to wild (with a stop along the way for Mr. T). But Val can't grasp how hurt Jeff is by the fact she still has old boyfriends' clothes until Jeff shows up -- wearing an old girlfriend's -- wait for it -- tankini! Complete with the thong underwear...and all credit to the producers for not subjecting us to that. (This might go down as the single dirtiest trick ever played on us as a civilization...and is perhaps the reason no WB publicity photos have been released for this episode.) Val realizes that Jeff, for all his jealousy, is still the same unpredictable guy she fell in love with, and their relationship is safe as well.
      Wrapped in the guise of a potentially revealing swimsuit, with the possibility of either Amanda Bynes or Chelsea Brummet on copious display, this episode on the strength of title alone promised one thing and delivered quite another -- a wonderful change-of-pace episode. Rich Kaplan's first script for "WILAY" focused more on the relationships of our four Manhattanites than how clumsy they are...it's the first episode yet not to have any physical comedy in it. (Unless you want to call Simon Rex in a pink tank top physical comedy -- that's so arguable.) It told us in a sweet manner that friendships, when not kept watch on, have a funny way of going south in a hurry, and that a little jealousy can help a relationship every so often as well. We've been laughing out loud at these characters for weeks now, and for the first time we can start really rooting for them and caring about their emotions and their lives and loves. It's our hope that there will be more scripts like this in the future.

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