Starring
Amanda Bynes (Holly Tyler)
Jennie Garth (Valerie Tyler)
Wesley Jonathan (Gary Thorpe)
Guest Starring
Meredith Autry (Mindy Turner)
Licia Shearer (Lisa)
David Jahn (Dan)
Donald Sage Mackay (Super)
Written by
Alexandra Rushfield
and Jennifer Konner
Directed by
Shelley Jensen
NEXT LINE, PLEASE
GARY: I understand. You forgot your best friend's birthday. You had
to pick up something quick, so you stopped by the video store and got your
best friend the cheapest thing you could find. That's cool, cause I like
movies.
HOLLY: Hey, whatever happened to "it's the thought that counts"?
GARY: Oh yeah. And a lot of thought went into this. You were lying awake
thinking "It's Gary's birthday! What would re-e-e-eally disappoint
him?
HOLLY: Okay, look. That's not your real present. The real one's coming
tomorrow. I didn't want to tell you about it because I wanted it to be a
surprise.
GARY: Oh, what happened? It's on back order at the pretend factory?
HOLLY: You're right. It's the thought that counts. And that's why I came
here tonight to give you your gift.
GARY: What's it going to be this time? Some coupons? Fifty cents off a box
of Goobers? (pauses) You know, I've been thinking. What did I get you for
your last birthday?
HOLLY: Perfume.
GARY: Not just perfume. Custom made, special order, created just for you.
With bubble bath and hand soaps and shampoo.
HOLLY: I never got bubble bath.
GARY: Uh, yeah. Well, you would have liked it. Smells great. The point is,
I know you. I got you a gift that was just for you.
HOLLY: But I got you a gift --
GARY: It's an insult! And I'll tell you something else. I'm a better
friend than you are.
HOLLY: Okay, Gary, now you're getting a little --
GARY: I'm serious. I'm generous and thoughtful. I think I've always been a
better friend than you.
HOLLY (taking items out of gift bag): TICKETS TO NELLY. THIRD ROW.
BACKSTAGE PASSES. (Holly leaves)
REVIEW AND SYNOPSIS
March 29, 2003. It was the final workday of the season for "What
I Like About You", and the season workload closed with the most
Holly-intensive script to date. Amanda Bynes appears in every one of the
episode's 12 scenes, figures in both the main story and the subplot, and
gets off a few choice lines. Jennie Garth gets one last chance to display
a burst of comic energy. Wesley Jonathan scores in a subplot again testing
the friendship between Holly and Gary. But the script for "Tyler v.
World", from first-timers Alexandra Rushfield and Jennifer Konner,
doesn't really get rolling until the third act.
We are introduced to treadmill hog Mindy
Turner (a great turn by unheralded actress Meredith Autry) at the
apartment's gym complex. Val wants to use the treadmill, but Mindy's on
it. Holly learns that the woman was bested in favor of Val for the right
to live in Apartment 34C, and that she's head of the building's Tenants
Board. Val also warns Holly not to mess with her, because she still
believes the old wounds of five years are still open. Innocently enough,
Holly does strike up a conversation with Mindy, and when Mindy finds out
that Holly is living in 34C with Val instead of former occupant Roberta,
the fun starts. Mindy storms into 34C with a thick sheaf of papers, copies
of the lease, orders to cease, and other fun stuff tenants get on a
recurring basis. Holly wants to fight the claims that she's there
illegally, but Val sees a stacked deck. After apartment hunting (and oy
vey, what an apartment!) and the shocking discovery that Val never added
her to the lease because she was uncertain about how things would play
out, Holly decides to move in with Nana. More than being out of 34C, the
last thing Val wants to be is apart from Holly, so she calls an emergency
Tenants Board meeting. Val angrily and feverishly rants and raves, getting
nothing accomplished, and it's up to Holly to sweetly and sternly argue
her right to live in 34C.
Before the eviction papers can be served, we have
action at a Jeff-less B-91, where Holly's in Gary's grill. It's his
birthday, and Val has already promised to procure tickets and backstage
passes for a Nelly concert. But since Val can't get them until the day
after Gary's b-day, Holly has to find an inexpensive little something.
When Gary sees the $10 gift certificate to a video store (while wearing a
$300 throwback hoop jersey, a gift from New Mommy), he vehemently
questions the level of his friendship with Holly before she can tell him
the real gift will come tomorrow. The next day, Gary is humbled when he
receives the backstage passes and the tickets -- and thrown for a loop
when he sees his date for the evening -- the swing voter on the Tenants
Board!
"Tyler v. World" is the final instance
this season of the sisters trying to jointly fight for what's theirs, and
again shows that the younger Tyler sister is a little more on the ball
than her older sister when she needs to be. Val's court flailings,
rendered impeccably by Jennie Garth in her most inspired burst of energy
to date, contrast sharply with Holly's well-thought out discourse of the
wording of the lease. Even if Val, rightful tenant, doesn't put on her
best public persona in order to preserve their living arrangement, you can
be sure Holly, with more than a little poise and charm (and tickets to
Nelly she can bribe the board members with), will do all she can to keep
from having to go live with Nana. The dichotomy between Val not willing to
fight Mindy's charges and her actual behavior when she's incensed enough
to do so makes for most of the comedy in this episode.
The script, though, is not up to the potential of
the series. Had this episode been written by the regulars, say, Sarah and
Lesley, or Hayes, we may have gotten many more zingers and non sequiturs,
and for certain much more sensitivity over the possible ouster of Holly
from 34C. The main problem I had with the episode is that Alexandra
Rushfield and Jennifer Konner rewrote some of the series' earlier
continuity by claiming Valerie and Mindy bickered over the right to live
in Apartment 34C five years ago, where in "Thanksgiving" Jeff
mentions that Val was spending her "first Thanksgiving in your own
place". The subplot could also have been written with the type of
flair that distinguished one of the series' previous Gary-Holly stories,
to wit, Kirker Butler's iBop story from "The Cheerleading
Incident". Instead, the sub played out before halftime (adding to the
irrhythmia of a very lopsided show already with the first and second acts
over at 10 minutes after the hour), allowing it to resurface for the
show's final gag.
But in the end, it's what the actors do
with the material. We happened to run across a script for this episode,
and one of the B-91 scenes opens with "Holly tries to get the jukebox
to work." Amanda Bynes turns this simple line into war on the
non-functioning jukebox, flailing at it with her bag. Holly waiting for
the treadmill on the big yellow pilates ball also misses a few stage
directions: she fetchingly bounces up and down like a hobby horse, smiling
all the way. Amanda's an actress that never passes up the chance for a
comedic opportunity. You can see where dialogue was smoothed out, and
tailored to the strengths of the stars...the climactic Holly line from the
board meeting scene ("...way cuter outfit") was originally
written to echo Val's earlier tirade, but since the scene highlighted the
differences in approach between Holly and Val, it was changed. The Gary
lines aren't the sharpest written for him, but Wesley Jonathan has that
old-school sitcom experience that can bring them new life and the skills
to make that happen. Jennie Garth again proves her comedic mettle as she
experiences a "rage hangover" after the board meeting
("Please whisper") in one of her most memorable scenes ever on
the series.
It was an episode that was tailored in three ways
to extracurricular activities of the stars...Amanda Bynes' appearance at
the "What a Girl Wants" premiere delayed the tape date one day.
Michael McMillian, filming "Luis" for Fox, saw his turn in next
week's Season Finale taped out of sequence the week before. And Simon Rex,
just having shipped out to Vancouver for production of "Scary Movie
3", does not appear at all: the first instance of one of the four key
cast members not appearing. Next week, the season finale, which is
guaranteed to get us interested in a second season as things start to heat
up between Holly and Henry -- and Holly needs to know how much she can
heat it up. It's "The Talk", the first WILAY script written by
Caryn Lucas -- and hopefully, not the last.
Just as a side note, hours before this new
episode premiered, I went back and watched the pilot episode. To say the
characters have been refined and streamlined from Dan and Wil's original
vision is an understatement. Holly in "Pilot" is more exuberant,
more knockaround and more eager to please whereas in "Tyler v.
World" she's less of a catalyst, and more in control of the
situation. Val is more jumpy and nervy, and her dialogue in parts seems
rushed. Now, she's more settled, but no less type-A. And Gary finally has
the romance moves down pat and finally shook himself of his crush on Val.
It's almost like watching a different show.
SHOW NOTES
This was the final episode taped in Season One, and production originally
scheduled for March 28, 2003 was delayed a day to accommodate Amanda
Bynes' appearance at the March 27th premiere of "What a Girl
Wants". Due to Michael McMillian's commitment to the Luis Guzman
pilot for Fox, the May 9 season finale (175-620) "The Talk" and
this episode were taped out of sequence.
Simon Rex does not appear in the episode, the
first regular not to appear in an episode, as he began shooting
"Scary Movie 3" in Vancouver this week.
The continuity of the episode suggests that Val
has had Apartment 34C for five years, where in "Thanksgiving" it
was stated that Val had the apartment for less than a year.
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EPISODE IMAGES
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Val and Holly are headed for their morning workout in their
apartment's new workout room. |
Holly's working on getting Gary a birthday present. |
Val believes that Nelly tix and passes are Gary's "most wanted
gift", for rizzle. |
Do you copizzle, Hollizzle? No-izzle. |
Here's Mindy, working
out on the treadmill Val so coveted. Val wants to just walk
in the park, avoiding a confrontation with Mindy. You see, they
have a history. |
Val tells Holly to stay away from Mindy. |
But Holly, having no
history with Mindy, is more direct. |
Mindy says she just
got on, but the treadmill's time readout says 30 minutes.
Violating the 20-minute rule. |
Holly reports Mindy to
the proper authorities and that she is in violation of a printed
rule. |
In the hallway, Val
explains that Mindy Turner both wanted the same apartment, but
Val got it and Mindy got an inglorious view of a wall. |
Val got the apartment
by making a deal with the landlord. |
Yup, one of those kind
of deals. |
Holly decides to go
back into the fray to get the treadmill back, but Val points
out... |
...that Mindy's a
member of the tenant's board. |
Oh my God! Run, Val, run, while you still can! |
After contractual crediting, Holly beats on the jukebox at
B-91. |
In walks Gary, wearing... |
...a pretty spiffy jersey given to him by New
Mommy. |
After a hug, Holly is ready to give Gary some id his
birthday present. |
It's a gift
certificate to a video store in the magnificent amount of -- ka-ching
-- |
TEN DOLLARS! |
Gary is crestfallen. He thinks Holly forgot
his birthday and got the first cheap thing she could think of. |
But Gary, who likes
movies, doesn't appreciate the obvious birthday dis. |
Holly tells Gary that
the real present (the Nelly tix) will be given to him tomorrow. |
She promises anyone
who'll listen that his real gift will bring him to his knees. |
Holly returns to the gym, greeting the
beefy musclemen. |
Once more Mindy's on the treadmill. |
Holly sneaks a glance
on the readout before Mindy covers the readout with her towel. Mindy, using Manhattan
Apartment Building Twisted Logic, states that her 20 minutes
starts now. |
Holly grabs a seat --
a round one, at that -- and starts her 20 minute vigil. |
All she's doing is
waiting the 20 minutes for the treadmill -- no harm in that. |
Holly and Mindy strike up a conversation. |
Holly counters Mindy's
claim that she's not a resident with the news that she now lives
in 34C with Valerie... |
...and that she's Holly Tyler, Val's sister. |
Holly explains that
her sister's old roommate, the hated Roberta, left the scene
nine months and 21 episodes ago. |
Which is all the information Mindy needs. |
With that, Mindy steps
off the treadmill and starts to put a plan in action. |
Leaving, Mindy offers
to snap on the TV for her... |
... but Holly's got all the show she
needs. |
Over at B-91, Gary
serves Holly one onion ring, because after all, it's the
thought that counts. |
Gary has given Holly
better gifts in the past, like perfumes. He tells Holly,
"I'm a better friend than you are." |
Holly doesn't know
what to think with Gary bluntly assessing their friendship in
this manner. |
But she shuts him up
with the Nelly tickets and the backstage passes. |
Back home, Holly is
tearing through "The Grapes of Wrath" for school, but when Val tells
her the film's been distilled into movie form, Holly's study
habits change. |
But before any of
that, Mindy appears at the door with ominous news. It's in the form of a
bulky manila envelope |
Val spirits Holly away
and asks why Mindy is there. |
Holly explains about
the chance encounter at the gym.
|
She urges Val to give up the grudge of five years. |
Holly acts as the
human shield, trying to rebuild the bridge of five years. |
Mindy displays the
documents in the envelope. It's a copy of the lease, which
states that all tenants must be approved by the apartment board. |
Holly, however, has
not been approved after nine months living with Val.
|
Holly has till the end
of the month to leave the apartment, and if she doesn't,
Val's gone too. Ain't that a bitch! |
Holly wants a look at
the document. The way it's worded,
Holly really has no choice in the matter. |
Holly stands her
ground, telling Min to get over herself because she's not going
anywhere. (I've heard that one before, actually...) |
Holly wants to fight,
and she has to plead her case to the president of the Tenants
Board...one Mindy Turner. |
Val's amazed that
Mindy would go to those lengths to gain control of Apartment
34C. |
Val tells Holly that
rules are rules, and Holly again declares her vengeful
side. |
Val tells Holly the
deck is very stacked. Mindy wants 34C, Mindy hates Val, and
Mindy is head of the Tenants Board. Mostly, Val won't
fight it because Holly wouldn't leave it alone and let the old
grudge lie. |
So Holly and Val go
apartment hunting, because there are plenty of better apartments
in New York City. |
Right. |
For the same money as her five-year
rent-controlled apartment, Holly and Val can have this lovely
little number. |
But something still bugs Holly... |
...why Val never put Holly's name on the
lease. |
Val's usually very meticulous about these
things. |
She hears Val say she was "afraid"
to put Holly on the lease because she had a good career, a
faithful boyfriend, a fast lifestyle. |
And Val wasn't sure how it was going to turn
out with Holly in the apartment. |
And Val got what she
wanted...at Holly's expense. |
Having seen the worst
of the NYC living experience and too used to the best, Holly
starts packing. |
She wants to live with
Nana, and Val points out that she can shower comfortably seated
there. |
Holly still gets to be
close to Val and less of a burden to her. Val makes a call, and
moments later... |
...they're all in the
co-op boardroom. It's Mindy and her board underlings Lisa and
Dan v. Holly and Val Tyler. |
Holly watches as Val gets to work on the board. |
She urges the board to listen as she makes
her plea. |
Val has scrutinized
the lease and she declares it "crapola". |
Val heatedly describes
the flea trap a few scenes back and says she considered living
there out of love for her sister. |
Val's relentless, even after the board says they'll vote on
Holly's right to live with Val. |
In a frenzy, Val
basically votes the board out. |
But now it's Holly's
turn to talk. |
She thinks it's time
to approach the issue like adults. Unlike some. |
Holly tenderly describes that the last year
has been the best of her life. (We should know...we saw it on
TV.) |
She promises to take
the suit to a higher court -- and dress the part as well. |
Mindy is unmoved by
Val's anger and Holly's matter-of-factness. Dan votes for
Holly. But Holly's got one
offer up her sleeve for Lisa, the swing vote, that will seal the deal. |
Val, still with a
major headache from her court histrionics, is proud of Holly's
demeanor facing the Board. |
And Val discovers it's not that easy being
mean. |
Holly's got a secret
as to why she's so effective. |
Then Gary apologizes for being so boorish,
and thanks her for the Nelly tickets. |
After Gary offers to
take Holly, Holly has a better idea...the swing vote can go! |
Court dismissed! Bring in the dancing
lobsters! |
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