‘Mad’s’ Crying Game Artfully Plays Out

Tonight’s witty, simpler-is-sometimes-better episode of NBC’s “Mad About You” is an example of TV comedy as art.

And of parents as works in progress.

In this case, the new mom and dad are Paul (Paul Reiser) and Jamie (Helen Hunt). It seems that their infant daughter, Mabel, won’t stop crying at night. While Paul wants to rush in and comfort her, Jamie is sticking to a philosophy of weaning crying infants from their parents by comforting them only at prescribed intervals.

So they stay up late, post themselves outside Mabel’s door and wait, listen . . . and agonize as she continues crying.

Although listening to a kid cry is no fun, this episode is.

It’s shot with just one camera instead of the usual three, and is airing nearly without commercials. That is, the ads are clustered at the beginning and almost at the end, followed by a longer-than-usual tag.

The impact of the single camera and especially the absence of commercial breaks in the main body of the episode are quietly stunning, not just because there are no ads to distract you--hurray for that--but also because the structuring resembles a play.

With Gordon Hunt (Helen Hunt’s father) directing Victor Levin’s charming, sensitive script, in fact, “The Conversation” feels exactly like a play or short film, allowing Paul and Jamie to reveal aspects of themselves in gentle, conversational ways that might have been less effective had the episode been made the usual way.

The message here is not that infants cry or that clustered commercials are the way to go (they are), but that even shows that are already creatively and commercially successful can continue to grow. Just like parents.

* The episode of “Mad About You” titled “The Conversation” airs at 8 tonight on NBC (Channel 4). The network has rated it TV-PG (may not be suitable for young children).